No one remembers the frustration of watching Juan Pierre and Luis Castillo run roughshod on our catchers a few years back. It might be nice to have a guy out there that quells the running game….

Castro has an arthritic back, so expect him to spend significant time on the DL. Our backup catcher options on the farm are pretty thin. We could use right handed bat off the bench that doesn’t K a lot and has power.

Mike isn’t a perfect fit, but he costs nothing but money, and that’s about what the Mets can afford right now. I could see him ending up catching about 40-50 games, especially if/when Castro gets injured, and spotting in for 5-10 games at first with a few DHing games in interleague. That plus some pinch hitting would seem to make him a more than decent bench player for the Mets.

Given what he still seems to have in the bat based on last year, it still seems to make some sense to me. Worst that happens is that we release him and he has his official retirement press conference in a Mets uniform. Best that happens is he ends up being a nice little cog in getting the WS ring he deserves to have as a Met.

I’ll take this Piazza over Cassanova on my roster any day, with Schneider as my starting catcher.

I was actually a big fan of the Mets pursuing Ronnie Paulino, in that I believe he is actually a MUCH better offensive hitting catcher than people give credit too. I still believe he will be a pretty decent hitting catcher. A Ramon Hernandez-type if you will.

BTW, have you ever wondered why there aren’t more better hitting catchers out there? I know that a large part of the job is working with the pitching staff and that the position causes a lot of wear and tear on the body. But you would think that being in the catching position and seeing all those different types of pitches, would give the catcher a slight advantage over every day players. Especially if it’s a catcher who is say facing a pitcher he once caught. It just goes to show you how difficult it is to hit a Major League Pitcher. :)