Read: Omir Santos, Starter or Back-Up
Joe Janish of Mets Today gives a detailed review of Omir Santos, asking, while he is a good back-up, is he a ‘strong enough all-around to catch regularly for a championship club.’
Santos hit .261 in 74 games as a starting catcher, while batting .235 as a sub.
“He has played extremely well for us for a period of time,” Jerry Manuel said, regarding Santos, at the end of the season. “How that would manifest itself over the course of a year is still somewhat unknown.”
…i think santos showed he can be a .250 hitter, whether he’s a starter or a back up, complete with a few hot and cold streaks to sway opinion… he puts the ball in play, and keeps the line moving, but he is border-line useless when behind in the count… also, he is a much better hitter against right-handed pitching than left-handed pitching… interestingly, santos ranks as the fifth-best defensive catcher in baseball, according to these fancy stats on Beyond the Boxscore… janish paints a less exciting picture of omir’s receiving skills, basically saying, ‘he is below average to average in all areas,’ and a ‘so-so game-caller,’ according to some team insiders… according to my eyes, santos is good, not great, i have seen better and i have seen worse… i think he’s fine, but i believe the Mets would like to have someone to turn to on the roster who is better…
This off season, free-agent catchers will include: Rod Barajas, Josh Bard, Toby Hall, Jason Kendall, Benjie Molina, Ivan Rodriguez and Vance Wilson, among others.
…unless they trade for an every-day starting catcher, i still feel like the Mets will pursue barajas or pudge, though i have no reason to think that, other than they fit with what i suspect they’ll be looking for…
