|
Ed Ryan, in a post to his blog for Mets Fever, discusses the market for free agent catchers and that Matt Treanor, Yorvit Torrealba, and Ramon Hernandez have all had their options declined by their respective teams.
…of the three, i believe that Hernandez is the most attractive…i wouldn’t think that Treanor, who became a free agent after refusing his assignment to the minors by the Tigers, would be on the Mets radar and Torrealba evidently still has a chip on his shoulder after the Mets retracted their contract offer to him two years ago…
…Hernandez is interesting…he was injured for half the year but has always been on the Mets radar…he was offered a contract by the Mets in 2006 before going to the Orioles and as Ed points out in his post, he is a highly regarded defensive catcher and i’d think he would be an upgrade over Brian Schneider from an offensive standpoint…he will be 34 in May, but he could serve as a good mentor to Josh Thole, much like the role played by Rey Sanchez for Jose Reyes in 2003…
In 11 seasons, Hernandez is a lifetime .262 hitter but hit just five home runs and 37 RBI in an injury plagued 2009 campaign.
For more on this, check out Mets Fever.
I like Hernadez on a one year deal to help get Thole ready to take the spot but thats only because I think he is the best fit for what this team needs in a very thin free agent market for catchers.
im surprised that nobody is taking about Jason Kendall, yes hes getting up there in age, but on a 1-year deal isnt he the type of veteran leader this team needs? Old school, hardnosed, defensive catcher? I know a guy like Hernandez hits better but i thought this team needed more character guys and Kendall is that.
Also, as i said, i know hes at best an average #8 hitter, but it would be more for his veteran leadership, kinda like varitek with the sox
I rather bring in Molina. We need pop, not another .241 hitter.
Is Miguel Olivo any good? The Royals declined his option because I think they have someone in the minors to take over.
Sanchez mentored Reyes because they were on the ML team together, as Schneider mentored Thole in September.
But I doubt Omir is going anywhere, so any catcher the Mets acquire will give Thole AAA time, not ML time, making mentoring kind of, um, impossible.
Looking at Catchers who can pair with Santos for ‘10, how about Oliva, who (forgetting about the fight at season’s end of ‘07–or was it ‘08?) is a close friend of Jose Reyes and a better hitter than any of the others mentioned? The only downside I see is that he’d want a more-than-one-year deal, and would not take kindly to surrendering the everyday job to Thole in a year.
Another interesting Catcher, if he’s (as rumored) non-tendered by the Rays, is Dioner Navarro, a solid defensive Catcher coming off a subpar season offensively.
I think only Olivo, BArajas and MOlina should be in the mix.