2nd Catcher Upgrade Needed

[Jim'sKid26]

4 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Yes it is.

But for DH and first baseman, the bat isn’t anything elite or special.

I agree entirely. And spending money to put a good catcher's bat in the DH spot makes no sense. 

[Tony-OH]

1 hour ago, Jim'sKid26 said:

I agree entirely. And spending money to put a good catcher's bat in the DH spot makes no sense. 

I think what people are talking about is on Adley's days off from catching to keep him and his bat fresh. Nobody should be considering Adley to move off catcher to any other position full time anytime soon. His extreme value comes from being a great bat AS a plus defensive catcher. 

[Jim'sKid26]

40 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

I think what people are talking about is on Adley's days off from catching to keep him and his bat fresh. Nobody should be considering Adley to move off catcher to any other position full time anytime soon. His extreme value comes from being a great bat AS a plus defensive catcher. 

So Tony, you saw the way the orioles used Wieters early in his career. Should they alter their approach with regard to Adley? Seems to me C usage is a very difficult dance that a manager has to perform to get the best out of a player and the team. Do you ride the horse hard early and let someone else worry about the age 30+ seasons? 

[jabba72]

5 minutes ago, Jim'sKid26 said:

So Tony, you saw the way the orioles used Wieters early in his career. Should they alter their approach with regard to Adley? Seems to me C usage is a very difficult dance that a manager has to perform to get the best out of a player and the team. Do you ride the horse hard early and let someone else worry about the age 30+ seasons? 

Im not Tony but personally I wouldnt catch AR more than 115-120 games. You dont want to weaken his offense. So with that, I would look into acquiring as good a backup as possible.  At least someone with strong defense that can put up a .650 OPS. 

[BRobinsonfan]

On 10/6/2022 at 11:53 AM, sportsfan8703 said:

Mountcastle doesn’t have to be a 155 game 1B. I want Adley’s bat in the lineup as much as possible, and as fresh as possible. 

So look at it like this… instead of signing a Mancini type bat for $10 million, we could give Contreras 17 million, but Contreras buys us 10 more games of Adley’s bat, and a fresher Adley. How much is that worth?  I think it’s worth the $17 million to sign Contreras. 

$17 Million for Contreras gets us 10 more games of Adley's bat.? First, that's $1.7 million per game, second, why can't we save the $17 million and just start Adley at DH for those games.  Having more production out of the back up catcher would be a good thing, but we have much more pressing needs in than that.  

 

[RZNJ]

4 minutes ago, jabba72 said:

Im not Tony but personally I wouldnt catch AR more than 115-120 games. You dont want to weaken his offense. So with that, I would look into acquiring as good a backup as possible.  At least someone with strong defense that can put up a .650 OPS. 

They might get someone better but Cam Gallagher caught over 30 games in 2019 and 2021 as backup and OPS'd .677 and .628 and looked like he was a positive on defense.

 

[BRobinsonfan]

3 hours ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Adley’s bat is so good though. I don’t want him to have the amount of off days that an everyday catcher needs, and I’m talking about complete off days. I also don’t want to run him into the ground. 
 

I want to maximize Adley. 
 

Adley - 100 Catcher, 30 DH, 1B 25, 7 days off

Contreras - 62 Catcher, 70 DH, 20 1B, 10 days off

That’s a great use of resources. 

So, Mountcastle 117 games at 1B???

[jabba72]

5 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

They might get someone better but Cam Gallagher caught over 30 games in 2019 and 2021 as backup and OPS'd .677 and .628 and looked like he was a positive on defense.

 

Nothing in his MiL stats suggest he is a good hitter though. Which makes his OPS in the majors unusual to me. But I think Elias would take those numbers from a backup. 

[pastorfan]

On 10/6/2022 at 11:41 AM, sportsfan8703 said:

With signing Contreras we wouldn’t just be signing a 2nd catcher, we also be buying Adley at 1B some, good quality versatility at C, 1B, and DH, a RH bat that we desperately need(MOO), and if there is a draft pick loss it would be nominal compared to players we’d have to give up in a trade. And you get to manage Adley’s workload. I want that guys bat in the lineup, and fresh, as much as possible. 
 

Long story short… we’d add Quality versatility, a RH bat, and more of AR to the lineup. All while only maybe surrendering a draft pick(?), and not having to make a trade. To me that’s worth a lot. Fixes lots of needs and not just catcher. 

Agreed. I've said I hope we sign him. If he agrees to catch 60 games a year and DH, then it could extend his career also. The only problem with this could be if they want to DH Santander. 

[Tony-OH]

9 hours ago, Jim'sKid26 said:

So Tony, you saw the way the orioles used Wieters early in his career. Should they alter their approach with regard to Adley? Seems to me C usage is a very difficult dance that a manager has to perform to get the best out of a player and the team. Do you ride the horse hard early and let someone else worry about the age 30+ seasons? 

Adley is not as big as Wieters so that helps. I like how they used Rutschman but basically Dhing him when he wasn't catching. I do think giving him some 1B time also frees up DH when he's not catching.

[OriolesMagic83]

https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/red-sox/mlb-free-agents-2022-23-ranking-top-five-catchers

Slim pickings in the free agent market.  Zunino had thoracic outlet surgery and I assume will miss the beginning of the season.  I guess that would be a red flag for a catcher.

Omar Narvaez might be the best free agent the O's could reasonably sign.  He's been decent offensively for his career, .728 OPS, but had a down year last year.  Maybe a 2 year deal?

I won't be surprised to see Elias go with someone from the O's minors, the free agent selection is underwhelming.

[wildcard]

33 minutes ago, OriolesMagic83 said:

https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/red-sox/mlb-free-agents-2022-23-ranking-top-five-catchers

Slim pickings in the free agent market.  Zunino had thoracic outlet surgery and I assume will miss the beginning of the season.  I guess that would be a red flag for a catcher.

Omar Narvaez might be the best free agent the O's could reasonably sign.  He's been decent offensively for his career, .728 OPS, but had a down year last year.  Maybe a 2 year deal?

I won't be surprised to see Elias go with someone from the O's minors, the free agent selection is underwhelming.

There will be non tenders.  Teams will clear their roster to add minor leaguers by Nov 20th.

[sportsfan8703]

3 hours ago, OriolesMagic83 said:

https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/red-sox/mlb-free-agents-2022-23-ranking-top-five-catchers

Slim pickings in the free agent market.  Zunino had thoracic outlet surgery and I assume will miss the beginning of the season.  I guess that would be a red flag for a catcher.

Omar Narvaez might be the best free agent the O's could reasonably sign.  He's been decent offensively for his career, .728 OPS, but had a down year last year.  Maybe a 2 year deal?

I won't be surprised to see Elias go with someone from the O's minors, the free agent selection is underwhelming.

RH FA bats are thin in general. Contreras, JD Martinez, Soler, Duvall, and Mancini. 
 

We’re at least 1 RH bat short. I’d be happy with JD Martinez, but he’d chew up our DH flexibility. Contreras at least helps with that. For me, it’s killing two birds with one stone, and possibly three birds.