Odds And Ends: Sanchez, Strasburg, Big Unit

Thanks for the link Ben -- but NPB payroll piece was actually written by Ryo Shinkawa.

yankees brought up berroa for ransom, robertson for wang(hughes will be up when wang's spot in the rotation comes up in detroit), and I also heard that melancon might be coming up for bruney.

Mauer is actually better.

"He IS the best all-around young catcher in baseball. You're a goofball if you think anything different"

I guess I am a goofball because Joe Mauer is a better all around catcher ANY day of the week. And there's that guy Russell Martin that also might have something to say about your claim as well. He's also better than McCann in MANY scouts opinions.

McCann is great but aside from homerun power, there is nothing he does better than Mauer. McCann is also not in good enough shape, he's getting tubbier and tubbier each year and in the long run that will make for more injuries as long as Atlanta keeps him behind the plate, they should think about what theyre going to do about that because he's too tubby to play 3rd, there's no DH and they have the only piece of the Tex trade they have left at 1st base.

I agree that Atlanta doesnt win much without McCann but he is plain and simple NOT the best catcher in the game right now and when Weiters gets to the show, McCann will then be #4 on that list.

Is Man Ram also the best left fielder in baseball in your eyes?

I meant 230 lb.

Mauer by the way is 6'5 225 lbs. Not much of a difference.

So if Wang was hurt then why didn't he just say that? He could've made the problem worse by trying to pitch thru it.

Also, is anyone kinda sick of hearing about Strasburg, over 2 months before the draft?

Then again, I will probably change my mind in at some point. All I know is those 3 are all terrific. I see McCann the most and right now he is my guy.

"Also, is anyone kinda sick of hearing about Strasburg, over 2 months before the draft?"

Not at all. The draft is a little over a month away and Strasburg is possibly the only future star in a really weak pool of players. Then again, I'd be more excited if teams could trade up. Wonder if the Nats could've gotten a package equal to a frontline starter for the first pick?

"Litsch, Romero, BJ Ryan go down"

Who?

"Litsch, Romero, BJ Ryan go down, not a word. Any Yankee goes to DL, front page news."

Acutally a lot was said about Bj Ryan. Most realize how good a season he had last yr. As for the other 2, its because most fans dont really care when bullpen guys go down, except for closers. Itd be like if Will Ohman went down for the dodgers, dodger fans would care, but most of baseball wouldnt. The Yanks have lost Wang, one of their better starters(before last yr, considered by many to be the next Yankee ace), Arod, the highest paid player and anything he does is overblown, and Nady, whom they tried to trade last offseason, was their starting RF and it also gave Swisher a chance to start, after he was rolling early in the season. It also has to do with location, NY is a bigger baseball town than Toronto, at least by the amount of news.

Batting Average:
Mauer > McCann
Getting on base:
Mauer > McCann
Hitting for Power:
McCann > Mauer
Defense:
Mauer > McCann.

Overall Mauer's better, but not by a whole lot. I'm happy Anderson is on the DL and I'm not too concerned with McCann if he's only going to be out 2 weeks because we've got David Ross, a more than adequate back-up.

McCann and Mauer are both on the disabled list right now, so there's really not a huge point in comparing them until they get back and get readjusted.

With both of them at full though I still think I'd take McCann. Mauer is better at average, but not by any incredible amount, McCann is still a two-time silver slugger winner.

McCann's power absolutely dwarves Mauer's however. 70 HR in 4 years for McCann and 44 in 5 years for Mauer.

Mauer's semi-speed has dried up (doubt we'll see him break double digits again even) while McCann has gotten slightly faster (again though, be surprised if he ever hits double digits).

Defense is where it's not even close however. Mauer's gold-glove defense is worlds above where McCann has ever been. Brian has said he's actively trying to improve his defense, but until he does, this is a one-sided fight as Mauer's catagory.

re: xethic

I'm not sure I agree with it being a terrible idea to keep an elite catcher behind the plate. I think for a guy like McCann whose best contribution is with the bat (which is not to say he's not adequate as a defensive catcher, but he's clearly not the type of defender that the Molinas are, for instance) it could make sense to move him, but Mauer primarily hits for average, not power, which is what the best hitting catchers generally do (again, McCann excepted). Pudge, Posada, Varitek, all of these guys in their prime weren't really sluggers, they were generally good hitters. More to the point, Mauer's defense at catcher is truly elite, and you get a lot more value out of his bat and defense at catcher than you would if he were the 1st baseman. Personally, if it weren't for the injury issues he's had and likely will have as a result of his size, I would have him catch for as long as he's able. You just get so much value out of him that way that it doesn't make sense to move him.

I'd personally (if they weren't injured of course) take Mauer, then Martin, then McCann. This is primarily b/c of Mauer's exceptional catching value and Martin's defense as well as his ability to play 3rd quite well on days when he's not catching. This lets you keep him in the lineup and freely pinch-run for your catcher knowing that you can shift him back to C if you need to. McCann may eventually prove similar as a C/1B, but for now he's a catcher through and through. Any one of those guys would be a great starting point for a team, though.

I'm certainly not prepared to anoint Wieters with anything yet. He's going to have to prove himself in a tough division, and it will be interesting to see what if anything he can do. He does start off behind those three guys though, since his name doesn't start with M :-).

-JM

Its going to be tough for Weiters for a while because there will be a lot of expectations and a lot of pressure on him espeically because the Orioles have almost nothing for pitching right now. Thats another reason that I think theyre delaying his commute to the show.

Personally I think that they should give Weiters the year to develop and then attack a couple of FA pitchers in the off season even though the market for FA pitchers isnt looking to be too stellar especially if Lackey and Webb re-sign.

But I still think with his size and athleticism, Weiters should move to 1st right away, like even this year in the minors and then maybe the O's could hit up a FA catcher for next season, Barajas could be available since the Jays have young up and coming catching prospects.

Im just saying that Weiters is a big guy and physically he is a big big to be behind the plate for a long time. It just seems like an idea to make him a first baseman and then let him develop physically as a power hitter.