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Trade Candidates: Catchers

By Ben Nicholson-Smith [July 6, 2009 at 1:17pm CST]

The market for catchers has been silent this year, as many contenders are set behind the plate. It’s partially a coincidence, but still noteworthy that so many of baseball’s best teams have catchers performing well. Here are a few backstops who could be available this month:

Ramon Hernandez - Likely expendable because of Ryan Hanigan's emergence, Hernandez has hit .252/.333/.368 with five homers and more walks than strikeouts this year. He doesn't come cheap though, as he makes $8MM.
Yorvit Torrealba - The Rockies have Chris Iannetta, so Torrealba and his career OPS of .700 are expendable. He'll earn $3.5MM this year and there's a mutual option for 2010 on his contract.
Ivan Rodriguez - The Astros aren't selling now, but Rodriguez, who was dealt at last year's deadline, could become trade bait if Houston falls out of it. He makes from $1.5-3MM this year, depending on incentives.
Javier Valentin - This free agent hit relatively well with the Reds as recently as last year.

Comments

The same Ivan Rodriguez that has a .274 OBP?

Sounds more like a release candidate to me..

Posted by: scribbletone | July 06, 2009 at 01:21 PM

Yeah, it would be a surprise to see any catchers dealt barring an injury. The Rays likely want to let Navarro figure things out, but if someone's hurt they could call on Pudge- low OBP or not.

Posted by: Ben Nicholson-Smith | July 06, 2009 at 01:28 PM

i'd say ramon hernandez for the reds has to be there. their rookie catcher, hanigan, is in the top 3 in a lot of rookie/offensive categories.

Posted by: silverreign | July 06, 2009 at 01:28 PM

I don't mean the Rays specifically with Pudge... but if a contender sees a catcher go down and the Astros are out of it, Ed Wade might field a call or two about Pudge.

Posted by: Ben Nicholson-Smith | July 06, 2009 at 01:29 PM

Royals should shop Miguel Olivo just to see what they can get. He has very good power for a catcher and doesn't hurt you to much behind the plate.

Posted by: bravoboy10 | July 06, 2009 at 01:31 PM

Only problem with Olivo is he has never posted a OBP of .300 in his career. That is concerning, but the .500 slugging is nice.

Posted by: bravoboy10 | July 06, 2009 at 01:34 PM

If I worked for Atlanta, I'd include David Ross as a piece, provided the partner has a spare bat and needs a catcher + something else. He's better as a backup, but desperate times...Anyhoo, a decent OF bat would do a lot more good than a really good backup catcher.

Posted by: daslied | July 06, 2009 at 01:41 PM

these catchers are closer to outright releases then trades. clubs are better taking a risk with minor league talent in my opinion

Posted by: 04Forever | July 06, 2009 at 01:43 PM

Good call on Hernandez

Posted by: Ben Nicholson-Smith | July 06, 2009 at 01:51 PM

Can we throw Gregg Zaun in there?

He's blocked now by Matt Wieters, and Zaun is one of the better hitting backup catchers in baseball.

Zaun seems like a far better get for some team than Pudge.

Posted by: scribbletone | July 06, 2009 at 01:54 PM

Ryan Doumit should be a good as gone. With (Rookies) Jason Jaramillo and RobinZon Diaz playing so well, and Doumit having the most value, the Pirates are bound to trade him.

Posted by: EWJ867 | July 06, 2009 at 02:02 PM

"Ryan Doumit should be a good as gone. With (Rookies) Jason Jaramillo and RobinZon Diaz playing so well, and Doumit having the most value, the Pirates are bound to trade him."

I agree but don't discount the idea that maybe one of Jaramillo/Diaz might be moved instead.

Posted by: enchinga | July 06, 2009 at 02:18 PM

All three are good hitting catchers with id say Diaz as the best behind the dish. I think Huntington like Diaz and Doumit just might be the odd man out. Ryan would make a great AL player. He can play first,OF and Catch.However his defense is below avg everywhere. He can hit anywhere in the lineup and is a switch hitter.

Posted by: bucsreport | July 06, 2009 at 02:22 PM

This is a serious discard pile here and seriously over paid also. Torrealba and Hernandez have no chance of getting moved unless their teams eat most all the contracts and even that probably won't help in Torrealba's case. Pudge can't get on base, so hard to see him getting moved.

Run the other way with this bunch.

Posted by: johns | July 06, 2009 at 02:25 PM

Which is why Zaun makes sense!

He's reasonably priced, a solid defender, he's got some pop, and a career OBP of .341, and he's maintained all of that this season.

I'd argue that Zaun could potentially be the best catcher avaiable come July 31st.

Posted by: scribbletone | July 06, 2009 at 02:29 PM

"Which is why Zaun makes sense!"

Isn't Zaun still being used to tutor Weiter's though?

Posted by: johns | July 06, 2009 at 02:55 PM

As for the Pirates, I'd say trade Ryan Doumit and keep Jason Jaramillo behind the dish he's a far better candidate defensively and I've seen some sparks in his offense this season. Putting up some soild numbers even after his supposed downfall was his offense. He proved alot of people wrong this first half of the season. ALOT of teams could use a catcher like that. SMART teams anyway..

Posted by: MLBFan27 | July 06, 2009 at 03:02 PM

"Isn't Zaun still being used to tutor Weiter's though?"

I guess, but Wieters is clearly the everyday catcher and if Zaun is the best catcher on the market then he could potentially land them a decent prospect.

If they want to keep Zaun around to tutor Wieters on gamecalling and the other things that come with being a ML catcher, then more power to them.

I just think that he's still a decent trade candidate.

Posted by: scribbletone | July 06, 2009 at 03:08 PM

Ramon had bumped his avg all the way up to 270-280 and had stuck around there.

hes in a slump but i bet he will end with an average closer to what i said.

Posted by: GmblngPtchr20 | July 06, 2009 at 03:13 PM

"I just think that he's still a decent trade candidate."

Was not dicing you on the fact that Zaun would not be a good trade chip, just that Weiters being barely above AA even experience the O's may think Zaun has value to them.

Wonder who would be in need though also, Defense was never a strong part of Zaun's game, it was his knowledge of the game and ability to get on base.

Posted by: johns | July 06, 2009 at 03:20 PM

"Was not dicing you on the fact that Zaun would not be a good trade chip, just that Weiters being barely above AA even experience the O's may think Zaun has value to them."

Still, Wieters has a .770 OPS and has shown some improvement in his 25 or so games in Baltimore. There's little doubt that he's easily the best catcher in that organization right now.

Posted by: scribbletone | July 06, 2009 at 03:33 PM

Hernandez's problem is that he got his contract because of his bat... and that has somehow vanished.

If you're slugging .368 in Cincinnati of all places, and making $8MM to do so... you're not appealing to many GMs.

Posted by: MorneauVP | July 06, 2009 at 03:36 PM

I think Kelly Shoppach is trade candidate before the dead line. With V-Mart having a cheap option for next year and Gimeniz already in the Majors and Santana succeeding at every level. Shoppach could be traded.

Posted by: YRofJhonny | July 06, 2009 at 04:26 PM

How about Chris Synder? He could be a good pickup for someone.

Posted by: qudjy1 | July 06, 2009 at 04:49 PM

I like the call on Chris Snyder.

He's pretty solid, but so is Montero, and Snyder is going to start to get more costly soon.

If someone is willing to give up a decent prospect for him, then you probably should look into that.

Posted by: scribbletone | July 06, 2009 at 05:03 PM

The O's are already paying half of Hernandez's contract making it easier to dump him.

Posted by: wickedwitch | July 06, 2009 at 06:12 PM

No the O's aren't, they are paying 1/4 of it. Meaning the Reds are still on the hook for 3 more million this year plus 1 million towards his buyout. No one is going to pick up the remaining 4 mill for his production, probably not even half of that...and that's only if they lose there starter for the playoff push.

Posted by: Kinsm | July 06, 2009 at 08:14 PM

Every team in contention has a good catcher. I going to name every team with their catcher so you guys can debate which team might need one for the play-off. Sorry if i mispell it

AL EAST
Red Sox- Jason Varitek
Yankees- Jorge Posada
Rays- Dioner Navarro
Blue Jays- Rod Barajas/Michael Barret(he used to be good before Zambrano fight in Chi)
O's- Wieters (future Mike Piazza aka Pizza lol)

AL Central
Tigers- Gerald Laird (surprised season for me)
White Sox-A.J Pierzynski
Twins- Joe Mauer
Royals- Joe Buck/Miguel Olivo
Indians- Victor Martinez (V-Mart)

AL West
Angels- Mike Napoli (on MLB SHOW 09 he has A in power and C in contact wth is all that power)
Rangers- Jarrod Saltalamacchia
M's- Kenji Johjima
A's- Kurt Suzuki

Posted by: Giants rulez | July 14, 2009 at 03:16 PM

NL EAST
Phillies- Carlos Ruiz
Mets- Brian Schiender/ Omir Santos (he is a good back-up)
Braves- McCann
Marlins- John Baker/Ronny Paulino
Nationals-Wil Nieves

NL CENTRAL
Cardinals- Yadier Molina
Cubs- Soto
Brewers- Jason Kendall
Astros- Ivan Rodriguez
Reds- Ramon Hernandez
Pirates- Doumit (hurt), Jason Jarmillo, Robinson Diaz

NL WEST (GIANTS FAN)
Dodgers- Russel "J" Martin
Giants- Bengie Molina
Rox- Chris Iannetta (even tho he is on rival team liked his play at WBC)
D-Backs- Miguel Montero & Chris Synder
Padres- Alfonzo, Hundley, Blanco, Lobatón (too many injuries on this team)

Posted by: Giants rulez | July 14, 2009 at 03:27 PM

"I think Kelly Shoppach is trade candidate before the dead line. With V-Mart having a cheap option for next year and Gimeniz already in the Majors and Santana succeeding at every level. Shoppach could be traded."

The problem there is that you're selling very, very low on him. It's his second season in a row with Ks>H+BB, except now his OPS has dropped from .865 to .697, which isn't really hiding his "swing at everything" approach. His defense has been very poor as well, this season.

I was really hoping that something would have come from the Masterson for Shoppach talk this past offseason, but it's too late for that now.

Best bet is to hold onto him, and hope he gets it back together. He has way more value keeping Victor fresh, than does the mid-range pitching prospect that you would get.

Giminez has decent power potential, but an MLB catcher he is not...not even as a back-up. Not nearly enough experience calling a game.

Santana, even fast-tracked, would be a mid-2010 call up, at the very, very earliest.

Posted by: dan | July 15, 2009 at 11:17 AM

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