Teams have been calling the Reds about their catchers, but their chances of making a deal don’t seem good. GM Walt Jocketty told John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer that he’s not looking to move any of his backstops.
“It’s a strength for us,” Jocketty said. “I really don’t want to take away from a strength. It can be very fragile.”
The Reds recently locked up Ryan Hanigan to a three-year, $4MM extension. He’ll join Ramon Hernandez in the majors this year while Corky Miller and prospects Devin Mesoraco and Yasmani Grandal play in the upper minors. But with Hernandez entering a walk year, a trade appears unlikely.
Though Ivan Rodriguez is dealing with an apparently minor calf injury, the Nationals have comparable catching depth and could deal a backstop. The Astros and Padres lost Jason Castro and Gregg Zaun, respectively, so both teams could be interested in dealing for a catcher. As MLBTR's Zach Links recently pointed out, the Angels are a potential match for the Astros.
you sir are a gentleman and a scholar
Not sure why teams always insist on holding onto a ton of catchers. Seeing what happened with the Rangers and other teams who’s catchers didn’t play as good as advertised, I’d certainly trade at least one of them if I had the chance. They have four quality catchers and you simply don’t need that many.
I wouldn’t say the Reds have four quality catchers just yet. One of them is turning 35 years old and has spent time on the DL three of the last four years, and two others have yet to set foot on a Major League diamond.
As Cincinnati doesn’t have any major holes in their roster, I don’t see any reason to rush a deal. I can see them giving Mesoraco the year at AAA, calling him up in September, and letting him take Hernandez’s spot next year if he’s up to it. If that works out, they can try to flip Grandal for something next winter.
I’d love to see Mesoraco get a shot at the bigs this year. Not that i want him rushed, but a september call up would be welcome, especially seeing as he graduated from my high school
Like starting pitching, its a nice problem to have. If Mesoraco is tearing up AAA as the trade deadline approaches and shows he has nothing left to prove, I can see Hernandez being shipped out to the highest bidder. He won’t bring much in return unless its a package deal for some of our surplus minor league talent. Louisville is going to have a stacked squad this year with a lot of talent knocking at the M/L door and very little room on the Reds 25 and 40 man rosters. So something has got to give. With the right package perhaps we can finally trade for that elusive long term solution at SS. Cozart has been killing the ball this spring and is really good defensively but his contact rate says he won’t be much more than a .250-.260 hitter at best and more likely a .230-.240 with some pop. Then you have Billy Hamilton who looks to be the real deal but is just too far away right now. I kind of see him as the long term replacement for B. Phillips at 2B though.
You can never have too much of anything. Last year, the Reds championship season, saw at one point all of their starters minus Arroyo, go down with injury at some point. Also, if I remember correctly, Hanigan and Hernandez were both on the DL at the same time and the Reds had to use Corky Miller for a couple weeks straight which wasn’t good on him or the team. The Reds have absolutely no motivation to deal any of their catchers right now.