The Cardinals have signed catcher Koyie Hill to a minor league deal, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports tweets. Turner Gary Sports represents the longtime Cubs backstop.
Hill, 32, figures to compete with Bryan Anderson and Tony Cruz for playing time behind Yadier Molina. He posted a .194/.268/.276 line in 153 plate appearances for the Cubs last year, stopping 24% of stolen base attempts. The eight-year veteran has a career batting line of .211/.275/.298 and has stopped 28% of the stolen base attempts against him.
WrigleyTerror37
interesting…
tfsmag
do the cards have better option for backup catcher than Koyie? I’m seriously asking as I have no idea
cards2WS
Tony Cruz and Bryan Anderson. Hill is just insurance.
rayking
I wouldn’t be surprised if Steven Hill moves ahead of him too, he seems to swing a decent bat although I don’t know about his defense.
jrav
Probably just minor league depth. Cruz and Anderson are both way better, and we’re going to take one for our backup where we have been signing veteran backups in the past. Just a minor league replacement for whichever one we take
jondogg2010
IDC if dude throws out 50% of runners a sub .200 BA is unacceptable.
CaseyBlakeDeWitt
Hey, that’s Kelly Shoppach!
sourbob
He absolutely does not throw out 50%. Or even 25% the last few years.
He does supposedly call a good game, though with the lack of quality in Cubs pitchers the last few years, that’s mostly theoretical.
baseball52
lol
Brad
I think I speak for all Cubs fans when I say…….BWAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!
Seth
As a Cubs fan, LMAO
sam_lammert
obviously they know what the’re doin, our last world series:last year yours:last century
cards2WS
😀
formerdraftpick 2
What ever happened to Reggie Abercrombie who was traded with Koyie Hill?
bonestock94
She sounds cute
Jimbo504
hopefully they just give it to Cruz, he filled in nicely last year.
stl_cards16
I think it’s his spot to lose. It would have to take a pretty bad spring training from Cruz for Anderson or Hill to be considered,IMO.
Not a bad signing though. With the serious pitching talent the Cardinals are going to have going through AAA the next couple years, it will be nice to have a catcher with big league experience to work with.
sourbob
You may be right about the AAA thing. Hill’s good clubhouse/game calling rep make sense in a AAA environment focused on developing young pitchers… even if he can’t throw out runners or hit.
Cosmo3
Most. Useless. Player. Ever.
KeithLawSucksInStl
Good enough to play in 206 games for the Cubs the last 3 years… So yes, useless.
stewie75
pretty sure theriot started even more for us and… ehh, I don’t even need to finish this comment do I?
Dan Mazzaro
I’ve never seen a worse hitter at any level of the game..
sourbob
Never seen a pitcher hit?
sourbob
Although I feel compelled to point out he’s supposedly an absolute top-shelf character/clubhouse guy, as a Cub fan, I still kinda have to agree. Kinda bad defensively… positively abysmal as a hitter.
Ben Zetlitz
This is far from a rare occurrence. Back-up catchers who are no longer serviceable are often snagged up by division rivals to give away their secrets.
garyleet
The Cards are just stocking up on catchers so they have something to fall back on after the Cubs sign Molina next year.
mike-5
HA. Dude tdidnt they says Albert would sign with the Cubs? Molina ixs more loyal then Pujols. He wont get 100 million. Therefore itll be easier to resign him He wont play for the Cubs, he likes WINNING. Something the Cubs havent done in what a million years?
What part of Minor league deal dont you Cub fans get? His gonna be on the Memphis Redbirds, not the St. Louis Cardinals.
garyleet
I tip my cap to Cardinal fans. I put the hook into the water, and only got one bite.
Gregory Drysdale
why would Yadi leave a winning team and go to a losing team?
DrHMD
Yadi is his own man, not ALbert’s caddie
Richard Eichkorn
Cubs can’t remember that far back when they won! LOL
hgr900
I used to have this guy’s rookie card! Then I threw it out when I saw him play