The Twins and Mariners are possibilities for veteran catcher Kurt Suzuki, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The Cubs are also among the clubs with interest, as noted by Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle last week.
While Minnesota likes the 30-year-old, Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press (Twitter link) hears from a person with direct knowledge that nothing is going on yet between the club and the catcher. Suzuki hit .232/.290/.337 with five homers in his second straight season split between the A's and Nationals. Though he's typically been solid in terms of catching base stealers, Suzuki caught just eight of 65 potential thieves in 2013 (12 percent) and graded out as one of the league's worst in terms of pitch-framing. He was highly adept at blocking pitches in the dirt, per Fangraphs, trailing only Yadier Molina in that regard.
Suzuki can be great if given regular playing time
The opposite is true, actually. As a regular for the Nats in 2013, he was pretty bad. He was better when he got frequent days off.
Other than the fact that he never has, and in fact is now about replacement level, you’re dead on.
we must have severely different definitions of great.
8 of 65…what happened to him?
I was just wondering the same thing. I thought he used to be a pretty good catcher a couple years back. Maybe he was just good against the M’s, I don’t know.
No kidding. It seemed like every time we played the A’s he’d have some clutch hit.
No kidding. I’m shocked A’s got rid of him. He’s been shuffled so much from team to team. Would love him with Zunino!!
As a Cardinals fan who keeps up pretty well with the Cubs, I feel like Suzuki would be a great fit for them. His skill set would probably fit that team pretty well.
Cubs have a pretty sweet RH/LH, cheap and underrated duo with Castillo and Kottaras. Cubs probably should not be on this list. Weirder things have happened though.
Totally agree… Kottaras takes his walks and provides good defense. Kurt Suzuki, thanks but no thanks
Agreed, I’d rather give the backup job to Kottaras.
I agree. Suzuki is a great club house player to I’ve read
Sounds like the perfect move for the Mariners.
Adding him would be a sweet move for Seattle. A Suzuki/Zunino combination all year would be huge improvement over what this team has had since 2008.
Agreed, would give Zunino a little more time to ease into the position instead of being forced like last year. Then when he seems ready he can go all out on the AL West.
Angels will give you Conger and Aybar for Montero.
Jesus Montero? Done deal. Call Jerry Dipoto and let him know.
Would be interesting if Montero returns back to the Yankees playing first baseman as part of the Brett Gardner’s trade.
What trade would that be?
Mariners-Yankees if Cashman is interested bring Montero back to the Bronx.
Where do I sign? I would gladly do that deal and I don’t think I would need confirmation from any M’s fans or brass.
Agreed likewise. Suzuki can mentor Zunino till he’s ready to catch full time. Plus, Kurt is from Hawaii that’s geographically makes more sense in Seattle.
Might not offer much with the bat, but he would help the Twins pitching staff.
If the Twins are wanting defense first, Buck would be a better sign.
Suzuki though does a great job with working with his staff. He may not be the best at framing pitches, but he does a great job calling a game which would really go a long ways towards fixing the pitching staff.