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Getting your mitts on a stud catcher isn't easy

Sporting News, The, July 21, 2006 by Mike Berardino

Young starting pitching is the most valuable commodity in today's game and probably always will be, but a close second is top young catching.

Good luck finding it.

"That is one position you can never get enough good ones," Devil Rays manager Joe Maddon says. "I think it's a perpetual dearth."

That's why the few contenders with top catching prospects could make the most noise before the July 31 nonwaiver trading deadline.

The Mariners, with Kenji Johjima in the majors and former first-round pick Jeff Clement blocked at Class AAA, seem to be among those teams. Same for the Angels, who have Mike Napoli in the majors and the more highly touted Jeff Mathis at Class AAA.

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The A's have a couple of lesser prospects (Kurt Suzuki and Jeremy Brown) to toss around in trade talks, which makes the American League West unusual.

Overall, the lack of quality catching is "kind of an epidemic," says Andrew Friedman, Tampa Bay's chief of baseball operations.

From almost the moment Friedman was hired last fall, he conducted an industrywide search for a worthy young catcher to build around.

Early on, he focused on the Dodgers' Dioner Navarro, who in fact did become available once Russell Martin caught and passed him this spring. But it took Friedman many phone conversations with Dodgers G.M. Ned Colletti and a generous package of lefthander Mark Hendrickson and catcher Toby Hall to make it happen.

The Rays even were willing to overlook the fact Navarro, 22, had failed to throw out any of the 16 runners who had attempted to steal against him with L.A.

If Navarro was atop Tampa's list, how short was it? Friedman smiles.

"Pretty short," he says.

The trouble is that most organizations with young catchers on the way are hoping to use them in their own lineups for a decade or more. Everybody sees what the Twins' Joe Mauer and the Braves' Brian McCann are doing, and they dream about one day getting similar production from a home-grown catcher.

The Pirates certainly view Neil Walker that way, even with young Ronny Paulino already in the majors. The Padres have Class AA catcher George Kottaras ranked near the top of their prospect list.

The Indians (Kelly Shoppach), Diamondbacks (Miguel Montero), Braves (Jarrod Saltalamacchia), Orioles (Brandon Snyder), Phillies (Jason Jaramillo), Reds (Miguel Perez), Blue Jays (Curtis Thigpen) and White Sox (Francisco Hernandez) all have promising prospects as well.

However, Saltalamacchia was struggling mightily before recently landing on the D.L. Snyder, Jaramillo and Perez aren't hitting much at Class AA, either.

The reality is the vast majority of young catchers won't pan out. Injuries or flaws in their receiving skills or at the plate will keep them from being everyday players.

Backup catchers? Those aren't so hard to find. It's the 130-game horses that everybody is scrambling to find--with little Success.

That's why Maddon suggests teams would be wise to follow in the tradition of his former organization, the Angels, and convert young draftees to catcher whenever possible. Bengie Molina, Todd Greene and Jorge Fabregas are just a few of the catcher conversions who have worked out through the years for the Angels, and Maddon rattles off three-time Gold Glove winner Tom Pagnozzi and three-time All-Star Terry Steinbach as past examples with other clubs.

"Creativity is the key," Maddon says. "Keep your mind open. You get them in instructional league that first year, you watch them and start making projections in the back of your mind about what they may do."

Considering the "perpetual dearth" behind the plate, teams will take their catchers wherever they can find them.

BETTER LEATHER

Marlins coach Perry Hill has tutored at least nine All-Star infielders, and he knew he had another good one after his first conversation with Dan Uggla, which came shortly after he was taken in the Rule 5 draft last December.

The book on Uggla was fairly blunt; decent bat, lousy glove. So Hill called Uggla at his Tennessee home and said, "Let's get this straight. Do you want me to leave you alone, or do you want me to work with you?"

Uggla replied humbly: "There's probably a couple of things that need to be tweaked:

That was enough for Hill, who has a reputation for being a wizard at coaching infield defense. Uggla still isn't Gold Glove material; he committed nine errors in his first 76 big-league games at second base. But his progress is marked considering he made 25 errors as a Diamondbacks minor leaguer last year.

Uggla ranks second among N.L. second basemen in on-base plus slugging percentage, but his improved glove is another reason he's believed to be the first Rule 5 pick to become an All-Star in his first big-league season.

speed reads

Royals G.M. Dayton Moore is right to take things slowly with talented righthander Zack Greinke, who is working his way back from psychological problems at Class AA.

If Manny Ramirez wanted to ignore the wishes of millions of fans who voted for him and skip the All-Star Game, the least he could have done was make the announcement himself.

Getting your mitts on a stud catcher isn't easy

Sporting News, The, July 21, 2006 by Mike Berardino

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