Best Of The Best - Catchers

The signal callers are vital to a team’s success. Not necessarily known for their offense, a lot of catchers still take pride in their offensive abilities. A good all-around catcher can do both, so it was tough to choose the top seven.

1) Cleveland Indians: Victor Martinez is still one of the best catchers in the league. He missed a big portion of the season due to injury. Enter: Kelly Shoppach. Shoppach played in a career high 112 games and produced—21 home runs and 55 RBIs. With a duo of Martinez and Shoppach, the Indians are set for the year, barring an injury.

2) Minnesota Twins: The Twins might have the best all-around catcher in the game in Joe Mauer. The one downfall to Mauer’s game is his lack of power. No one can be perfect though. He has all the offensive tools (.328, 85 RBI) and defensive tools to be number one in the league. Mike Redmond is a very capable backup who hasn’t hit under .285 in the last four years. A backup who is a career .292 hitter is an awesome asset to a team.

3) New York Yankees: Jorge Posada might be getting older, but he isn’t showing too many signs of age. He might have been injured but at the age of 36, he hit .338 with 20 home runs and 90 RBIs (2007 number). Jose Molina is a great backup who can block anything thrown his way. He uses his big body to block balls and his strong arm to throw out would-be base stealers.

4) Seattle Mariners: I’m high on Kenji Johjima so I believe he will bounce back to form after a pretty poor season last year. Rob Johnson and Jeff Clement are two top prospects who will both get a chance to back up Johjima this season.

5) Texas Rangers: All three guys on the 40-man roster are 25 or younger so the future is now for Texas. Jarrod Saltalamacchia will get his shot to be the first string catcher, but if he isn’t ready the Rangers have two other capable of handling a heavy workload. Max Ramirez is a big prospect but will most likely start the year at AAA. Taylor Teagarden exploded onto the scene last year hitting .319 in 47 at-bats. If Saltalamacchia struggles, Teagarden will be waiting.

Honorable mention for top catchers:
Detroit Tigers: Detroit makes this list for balance of experience and youthfulness. Two catchers, Brandon Inge and Gerald Laird are looking to challenge for the number one spot. The loser will backup. Inge can play other positions, so maybe Laird, Inge, and prospect Dusty Ryan could all make the roster. Dusty Ryan got a shot in September and played quite a lot. He struggled at times defensively but hit .318 in 44 at-bats. He can’t be held back too much longer.

Tampa Bay Rays: The Rays make the final cut because of their starting catcher, Dioner Navarro. Navarro made his first All-Star appearance after struggling in his first couple of Major League seasons. Shawn Riggans or John Jaso will fight for the backup job.

And for the top National League backstops:

1) Atlanta Braves: Brian McCann is coming off one of his best seasons hitting .301 with 23 home runs and 87 RBIs. Pretty solid numbers for a catcher. His backup will be either power hitter, David Ross, or young prospect Clint Sammons. Either way the Braves are in a good situation at catcher.

2) Los Angeles Dodgers: The Dodgers are high on the list mainly because of their starter, Russell Martin. Martin is a true all-around catcher who can hit, run, and call a game. Martin played in 155 games last season—almost unheard of for a catcher. He may have to do it again next year because the Dodgers backups are nothing special.

3) Chicago Cubs: Who said catchers weren’t known for their offense? Geovany Soto broke onto the scene in 2007 as a power-hitting catcher and it continued in the 2008 season as he was named 2008 NL Rookie of the Year. Henry Blanco will be missed as the backup catcher, but the Cubs still have a couple of options. Most likely Koyie Hill will begin the year as Soto’s backup with Jake Fox waiting if Hill struggles.

4) St. Louis Cardinals: Yadier Molina had his best season yet compiling great offensive numbers: .304, 7 home runs and 56 RBIs. His defense is outstanding. He won his first (with more to come) Gold Glove Award last season. I even saw him throw a guy out from his knees while he was losing his balance and falling forward. It was incredible, but to Cardinals fans, they have come to expect it from him. Jason LaRue is a veteran backup who won’t be asked to do too much.

5) Colorado Rockies: Yorvit Torrealba and Chris Iannetta are both capable of starting on many teams. Problem is, they are on the same team. Good news for the Colorado Rockies. They have two catchers who can both play well, with one taking the bulk if the other struggles.

Honorable mention for top catchers:
Milwaukee Brewers: The Brewers liked what they got out of Jason Kendall last season. He may not have been the best hitter around, but he battled and put the ball in play. He is a tough guy who doesn’t mind taking a pitch in the arm to get on base. His defense improved greatly from the 2007 season. He threw out a substantial amount more base runners than 2007 and the Brewers hope that it will continue next year. Mike Rivera is a capable backup who hit .306 as a backup to Kendall last year.

San Francisco Giants: Bengie Molina might be one of the slowest guys ever to play baseball, but he can still hit, field, and throw. He compiled nice numbers last year hitting .292 with 16 home runs and 95 RBIs. He, like his brother Yadier, has a fantastic arm and great blocking ability. He has two Gold Gloves under (above?) his belt so he is an all-around catcher. Steve Holm or Pablo Sandoval both have a shot to backup Molina. The 22-year old Sandoval played well last season hitting .345 in 145 at-bats. He probably has the edge, although the Giants might want to let him play every day in AAA.

This concludes my series on best of the best. Look for more sports news in the near future.