Yesterday we looked at the 200 players coming to Florida for spring training and we promised a position by position look at the rosters. Today we start with the catchers.
There are nineteen catchers in camp plus eighteen year old Carlos Perez who has already been assigned to extended spring training.
The nineteen catchers by estimated level are:
Major league: Rod Barajas
AAA: Michael Barrett; JP Arencibia; Brian Jeroloman; Raul Chavez; Curtis Thigpen
AA: Kyle Phillips
High A: CJ Ebarb; Matt Liuzza; Jon Jaspe; Al Quintana
A: Joel Collins; Jon Talley; Antonio Jimenez; Chris House
Extended: Karim Turkamani; Luis Hurtado; Henry Rodriguez; Jonnathan Valdez
There are definite jobs for two catchers per team, some teams might carry three if one of the catchers is versatile enough to play elsewhere. From the above list Thigpen can play around the infield, Talley has played first base and Quintana has played in the infield.
The first question is who is the major league backup, do you go with Michael Barrett who has an OK bat but is poor defensively or do you pick Brian Jeroloman and have him sit five days a week? My guess would be Barrett with Arencibia a potential call-up mid-season. Jeroloman could be the backup for defensive reasons but his bat would not be as good as Barrett. Also sitting Jeroloman for five days a week could inhibit his development and it would be a sign that the Jays don't think he will develop into more than a good defense, major league backup.
If Barrett is in the big leagues then who is in AAA? I assume it will be Arencibia with Chavez to back him up. Jeroloman can go back to AA where he can play every day and work on his offense, Phillips can be backup there. I don't know what the plan is for Thigpen, he could be on the AAA roster as a utility player but unless he regains his hitting stroke he won't be getting much playing time. He probably could use a change of scenery.
CJ Ebarb could be promoted to AA if Phillips is used as a backup first baseman but he could also return to Dunedin. The Jays could leave Ebarb and Liuzza in Dunedin and send Jaspe back to Lansing to catch alongside one of the young guys. The jury is still out on Talley's ability to catch, he is a tall skinny guy and didn't get a lot of work at catcher in the GCL last year. At the end of last season Dick Scott said that the Jays still see Talley as a catcher but he has a good bat and could be a third catcher, first baseman, DH player. Talley is only 20 years old and the Jays need to find out soon if he can be an everyday catcher, he needs to get regular playing time behind the plate until the Jays decide if he can stay there. Talley could get that playing time in extended spring training but last year the Jays pushed their younger players, I expect them to push Talley too.
The Jays don't appear to value Joel Collins highly so he could be the odd man out in this calculation. Either he or Jaspe might not get a job.
Chris House and Antonio Jimenez are also young guys, 20 and 19 years old respectively. It is hard to judge how much improvement these guys made over the winter and whether they have the ability to catch in A ball. Jimenez did not get a lot of time behind the plate in the GCL so the Jays might leave him and some of the other young catchers in extended to catch 70% of the games. But if Talley is not a catcher in the Jays eyes Lansing needs a catcher who could be experienced, Collins or Jaspe, or young, House or Jimenez.
So my guess at this point would be:
ML: Barajas and Barrett
AAA: Arencibia and Chavez with Thigpen
AA: Jeroloman and Phillips
A+: Ebarb and Liuzza
A: Talley and House
Feel free to make your guesses below.
Tomorrow the first basemen.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20090214104109363