Among the reasons that the decade's two best baseball teams have combined for 15 playoff spots and three World Series titles has been their strength behind the dish. As we leave the aughts and start the teens, suddenly the reverse is true. The Red Sox have two bad options at catcher while the Yankees' only bad option is now no option at all.
For years, Jorge Posada struggled to reach the mean defensively while lighting up opposing pitchers like a left fielder. His .275/.377/.479 bonafides with the bat are 23% better than the average player who is spared the need to squat all game. After injury struggles and obvious decline the last three years, Yankee brass has advisedly banished Posada to DH in the hope that fresh legs will keep his bat vital.
Great strategy...if you have a replacement. Whether Francisco Cervelli and his .343/.340 in 423 MLB at-bats was a legitimate contender is now moot for two months thanks to a busted left foot. Even when he returns, his resume includes a league leading number of errors last year in half a season and and 14% caught stealing rate. That leaves Joe Girardi one step closer to donning the gear himself, or sending out Yogi, given the alternatives.
Yankee fans may believe Jesus is their savior. The #4 prospect in baseball, Jesus Montero, stood tall in Triple-A last year (.289/.553/.517) before he could legally drink a beer. Scouts say the bat plays at the next level but he moves behind the plate like George Wendt. The franchise may be better served seasoning him in Scranton before Carl Crawford steals four bases and his pride the first time the Sox come to town.
Brian Cashman alertly signed the worn nub of Russell Martin during the off-season for just such a circumstance. Martin was a firecracker out of the gate as a 23-year-old Dodger rookie in '06, earning two All-Star berths and a centerfold in Hot Backstop magazine. But his knees absorbed 449 games of wear over the next three years, causing his power and defensive prowess to disintegrate. Spottier duty in the Bronx might lead to a revival, or he might just have used up all his mojo.
The Red Sox begin the year already in this predicament. The departure of Victor Martinez, combined with the retention of Jason Varitek, but not his baseball skills, leaves Boston with two choices, both lousy. Either they suit up 38-year-old Tek, who's been roughly replacement level for three years, or they give former prospect Jarrod Saltalamacchia an opportunity to show Varitek what replacement level's really all about. In 800+ games, Salty has won membership in the Third String Catcher union, but not much else. His 82 OPS+ (i.e., he hits 18% worse than average; striking out 30% of the time will do that to a fella) belies a below-average defensive skill set.
The pickle in which NY and Boston find themselves is not particularly novel. Absent Atlanta and Minnesota, most teams punt the backstop position to a defender who is even odds to hit his weight. It's just the contrast that's so vivid. Between 2001-2005, Boston's receiver posted an OPS over .850 four times, made two All-Star teams and starred in his own version of True Grit. From 2000-2007, his New York counterpart made a Hall of Fame case, smacking 183 homers and tripping .920 on the OPS meter three times.
To see their teams struggle to fill the void, even in their presence, is disorienting. Maybe it's a sign the torch is being passed. Fans in Baltimore and Toronto, two teams set at catcher, can only hope.
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