Poll time: Who will catch next year?

We have talked about the choices the Blue Jays face at second base and at shortstop, let’s continue along talking about the choices the team has at catcher.

Yesterday, after the ballgame, Joe Siddall said that the Jays were most likely going to carry 3 catchers on next year’s roster, Danny Jansen, Reese McGuire and Russell Martin who would take the job of utility infielder for the most part.

I honestly can’t see them carrying 3 catchers on the roster, especially considering they’ll have 8 (or sometimes 9) guys in the bullpen. And, as much as Martin looked ok at third and better than I would at short, I think we have better choices for utility infielders. I think Aldemys Diaz fills the role nicely, but there are others that can fill that spot.

I think it is likely Martin will be on the roster, but mostly as a backup catch or co-catcher, and maybe occasionally as an emergency infielder, but if we are planning on him being our main utility infielder, I think that would be a mistake.

Our choices at catcher:

Martin: Had a terrible year with the bat, I’d hope for a bounce back season, but he will be 36 next year. I’m not sure how much bounce there is left. Hit .194/.338/.325 for a wRC+ of 91. At catcher, defensively he’s still decent. His arm isn’t what it once was, but he did throw out 22% of base stealers. I think he has a fair bit of value as a mentor/catcher coach, but clearly not $20 million worth of value. I’d imagine the team would be thrilled if they could trade him, but they would have to send a lot of money along with him, and even then I’m not sure there would be a market.

Maile: He had a much better year with the bat than last year, which isn’t saying all that much. He hit .250/.336/.370 good for a wRC+ of 96 (not bad for a backup catcher). Defensively, he seems good. He threw out 31% of base stealer. The best part is that he comes cheap and he has an option left. The trouble is we are going to be facing a 40-man roster crunch and he’s not so good that we couldn’t pick up someone off waivers who would be pretty much as good, if we were to need another catch. Like Martin, I think he could be a good mentor for the younger guys.

Jansen: He is getting a lot of playing time, and his bat has been good, .260/.356/.455 with 3 home runs in 90 PA. Behind the plate, there has been the odd issue, but he seems to be settling down. He’s only thrown out 13% of base stealers. In Buffalo he threw out 23% of base stealers this year. He needs to get most of the playing time next year, no matter how they put together the roster.

Reese McGuire: He hasn’t played all that much, but he’s looked good defensively (I think he looks better defensively than Jansen) and it was nice to see him hit a home run yesterday. He’s thrown out 2 of 10 base stealers. I’m not sure the team would be better off having him play full time in Buffalo next year, instead of being the backup in Toronto, but I’m sure wouldn’t feel the same. Getting MLB minimum wage would be massively better than getting minor league dollars. If they could find a way to move Martin, and if they choose him over Maile, I’m sure he could be a good backup catcher.

Beyond them the team has to decide if Max Pentecost deserves to go on the 40-man. I imagine they won’t add him, but it was good to see him get through a season without a major injury. He threw out 40% of base stealers for the Fisher Cats. Didn’t hit great, 253/.283/.401, but he finished well, hitting .375/.381/.650 in August, winning Eastern league player of the month.