Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
March 16, 2008
Salt on the Wound

Baseball Time in Arlington discusses the dilemma the Rangers face at catcher:

Another strong campaign from Teagarden in 2008, combined with a lack of opportunity (or results, as the unfortunate by-product of inconsistent playing time) for Saltalamacchia at the big league level, could quite feasibly knock the latter down a peg on the organizational catching depth chart, and perhaps even trigger trade talks to ship Jarrod out of town forever.

And boy, would that be disappointing to see. For as much as I like what Teagarden brings to the table, Saltalamacchia's gorgeous, fluid swing and seemingly limitless offensive potential as a catcher have fully captured my imagination. Make no mistake about it, I want to see Jarrod establish himself as the catcher of the future here in Texas.

And when playoff baseball finally makes its glorious, long-awaited return to the Temple, I want to see Jarrod behind the plate, snapping cool, collected throws back to his pitcher, taking control of the game through not just his game-changing bat, but also his refined glovework, throwing arm and battery communication skills.

Watching a player like Gerald Laird - a decent stopgap, but hardly somebody that figures into the Rangers' long-term plans - potentially even dent Saltalamacchia's chances of becoming what I think he can become in Texas is, by far, the most distressing development to come out of Surprise this spring as far as I'm concerned.

Neither Laird nor Saltalamacchia is hitting for a high average this spring, but both are making their hits count. Laird hit three home runs so far with his seven hits, while Jarrod hit for the cycle with his four hits. What's clear is that at age 28, Laird isn't going to be a great hitter. However, because he is at a performance peak age, the Rangers could get a very good year out of him. Saltalamacchia, at 23, still has time to develop, but I'd rather see him in the majors than the minors at this point. It seems to me the right solution is a catching platoon, with Laird playing against lefties and Jarrod against righties. That should give the youngster between 120 and 130 games behind the plate, which is plenty for any catcher.

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Posted by David Pinto at 09:45 AM | Spring Training | TrackBack (0)
Comments

"And when playoff baseball finally makes its glorious, long-awaited return to the Temple,"

Ah. So he's making it clear that this is a fantasy.

Posted by: Ken Houghton at March 16, 2008 03:29 PM
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