February 04, 2009
What do you do with a Fryer?
The Yankees manage to trade Chase Wright after he was designated for assignment to make room for Andy Pettitte. Wright was the pitcher who gave up four consecutive home runs to the Red Sox in 2007.
The Yankees get Eric Fryer, who is described as an outfielder-catcher:
The 23-year old Fryer hit .335 with 10 homers and 63 RBIs in 104 games for Class A West Virginia last year. He led the South Atlantic League in batting average and on-base percentage (.407) and was third in slugging percentage (.506).
It's pretty good to get someone who is leading his league in these categories, although his age means he's more mature than a lot of players at that level. If he's a real catcher with those numbers, he might be a real steal. If, however, you're labeled as a an outfielder-catcher, I suspect his defensive abilities behind the plate aren't that good. Needless to say, it's an intriguing trade.
Posted by David Pinto at
01:25 PM
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It looks like he played about 37% of his games last year as a catcher (39 of 105). A little more than half he played in the outfield (55 of 105).
I wonder how Prince Fielder reacted to hearing the Fryer was traded. ;)
He doesn't have to catch. The Yanks need a center fielder.
someone described as a "catcher-outfielder" Is probably best suited to the corner outfield positions. I doubt that Fryer is the yankee CF of the future.
I don't agree, TC.
I mean, yes, the Yankees need a CF. But which do they need more: an A-ball catcher, or an A-ball CF? The former, I think. In the next few years they have a much better chance of picking up a very good CF in free agency than they have of getting a really good catcher.
I'm assuming there is no way this kid plays MLB this year, and that it's unlikely he could make a contribution next year.
James...I'd say is just as likely he'll NEVER make a contribution on the ML level, but the Yankees were going to lose Wright for nothing, so they could have done a lot worse than a catching prospect who's shown he can hit some.
Brian, I think it's likely he'll make some ML contribution, but maybe not so likely it will be with the Yankees. (That's what you could say about Melky, if the Yanks weren't pretty much stuck with him for the time being.)
But, yeah, even if he turns out to be a back-up C, there's at least some value there, and if he can be a good starting catcher the deal is a great one. (But if he's a serious catching prospect, why did the Brewers trade him for Chase Wright??)
come on, get A-ball CF thats it