With few options out there to help the catching situation, one may exist in Marlins C Rob Brantly. He was their opening day starter in 2013, after hitting well in 113 AB's to end 2012. Yet they rushed him, and was absolutely Phegley-Flowers esqe in 243 ab's last year [hitting .211/.263/.265] and he ended up the year in AAA. Still, the last two years he hit .262/.322/.360 vs. RHP. in the bigs. With the Marlins signing Saltamalacchia for 3 years, Brantly is scheduled to start 2014 in AAA.

 

Baseball Prospect Nation said this about him, having Brantly as the Marlins #7 prospect heading into 2013.

 

"Brantly is a player I have liked since his days in the Tigers organization. He has improved dramatically behind the plate, showing average potential as a defender. His arm is an above-average tool and while he still boxes some pitches, his receiving now borders on average grades as well. Brantly augments his solid defense with an excellent offensive approach, good contact ability and the overall potential to hit .280 with plenty of gap power."

 

http://baseballprospectnation.com/2013/01/...p-15-prospects/

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playe...&position=C

 

Nothing big. But getting a guy with upside, is 24 years old, who can platoon with Flowers or Phegley, at a reasonable cost in terms of what it would take to acquire him, may be a reasonable route to take.

 

Sounds good to me, if he's cheap. I don't want the Sox wasting resources on some mediocre veteran..certainly not this year when we aren't winning anyway. Play Phegley and some new prospect. We pretty much know that Flowers can't be a ML starting catcher.

I actually had him in mind when I kept hearing Lobaton and Jaso's name. I think he would be a great addition.

 

I'd do Rienzo straight up for him.

If the Sox pick up a decent LH hitting vet, I wouldn't mind it. But the cost in terms of talent would be pretty high via trade. I thought they should have targeted a free agent, like Bryan Pena. But I liked the Nieto pick up. Yet Brantly is only 4 months older than Adrian Nieto, and has at least played in the bigs. Nieto hasn't played above high A.

I actually had him in mind when I kept hearing Lobaton and Jaso's name. I think he would be a great addition.

 

I'd do Rienzo straight up for him.

 

Did you watch Rienzo pitch last year? He certainly is worth more than a AAA catcher.

 

I actually had him in mind when I kept hearing Lobaton and Jaso's name. I think he would be a great addition.

 

I'd do Rienzo straight up for him.

I saw Lobaton's splits vs RHP-horrible. Rienzo would probably be too much in terms of cost to acquire him-even if I'm not a fan of his.

It would seem that the best option would be Jaso, though it would be hard to understand why Bean would trade him. I seem to recall somebody posting earlier that Hahn and Bean had discussed Jaso, but there was concern about post-concussion symptoms. Perhaps if there is a possible deal, they are waiting for Jaso to get medical clearance. We could only hope, because he would be marvelous against RH pitchers.

I'm all for upgrading offensively at catcher but let's not allow the defense to slip either. Jaso threw out 4 of 28 base stealers last year, that's a rather pathetic 14%. Same piece of trash in Lobaton, caught 10 of 63 base stealers last year for another pathetic 14%. Is this how you help your young pitching staff? Thanks but no thanks, Flowers and Phegley both do much better. The right help will come around, let's be patient for it though instead of settling for something out of desperation.

Any interest in Kurt Suzuki?

 

His offense was pretty blah last season and his career OBP is .309. Guess my view on him is skewed because he's had his share of big hits against the White Sox.

I was going to ask about him, he was always good with the a's and killed us

Rob Brantly put up .273/.328/.384/.712 during his career in the minors.

 

Frankly, I don't want the Sox adding any more young catchers unless it's an impact type talent. Neither Brantley nor Lobaton nor Jaso fit that description.

Rob Brantly put up .273/.328/.384/.712 during his career in the minors.

 

Frankly, I don't want the Sox adding any more young catchers unless it's an impact type talent. Neither Brantley nor Lobaton nor Jaso fit that description.

 

Agree

I actually had him in mind when I kept hearing Lobaton and Jaso's name. I think he would be a great addition.

 

I'd do Rienzo straight up for him.

We can't waste a single prospect on stop gap veterans. If you want to move DeAza, fine.

On a relative basis, we are getting less production out of 3B and LF than C anyway. A lot of teams have catchers that can't hit.

Edited December 16, 201312 yr by GreenSox

Rob Brantly put up .273/.328/.384/.712 during his career in the minors.

 

Frankly, I don't want the Sox adding any more young catchers unless it's an impact type talent. Neither Brantley nor Lobaton nor Jaso fit that description.

Out of curiosity, who would you have the Sox realistically target? Esp. If you want an impact C. Any impact guy would weaken the sox farm dramatically. With 3b taken care of, the sox can get by with a defensive guy at C. Though preferably a LH one.

Out of curiosity, who would you have the Sox realistically target? Esp. If you want an impact C. Any impact guy would weaken the sox farm dramatically. With 3b taken care of, the sox can get by with a defensive guy at C. Though preferably a LH one.

 

If I am adding catchers of Brantly's talent, I am combing the waiver wire. There are no names in particular regarding that.

 

The two guys that come to mind immediately at catcher are Wieters and Grandal, though I have no idea what the cost is or if they are even available. Rosario from Colorado is another option too, but he fits in the same boat as the aforementioned two.

 

Frankly, I don't believe the cost is going to be appropriate there for the Sox to make any sort of significant move. I think you stick with Flowers, Phegley, and Nieto and you keep your eyes open on the waiver wire.

Austin Hedges, a top prospect for the Padres has an ETA of 2015. They have a switch-hitting catcher in Yasmani Grandal now that they can trade and play Hundley for another year+ or however long it takes for Hedges to come up. But I would try to get Grandal. Not sure what it would take though.

Micah Johnson, Tyler Flowers and Scott Snodgress. Sign a LH SU man and call it an offseason. If only Kevin Towers were still the GM of the Padres...

 

No to Johnson.

ONe of the great things about what Hahn has done, is that he hasn't traded a single meaningful prospect. Let's keep that up...we need to build minor league depth.

And we're going to need those minor league arms.

Edited December 17, 201312 yr by GreenSox

Since we're going youth...I wonder what it would take to pry either Sanchez (pipe dream I know) or Murphy from the Yankees? A package with Lexi?..