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Catching Cold: Taking A Look At The Ranger Catchers

A year from now, assuming the Minnesota Twins aren’t still battling for a World Series title, Joe Mauer will be sitting at home and pondering his future. Mauer’s contract expires after next season, and he’ll have his choice of where he wants to play baseball in 2011. If he leaves his native Minnesota for, say, New York or Boston or Los Angeles, he could very well sign one of the richest contracts in baseball history. If he stays with the Twins, he’ll probably have to settle for less… somewhere in the $15 million a year range. In other words, Joe’s no ordinary Joe.

The reason for all the hype around Mauer is quite simple: good catchers are hard to come by, and a truly great catcher, like Mauer, can be once in a generation. Which helps to explain why only one catcher in the last 32 years — the Rangers’ own Ivan Rodriguez in 1999 — has earned an MVP award in either league (though that could  change in a month if Mauer is named A.L. MVP, as expected). It’s also why rookie catcher Matt Wieters, who the normally conservative PECOTA system pegged for a .949 OPS this year, received a standing ovation as he approached the plate for his first major league at-bat back in May.

There just aren’t many guys that can withstand six month’s worth of beatings behind the plate and still crank out a hit or two per game. So when Texas traded Gerald Laird, a solid starting catcher with two controllable years left, because they seemingly had too much catching last December, quite a few teams looked on in envy. The parting was mutual: Laird wanted a chance to be “the man” behind the plate, and the Rangers were ready to show off a deep farm system that boasted prospects like Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Taylor Teagarden, and Max Ramirez, as well as Tomas Telis, Manny Pina, and Leonel De Los Santos at the lower levels of the minors. But less than a year later, things aren’t so rosy. After a season in which none of their young catchers established themselves at the big league level, the Rangers have been left to wonder if their future backstop is even on the current roster.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia

Past

Jarrod Saltalamacchia entered the season as Laird’s heir apparent because, despite being younger than both Teagarden and Ramirez, Saltalamacchia had more than five times as many major league at-bats as the other two combined. One of the key components of the Mark Teixeira trade in 2007, Saltalamacchia was touted as a switch hitter with rare power for a catcher. In 1405 career minor league at-bats, Salty showed solid power (48 homers), a good eye (197 walks), and a slightly concerning strikeout rate (324 Ks). Though he didn’t appear to be a threat for any batting titles and his defense was still a work in progress, his 6′4″, 235 pound frame suggested that he could continue to add power to his stroke and draw 50-70 walks a year.

Present

While parts of that scouting report were visible in the 2009 version of Salty, he certainly wasn’t the player the Rangers expected this season. At the plate, he seemed to seriously regress from 2008. Some pointed to a high strikeout rate (97 Ks in 283 ABs) as a major source of his problems, but oddly, Saltalamacchia actually improved his K rate, striking out once every 2.92 at-bats versus once every 2.67 at-bats in ‘08. The most obvious factors in Saltalamacchia’s offensive regression were a major drop in walks and a plummeting BAbip. Despite 85 more at-bats in 2009, Salty actually drew nine fewer walks than he did last year, failing to fluff his fledgling batting average like he did in 2008.

But the biggest culprit could be a short run of luck, as his BAbip (batting average on balls in play) dropped 65 points from last season. Batting average on balls in play is, quite simply, a player’s batting average on any ball put in play except home runs, since the defense can’t track down a ball that leaves the park. Mostly, it’s a stat that’s used to gauge if a player is getting lucky by having a lot of bloopers and dribblers fall in for base hits.

An average BAbip is about .290. In 2008, Saltalamacchia’s BAbip was .385. Not only is that high, it’s considered unsustainable, so a drop was expected and, frankly, statistically probable. This year, Salty had a BAbip of .320, which is still above average but much closer to the mean. Consequently, he saw a 20 point drop in his batting average which, combined with a lack of walks, led to a 62 point drop in on-base percentage. Some players get by with consistently high BAbip’s as a result of hitting the ball on the screws nearly every time. The aforementioned Mauer, for example, had a BAbip of .373 this season and a .344 mark for his career. But those players are the exception, not the rule that Saltalamacchia appears to be a part of.

On the bright side, Saltalamacchia took tremendous strides defensively, improving his caught stealing percentage from 18.4 percent in 2008 to 23.8 percent in 2009. That number is still below the MLB average of around 27 percent, but it’s much closer. He also reduced his errors from nine a year ago to seven this season, as well as passed balls from six to two despite logging 250 more innings behind the plate. Most importantly, his CERA (catcher’s ERA) dropped from 5.14 in ‘08 to 4.08 in ‘09. It’s important to note that at least a part of that decrease was due to improved defense by the Rangers, but it was obvious that he had a much better handle the pitching staff than last year.

Future

Saltalamacchia is still only 24-years-old and he showed flashes of his power potential with nine homers in 2009. He also slightly improved his strikeout ratio and took significant strides defensively, although that’s not saying much considering where he was a year ago. But, as it doesn’t appear that he’ll ever make enough contact to be a .300 hitter, Saltalamacchia’s going to have to continue to grow into his power and absolutely must increase his walk totals and cut down on the Ks. The defense, though better, was still below average in many respects. He’s a work in progress, but he’s still got plenty of tools to work with.

Taylor Teagarden

Past

When the Rangers snagged Taylor Teagarden in the 3rd round of the 2005 amateur draft, it looked like they had gotten a steal. Teagarden was widely regarded as a 1st or 2nd round talent coming out of the University of Texas, and he backed it up by mashing Northwest League pitching to the tune of .281/.426/.635 in 96 at-bats in his pro debut. After missing almost all of the 2006 season following Tommy John surgery, Teagarden continued his impressive tear through the minors by smoking the Cal League (.315/.448/.606) for 81 games, and keeping it going for double-A Frisco (.294/.357/.529) for another 29 contests. Teagarden seemed to have all of the best and worst qualities of Saltalamacchia, multiplied. He struck out 249 times in just 756 minor league at-bats, but countered that with plenty of power (43 homers) and an impeccable eye (143 walks).

Present

The problem for Teagarden was that he brought all the bad and forgot the good. In 2009, Teagarden  struck out once every 2.605 at-bats, which was just a tick worse than Chris Davis. I’ll let that sink in for a minute…

He showed decent power, but nothing particularly noteworthy, as he homered six times in 198 at-bats. He also failed to show the discipline that earned him so many walks in the minors. Teagarden had one of the lowest contact percentages in baseball, making contact with only 62 percent of the pitches he swung at last year. By contrast, Saltalamacchia had a contact percentage of 71 percent, and Michael Young was at 80 percent.

Defensively, Teagarden was much more successful than Salty at throwing out runners, owning an excellent caught stealing rate of 38.3 percent, well above league average. He did, however, have have three more passed balls and only one fewer error than Saltalamacchia in over 200 fewer innings. His CERA of 4.56 was also about half a run higher.

Future

Teagarden got the short end of the stick in many regards this year. His playing time was sparse and inconsistent, and he was assigned the unenviable task of taking on a tired, overachieving rotation when Saltalamacchia went down for the season. When he was drafted, many thought Teagarden was ML-ready defensively. Although his defense may have been better than Saltalamacchia’s in 2009, the difference was fairly negligible. And while Teagarden was never expected to be a good offensive catcher, hitting .217 and striking out 40 percent of the time obviously isn’t going to cut it. At this point, Teagarden could still turn into a solid defensive catcher with a little pop, but his offensive upside appears to be significantly limited.

Ivan Rodriguez

Past

Pudge’s past is full of goodies: 14 All-Star appearances, 13 Gold Gloves, seven Silver Sluggers, a World Series title, and an already mentioned A.L. MVP award. His more recent past, however, doesn’t look so nice. Pudge’s offensive skills have been, understandably, on the decline since mid-decade. Prior to this season, Pudge had four straight years of a sub-.800 OPS, and his .276 average last year was his lowest since 1993.

Present

The fact that Pudge laid claim to the record for most games caught in baseball history this year is a testament to his durability and toughness, but also to just what a beating his body has taken for nearly two decades. At the plate, 2009 was the worst year for Rodriguez since his second big league campaign back in 1992, posting a season .664 OPS. He was quick to rekindle old chemistry when Houston traded him to Texas, going 10 for his first 29 with 5 doubles and a homer to start his Ranger revival. But Rodriguez was dreadful the rest of the way, hitting .203 with a .515 OPS over the final month and not even playing in any of the Rangers’ last four games.

Pudge’s offensive woes were the result of a line drive percentage of 16 and a strikeout percentage of 20.5, both easily career worsts. Essentially, that means Rodriguez wasn’t putting the ball in play as much as in years past, and when he was, he was making weak contact more often. Unless there was  some major unknown injury he was battling through, both of those stats appear to be the result of age and wear, things that certainly won’t get better with time.

He’s still a threat behind the plate, throwing out 6 of 13 would-be base stealers while with the Rangers, and an excellent 35 percent overall for the season. Obviously, he’s not the defensive catcher he was ten or fifteen years ago, but even at 37, runners take heed to whose in the chest protector. His CERA was the highest of all regular Rangers catchers at 4.88, but a portion of that could be attributed to unfamiliarity and pitcher fatigue.

Future

After an ugly late-season run with the Yankees in 2008, Pudge needed an outstanding showing at the World Baseball Classic last spring just to earn a tryout with the Astros. The result was another significant step back in his production in ‘09. From preliminary reports, it seems as though both sides remain interested in a possible reunion next year, presumably because Rodriguez lacks options and the Rangers remain uncertain in their catching situation. But the truth is the Rangers should be able to get out of Teagarden and Saltalamacchia what they could get out of Pudge, or at least they better hope so. And with a number of prospects becoming eligible for the Rule V draft, the Rangers might need the space on the 40-man roster.

Max Ramirez

AP Photo

Past

He’s probably one of the easiest names of the ‘07 deadline haul to forget amidst guys like Saltalamacchia, Elvis Andrus, Neftali Feliz, Matt Harrison, and David Murphy. But ever since Max Ramirez first picked up a bat, all he’s done is hit. Starting with two years in rookie ball as a 19- and 20-year-old, Ramirez hit .314 with 16 homers and 50 walks in 443 at-bats. He started 2007 with the advanced-A Kinston Indians and switched to the Bakersfield Blaze mid-season after the Rangers acquired him for Kenny Lofton. But it wasn’t until 2008 that he absolutely broke out, posting a .354/.450/.646 line with 17 homers and 37 walks in just 243 at-bats during his first stint at double-A, earning a prompt promotion to triple-A Oklahoma City. Since then, however, he hasn’t quite been the same.

Present

After his call-up to Oklahoma City, Ramirez posted a .725 OPS in 10 games with the RedHawks before making the jump to the big leagues, where he posted a nearly identical .715 OPS in 17 appearances. A strong winter league showing didn’t seem to help Ramirez’s 2009 campaign, which was a struggle from the onset, marred by a wrist sprain that hampered him all season. Ramirez started out very slowly, and after a DL stint and a very brief rehab assignment in the Arizona League, he started making small progress. But his final line in ‘09 was nowhere near where we’re used to seeing from him, going .234/.323/.336 with just five homers in 274 at-bats.

Defense has been a major question mark for Ramirez since his acquisition, with most experts projecting him as a DH or 1B at the ML level. Quite simply, his defense doesn’t quite stack up for a catcher by major league standards, and the Rangers have struggled to find a position that suits his glove any better. But, if he can get his bat back to where it was for Frisco in 2008, Texas would put him where ever they had to to get him at-bats.

Future

The lingering questions about his defense took a back seat to offensive concerns in 2009, but it seems a nagging wrist injury had as much to do with Ramirez’s struggles this year as anything physically or psychologically wrong with his approach. Ramirez will have a chance to return to form in 2010, but having just turned 25-years-old on October 11, he’s starting to outgrow the “prospect” label. If Ramirez can’t put it together next year, he’ll be treading dangerously close to Jason Botts territory.