Catchers

[bleedspeed]

http://www.1500espn.com/twins-2/2016/11/ramos/

[Monster]

Thanks for posting that Bleed. What a sad group of FA catchers it is out there. I don't really see any of these guys as a no brainer answer including Ramos although obviously he is the #1 guy available. On the other hand the Twins don't exactly have a ready guy at this point and they need somebody. They at least need a vet guy I would think. At this point I would just sign a vet catcher to a cheap 1 year deal and go from there and hope a young catcher shows something. That sounds liek a weak plan, but how many legit good catchers are in MLB? 10? 15? idk I don't follow the sport that close, but it doesn't seem like a very deep position.

[bleedspeed]

Signed Castro to 3 year contract.

http://www.1500espn.com/twins-2/2016/11/report-twins-reach-agreement-jason-castro-3-year-24-5-million-deal/

A first-round pick by Houston in 2008, Castro played six seasons with the Astros. While he isn't known for his production at the plate, the 29-year-old is known for his ability behind it. He's considered to be very good at framing pitches and calling games.

New Twins executives Derek Falvey and Thad Levine wanted a catcher who excelled in this area, feeling it would help a pitching staff that struggled last season as the Twins lost a franchise-record 103 games. The Twins posted an earned-run average of 5.08, second-worst in the big leagues to Arizona (5.09 ERA).

[Monster]

Signed Castro to 3 year contract.

http://www.1500espn.com/twins-2/2016/11/report-twins-reach-agreement-jason-castro-3-year-24-5-million-deal/

A first-round pick by Houston in 2008, Castro played six seasons with the Astros. While he isn't known for his production at the plate, the 29-year-old is known for his ability behind it. He's considered to be very good at framing pitches and calling games.

New Twins executives Derek Falvey and Thad Levine wanted a catcher who excelled in this area, feeling it would help a pitching staff that struggled last season as the Twins lost a franchise-record 103 games. The Twins posted an earned-run average of 5.08, second-worst in the big leagues to Arizona (5.09 ERA).

Sounds good to me anyone worth anything was gonna get a couple million a year. When the Twins signed Suzuki it was almost 3 million and that was a decent deal. The Twins needed a catcher and Castro by all accounts is pretty good defensively and offensively he seems about as good and bad as other catchers available. If somehow the Twins have a young catcher play well as long as Castro is healthy they probably won't have a hard time finding someone to take him off their hands. I don't know what else there is to do next except looking for any pitcher they think can help them.

[bleedspeed]

Framing Read

http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/11127248/how-catcher-framing-becoming-great-skill-smart-teams-new-york-yankees-espn-magazine

[bleedspeed]

Interesting feedback. I agree it was a safe play for a catcher. We needed to do something. I wonder with the lack of catching prospects in our farm system if we don't try and get a rule 5 player as a backup and hope they blossom with us. Looking back we really messed up letting Ramo's go and not having any other options. We should be trading from a position of strength.

http://www.1500espn.com/twins-2/2016/11/wetmore-opinion-twins-signing-jason-castro-may-hinge-pitch-framing-value/

[Monster]

Catching is always an injury concern but it seems to me both Weiters and Ramos are more concerning there than Castro. One of the things that has been valuable about Suzuki is he has been available. If those guys have injury concerns then you have to wonder about their relative upsides compared to Castro.

I'm no baseball stat guru but looking at some of the basic hitting stats makes me wonder how big exactly the gap is between Ramos, Weiters and Castro espcially at this point of these guys careers where they are either 30 or very close. Castro has a high walk rate and strikes out a ton. His RBIs are low but he actually has more extra base hits than Ramos in fewer ABs and has a ton more walks. Anyway I would be curious what someone with more advanced baseball metrics knowledge could glean.

[bleedspeed]

I think Castro's value likely will be driven more off how the pitching staff does when he is catching then what he does with his bat.

[bleedspeed]

Ramos signs for cheap. I would have liked signing him even after signing Castro.

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/18223884/tampa-bay-rays-sign-wilson-ramos-2-year-deal

[Monster]

The Twins lose Stuart Turner in the Rule 5 draft. For a team that has struggled at that spot for a while it kinda stinks a bit. On the other hand he is about to turn 25 and other guys seemed to be ahead of him. It also opens up a spot for another player in the organization if they do lose him.