The Flawless Execution of the Perfect Plan

Where is the Depth?

The Twins are not showing all of their cards.  That is the only explanation.  Going into the 2011 season with the current bullpen is risky.  I have contended in the past that Delaney, Slama & Burnett are ready to go but it is also fair to say that they are probably not ready to take over the demanding roles that Crain and Guerrier have held with the Twins the last 3+ years.  The depth of known commodities at relief pitcher have gotten very thin.

Now, the Twins have traded Jose Morales to Colorado for a young left-handed reliever.  This move, in addition to the 2010 trade of Wilson Ramos to the Washington Nationals have signaled that the Twins have committed to Joe Mauer playing Catcher for the foreseeable future.  However, now, the depth of known commodities at catcher has gotten very thin too.

Wait For It...  

Or, is it that the Twins are about to make a move?  A move that Twins fans will stand up and applaud; A move that will assure Billy Smith the GM of the Year award?  We already signed Nishi, we have Alexi primed and ready to roll to play SS, and now... the big move to ease the hearts and minds of Twins rubes everywhere.  We are making a trade or signing a free agent catcher and a big bullpen arm right?  I like Sal Butera Junior as much as the next guy but what if... What if Joe does get hurt?  Who is there to catch 2 out of 3 days?  Butera?  Fine, Butera... what about the other 1 out of 3 days? 

Are we ready to see an unproven catcher to go along with Butera?  Are you going to be terribly excited to get the chance to watch the catching prowess of Butera and Allan de San Miguel at Target Field this summer?  Maybe instead of de San Miguel it is Danny Lehmann who caught in AAA last year; maybe not.  Here are the 2010 hitting stats for Twins catchers in the minors.

The Twins clearly do not have a plethora of dynamic players at the catching position.  They do that have some intriguing players however.  The top 2 remaining catching prospects in the organization are Josmil Pinto and Danny Rams.  Both Rams and Pinto hit 10+ HR's last year but neither showed the bat control necessary to make them MLB hitters at this point.  Rams tallied 154 strikeouts in only 421 AB's in 2010!

The Baseball Cube scouts Rams & Pinto accordingly:

Defensively Rams threw out nearly 50% of base runners last year (25cs/52att).  He hasn't been known as a defensive backstop but last year was an improvement.  He did allow 12 passed balls last year though & 15 the year before so there is still much work to be done.  In 2009 he threw out 34% of base runners.  So all in all, it looks like he has a solid arm, big bat but no bat control. Also keep in mind that in his minor league career he has struck out 349 times in 251 minor league games.

Pinto really struggled last year only throwing out 26% of base runners.  Runners took every chance they could to take a bag on him in 2010 as Pinto allowed 67 runners to steal on him in only 66 games and he also allowed 10 passed balls.  Defense is not Josmil's bag at this point of his career but he can hit.  In 177 minor league games (a little more than 1 full MLB season) he has hit .273, including 44 2B's, 24 HR's and 123 RBI's.

Fort Myers, Florida, 2011

So here we are, 2 months away from pitchers and catchers reporting and I have tremendous reservations about the catching corp. that we will have in Fort Myers.  The solution, of course, is simple - Mike Redmond.  The Twins have to have something up their sleeve, right?