I'm set at catcher for the next couple of years.  .300-.380.-450 type of player over his career.  Not much of a PC'er, however......number is 51.  He's got two more years with me.

He's very durable, 87, I think.

So I have a backup catcher question.  Which guy do you go with...mostly looking for defense for late innings as my main guy starts about 145-150 games a year at 100%.

This is my AAA guy:  HenryMcCallum     I figure he'll be an 82-82-73 defensive catcher.  Weak offensively......in the 62-48-38-26-52 range, with 100 Make-up, so he'll overproduce a bit.
 
My AA star is   NashCastellanos.  Next year he'll be about a 78-76-83 Defensive catcher (with 78-82-84) projections. He's an 65-65-70-30-60 guy on the offensive side.  Very nice against lefties.  (projections of 74-65-78-32-69)

I think I'm going with Castellanos, but I wonder if another full-time (as much as possible with a 67 Durability) year in AAA will move him faster toward hitting projections.

I could also go with AlbertoLee.  He'll be about a 75-77-70 defensive catcher and 35-61-7-44-50 offensive guy.  He's not my guy.

LonnyAlomar is my current BU.  Lousy PC, with 55.  Would like a better defensive guy.

My BU's usually get about 150 PA's a year. 220-260 innings

Defensive catchers who can hit lefties are a favorite of mine.    But, since your guy has a DUR of 87, your 2nd C might not be needed for anything more than late-inning replacement. 

Thanks Mike,

I can't quite get Rollins to 150 games at 100%.  Last year I just sat him every 10th game.  I was able to play him the last 25 games or so, as the WC hunt was on.  That worked well, I think.

I like to go with high PC for my backup/defensive catcher.  The thought being that if high PC may prevent a hit here or there, that's more valuable than preventing a stolen base.

That said, I like Castellanos.  The fact that he can hit lefties is a huge plus, as Mike points out.  I'd platoon him against lefties for the first half of the season, that should save your primary catcher to play almost every day in the second half if needed.

I wouldn't sacrifice the playing time on Castellanos to back up an 87-Dur guy.  McCallum would be my choice, getting Castellanos full-time ABs in the minors.

gjello,

Will Castellanos move that much faster toward projections with 500 AAA PA's vs 200 (or so...I'm assuming he'll get a few more PA's than my current guy) MLB PA's?

I was leaning toward McCallum, but now I think that Castellanos will get pretty close to projections as next season starts.  I might give him 20 starts (or so) in AAA and then bump him up, as I bump Mccallum down.

I would think it would make a pretty big difference.  He's got one more season of rapid progression.  I would think denying him 300 PAs and an equivalent number of defensive innings would deny him a few points in contact, vsL, AA, and PC.  For a guy who could provide starting value at Catcher for cheap money for quite a few seasons, if it was me I'd max that value out by maxing out his PAs for one more season before considering making him a bench guy.

Of course, defensive Catcher is a spot where a cheap backup with great D and a poor bat can be found every offseason, so maybe looking for a different alternative is a good route here as well.     

Good stuff,

Thanks.....

I agree with jello.   I didn't click the player card so I didn't know he was a 1 year pro.   With your 87 DUR starter, find a cheap defensive C via the R5 or at the end of FA.  You can get one. 

Posted by MikeT23 on 1/10/2012 7:56:00 PM (view original):
I agree with jello.   I didn't click the player card so I didn't know he was a 1 year pro.   With your 87 DUR starter, find a cheap defensive C via the R5 or at the end of FA.  You can get one. 

Same here.  You want the guy to develop.