Around the Horn: Catcher
01/18/2006LOS ANGELES -- The obvious thread running through general manager Ned Colletti's extreme makeover of the Dodgers roster is a preference of veterans over inexperience for the near term.
With a glaring exception behind the plate.
Colletti didn't want Oscar Robles, in his second season, to replace Cesar Izturis at shortstop, so he signed Rafael Furcal. He didn't want to rush Andy LaRoche or James Loney, so he signed Bill Mueller and Nomar Garciaparra to play the infield corners. He wasn't comfortable with Jason Repko replacing Milton Bradley, so he signed Kenny Lofton. Instead of Edwin Jackson and D.J. Houlton in the rotation, he signed Brett Tomko before trading for Jae Seo. He dealt promising prospects to bring in Danys Baez at $4 million rather than have Yhency Brazoban set up Eric Gagne.
Colletti could have continued the trend at catcher. Ramon Hernandez, Bengie Molina, Brad Ausmus and Japanese star Kenji Johjima were among the catchers on the free agent market this winter, but all Colletti did was hire Sandy Alomar Jr. as a backup.
Meaning, Colletti would keep the critical position of catcher in the hands of Dioner Navarro, at least initially -- ironic in that Navarro was one of the favorites of Colletti's dismissed predecessor, Paul DePodesta.
DePodesta acquired Navarro in one of his most criticized trades. He sent Shawn Green and $10 million to division rival Arizona last January for Navarro and three Minor League pitchers -- Danny Muegge, Beltran Perez and William Juarez.
Navarro, who will be 22 in February, began last season at Triple-A Las Vegas, overcame a nagging hand injury, then got hot enough in July to make the Triple-A All-Star Game. He was promoted and given Jason Phillips' starting catcher job for the final two months of the season, when he hit .273 with three homers and 14 RBIs.
A switch-hitter, Navarro batted .435 in 23 right-handed at-bats. The Venezuela native threw out eight of 41 potential basestealers, slightly better than the rate that got Phillips benched, but well off the 31 percent Navarro erased in Las Vegas.
Colletti's reluctance to pursue a veteran catcher had to do with more than just Navarro. The Dodgers also have in their system Russell Martin, considered by some in the organization to have a higher ceiling than Navarro.
Martin, one year older than Navarro with one fewer year of professional experience, played at Double-A Jacksonville last year and hit .311 with nine homers, 61 RBIs, 83 runs and nine more walks than strikeouts, leading to a .430 on-base percentage. Originally a third baseman, the native Canadian switched positions in 2003.
Martin is expected to start this season at Triple-A Las Vegas. Steve Yeager, the former All-Star catcher who mentored Martin as Jacksonville's hitting coach, will be promoted to Las Vegas along with Martin for the 2006 season.
So, with Navarro in the big leagues and Martin not far behind, the Dodgers found themselves too deep in quality young catchers to need an expensive veteran like Hernandez or Molina, who would block the paths of Navarro and Martin.
Rather than rush Martin to the Major Leagues to share time with Navarro, Colletti chose to support Navarro with Alomar, 39 and a 16-year veteran. He is nearing the end of a career that includes six All-Star appearances, but he has tailed off in recent years, in part because of numerous injuries. He has had 12 stints on the disabled list and seven knee operations, five on the left knee and two on the right.
Alomar played 46 games for the Rangers last year, and the Dodgers are hoping he doesn't play more than that for them. Alomar hit .273 without a home run in those 46 games, and he did not throw out any of 17 opposing basestealers. He won the Rookie of the Year Award and Gold Glove in 1990, and he appeared in the postseason six times, including two trips to the World Series with the Indians. He has five home runs in 10 postseason series. His best offensive year was 1997, when he hit .324 with 21 homers and 83 RBIs.
Source: http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/
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