Jason Castro

[Fresh360Waves]

With Houston acquiring Hank Conger, Castro is now expendable and I think he would be a good fit for the Dodgers due to his above average hitting ability at catcher. He is only 27. This could be a better option than rather spending big money on Russell Martin who's already 31 and will only have so much mileage left as he gets older.

[Neddy]

I would prefer we look elsewhere, or Jason be the last resort.
there are a few starting caliber catchers in all baseball who is worse than AJ defensively and calling games. Jason is one of them. don't be fooled by his bat. he flaked his way into an all-star game a couple of seasons ago but since then what has he hit? is .222 so much better than .191? I mean, still better than AJ there by roughly a .030 better but everybody is. defensively Castro is atrocious. it's like getting a catcher who can handle the glove as well as mike piazza while hitting like chad kreuter.

besides, both of their career batting stats are about the same. it's like we are getting a younger, defensively lesser version of the same AJ.

on the other hand, i do agree that Martin will not be worth the length and the size of the deal he will command. I wouldn't want him around more than say, 3 years but he will command 4 to 5 easily in the open market that is starved with a quality catcher especially who can handle the bat.

if we are accepting the fact that we will have to eat the last couple of seasons of Martin's deal, and still want to extend? Im okay with that then.

[Fresh360Waves]

I would prefer we look elsewhere, or Jason be the last resort.
there are a few starting caliber catchers in all baseball who is worse than AJ defensively and calling games. Jason is one of them. don't be fooled by his bat. he flaked his way into an all-star game a couple of seasons ago but since then what has he hit? is .222 so much better than .191? I mean, still better than AJ there by roughly a .030 better but everybody is. defensively Castro is atrocious. it's like getting a catcher who can handle the glove as well as mike piazza while hitting like chad kreuter.

besides, both of their career batting stats are about the same. it's like we are getting a younger, defensively lesser version of the same AJ.

on the other hand, i do agree that Martin will not be worth the length and the size of the deal he will command. I wouldn't want him around more than say, 3 years but he will command 4 to 5 easily in the open market that is starved with a quality catcher especially who can handle the bat.

if we are accepting the fact that we will have to eat the last couple of seasons of Martin's deal, and still want to extend? Im okay with that then.

Who are some other good options we could look at?

[Neddy]

if you want to trade for a young prospect catcher who is all about defense and game calling, the first place to start is Austin Hedges of the Padres organization. sure he is young and can't really hit yet, but his game calling, his defense, his throwing arm are the best in the minors.

there is an old name from our own organization that Ned threw away... Carlos Santana. the Indians got Santana when we traded for Casey but now with the emergence of Yan Gomes, Carlos Santana is no longer their everyday catcher. yes he is playing more 1B and DH, but his contract is also blowing up to where the indians would start be a bit concerned about the payroll too.

if none of the guys mentioned plus Martin are not available, we are probably better off keeping mr .191. BA as his WAR is still better than say, Yasmani Grandal or Derek Norris.

I would even consider using Tim Federowicz as our full time catcher before I consider Jason Castro. Jason is about to become arbitration eligible and about to become as expensive as AJ while giving no upgrade overall.