Crowded catcher picture 'a good sign' for Blue Jays

[LittleOzzy]

he game starts behind the plate.

Before a ball can be put into play, a pitch must be thrown. Before the pitch is thrown, the catcher needs to call it.

The man behind the dish is often undervalued, as he is the one in control of the game.

The Toronto Blue Jays have arguably more catching depth than any other affiliation, a factor that will play into the future success of the ball club.

“The better catchers you have, the better the organization’s going to do,” former Blue Jays catcher and current AA manager Sal Fasano said. “So to me, we value catching here just as much as we value starting pitching.

“And it’s nice to see the depth that we have because at every level you know you’re going to get the best of both worlds. You’re going to get the best offensively and defensively from the guy behind the plate. And if you have a good catcher, there’s always the correlation of winning.”

Winning is exactly what Fasano experienced last season with top prospect Travis d’Arnaud behind the plate for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. Toronto’s AA farm team won the Eastern League championship, with its 23-year-old catcher earning the league’s MVP award.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/baseball/mlb/s ... ejays.html

[Deron05]

you guys think JP Arencibia can bring back a decent starter or will he be part of a package deal?

[SharoneWright]

Helps our developing pitchers - at all levels - too...

[Relentless88]

you guys think JP Arencibia can bring back a decent starter or will he be part of a package deal?

Probably as part of a package deal. I think he could bring back a 'decent' starter on his own, but I'd rather make it a package deal for a bigger upgrade in the rotation if/when we need to.

[flatjacket1]

you guys think JP Arencibia can bring back a decent starter or will he be part of a package deal?

Probably as part of a package deal. I think he could bring back a 'decent' starter on his own, but I'd rather make it a package deal for a bigger upgrade in the rotation if/when we need to.

I agree with this. He needs to be paired with a couple of other B prospects to get a decent haul back.

[kavan]

I dont think you trade him, I think we need this depth you first have to get a feel for what our Pitching Rotation gives us in the first month of the season. If they can hold their own then you know what then you see how EE is doing with our DH gig. We can easily work JP around from DH/C/1B if we need to bring Travis up. Also Travis down in the Minors will also help the minor league team and the pitchers down there so its really a Win Win we just have to hope our pitching is solid and I dont see why we cant compete.

A part of me would much rather have a few really exceptional players then a team full of good players because it always seems like the Toronto way of things is none of them all play out the way they were suppose to.