RealGM

The day Arencibia was drafted in 2007 in the first round (21st overall in North America), we asked an opposing scout his opinion of the University of Tennessee Vols catcher.

“Great hitter, he’ll get to the big leagues and he’ll hit home runs in the big leagues,” said the evaluator. “But his defence is bad, he won’t throw anyone out. He has small hands.”

Small hands?

“When you rush to get the ball out of your mitt with a guy stealing, big hands help.”

How prophetic the scout was in Arencibia’s debut. When John Buck was placed on the 15-day disabled list in 2010, Arencibia was promoted from triple-A Las Vegas.

Against the Tampa Bay Rays, Arencibia went 4-for-5 with a double and a homer off James Shields and another homer off reliever Dale Thayer. But B.J. Upton stole third uncontested when Arencibia could not get the ball out of his glove.

Then-manager Cito Gaston said Arencibia would get the bulk of the work the rest of the season. In all, Buck missed 12 games with Jose Molina starting seven and Arencibia five. The four-hit debut with three RBIs led to comparisons with Hall of Famer Willie McCovey’s debut.

Now the number crunchers at baseball-reference.com compare the non-tendered Arencibia to Sal Fasano, Chris Snyder, Billy Bryan, Chris Iannetta, Miguel Olivo and Tim Laudner.

Maybe Arencbia suffered from the franchise curse of being the catcher of the future, which at 1 Blue Jays Way is akin to the Sports Illustrated cover jinx.

Curtis Thigpen, Robinzon Diaz, Brian Jeroloman, Guillermo Quiroz and Kevin Cash all shared the title.

Before that, it was Josh Phelps, Carlos Delgado (a wonderful hitter, but he couldn’t get out of spring training wearing the gear), Randy Knorr, Carlos Diaz, Matt Stark, Jeff DeWillis, Jeff Hearron, Brian Milner and Greg David.

Now, A.J. Jimenez, who spent eight games at triple-A Buffalo this past summer, is the catcher of the future.