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"What I've heard, [John] Buck is the No. 1 guy and I'll be the backup," he said. "I know how to do my job."

Personally I'm kind of a fan of Chavez, but we're talking about the backup catcher on a 60 win team soooo whatever I guess.

All 3 suck.

He's right. Molina is very bad, but Chavez is one of the worst offensive players in the league, with a career line of .231/.266/.304 (OPS+ of 49). As he did last year prior to Schneider's injury, Chavez will start as the backup in Las Vegas, dispensing folksy wisdom and romancing Susan Sarandon.

We need 2 position filled right now.

Catcher and Shorts Stop. Both need a player with some reputation and productivity. Someone who can throw and swing a big stick.

It's not like the catcher and shortstop are a premier offensive position to begin with, so I think a good pitcher friendly catcher and a gold glove caliber shortstop is enough, especially on a offense powerhouse team where every other position will get the offense going for them. By the time we're contending we might have a few studs on the field, so I think we can easily fill those gaps through free agency when the time comes.

Schadenfreude wrote:He's right. Molina is very bad, but Chavez is one of the worst offensive players in the league, with a career line of .231/.266/.304 (OPS+ of 49). As he did last year prior to Schneider's injury, Chavez will start as the backup in Las Vegas, dispensing folksy wisdom and romancing Susan Sarandon.

Chavez had pretty much a career year last year with us, had some timely hits, and played incredible defence. Molina is coming off a horrible season where his OBP (.292) was higher than his slugging % (.268)! Chavez is not as bad as you point out, even based on career numbers, Molina is only slightly better and he has played on much better teams. IMO, Chavez should be the backup unless he is vastly outplayed in training.

Attonitus wrote:Chavez had pretty much a career year last year with us, had some timely hits, and played incredible defence. Molina is coming off a horrible season where his OBP (.292) was higher than his slugging % (.268)! Chavez is not as bad as you point out, even based on career numbers, Molina is only slightly better and he has played on much better teams. IMO, Chavez should be the backup unless he is vastly outplayed in training.

Chavez had a career year at age 36, largely because his BA/bip was 24 points above his career average. He is every bit as bad as I point out...in the four seasons where he recorded 100+ plate appearances, he put up OPS of .515, .472, .606, and .631. Molina isn't much better, but he is definitely better, and has played on better teams because he's considered a major-league quality back-up, whereas Chavez is not.

Defensively, Molina has thrown out 40% of base-stealers, compared to 41% for Chavez. I'd take Molina.

kavan wrote:We need 2 position filled right now.

Catcher and Shorts Stop. Both need a player with some reputation and productivity. Someone who can throw and swing a big stick.

Greg Oden?


Anybody?