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Tyler Flowers is your 2014 starting catcher


LittleHurt05

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QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 17, 2014 -> 11:04 AM)
You can't bury a back up catcher on the bench if you are only carrying 2.

 

Repeating...starting once a week and coming in during blowouts. If that's not your definition of burying him on the bench, fine.

 

Less than 120 PAs if they can get away with it.

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QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Mar 17, 2014 -> 10:55 AM)
If Nieto doesn't break with the team then I hope the Sox go out & acquire a veteran backup with a lot of MLB experience. What's Gerald Laird doing, is he still alive? If so, cash considerations should be enough for a guy like that. AJ said that he thinks the Sox erred in putting Flowers out there as the main guy without giving him a long-time MLB vet to help him out as a backup. I agree with what AJ said, Gimenez isn't enough of a help, and if you're going to be trotting out a veteran backup who will hit under .200 might as well get someone who can act as a coach of sorts.

 

But I hope Nieto breaks camp with the team & looks halfway decent. If so then you have 2 options if Flowers gets DFAd sometime around late May/June instead of just one. Of course it would be nice if Hahn found a long-term solution sometime this year (trade deadline?) but not sure how realistic that is. There are prospects out there (i.e. Yankees) but I wonder how many guys are out there that the Sox have heavily scouted & actually like.

For what catchers were going for in the off-season, it didn't make sense to spend 10-20 times what the Phegley would make, for a season that isn't really going anywhere. A guy who fit into your long term plans? Sure. The one guy the Sox liked, they were outbid for by the Yankees. Other than that, there were some really bad catchers and/or contracts out there.

 

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QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 17, 2014 -> 11:11 AM)
For what catchers were going for in the off-season, it didn't make sense to spend 10-20 times what the Phegley would make, for a season that isn't really going anywhere. A guy who fit into your long term plans? Sure. The one guy the Sox liked, they were outbid for by the Yankees. Other than that, there were some really bad catchers and/or contracts out there.

I dont see them "buying" a catcher at this point. Maybe take a flier on one through trade but thats about it. I've heard nothing but willingness within the org to see if one of their young guys can break out.

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QUOTE (flavum @ Mar 17, 2014 -> 11:07 AM)
Repeating...starting once a week and coming in during blowouts. If that's not your definition of burying him on the bench, fine.

 

Less than 120 PAs if they can get away with it.

And the extra workload makes Flowers or Phegley even worse than usual. The White Sox don't have a catcher on their roster which makes your definition of burying the back up catcher on the bench viable. If they were to carry 3 catchers, sure, but they cannot, and really, how good is Nieto in reality? If a team was willing to lose him for $50k, you have to figure he isn't exactly well thought of. And spending a year rotting on the bench doesn't help his future. Chances are the Sox will be playing him in AA after they make some sort of deal with Washington or just send him back. Either way, Nieto is most likely a guy most of us will forget even existed in the next year or 2.

Edited by Dick Allen
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QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 17, 2014 -> 10:11 AM)
For what catchers were going for in the off-season, it didn't make sense to spend 10-20 times what the Phegley would make, for a season that isn't really going anywhere. A guy who fit into your long term plans? Sure. The one guy the Sox liked, they were outbid for by the Yankees. Other than that, there were some really bad catchers and/or contracts out there.

 

Agreed. If we end up being surprise-good, we can acquire something. No sense in paying someone now when the expectation is not...that we're going to be good right now.

 

Spend on catcher when the time is right. In the meantime, see if you can raise a little value in one of the current guys or just lose games while trying, which is likely on the menu either way. Saltalamacchia wasnt making us catch DET this year obviously.

Edited by Jose Paniagua
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QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 17, 2014 -> 11:14 AM)
I dont see them "buying" a catcher at this point. Maybe take a flier on one through trade but thats about it. I've heard nothing but willingness within the org to see if one of their young guys can break out.

 

Oh, I am sure they have a list of catchers up on the wall in Rick and Kenny's offices, which they would jump on if they came available. The market dictated this winter, but if the market changes, I would bet money on the Sox bringing in a new C.

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Flowers was injured last year. I will buy that as a reason for a poor 2013. He gets a flier (we really have no options anyway) and let's hope he shows something this year that we were led to believe he possessed when he came over from Atlanta.

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QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 17, 2014 -> 01:31 PM)
Daryl Van Schouwen ‏@CST_soxvan 1m

 

Tyler Flowers on being no. 1 catcher out of gate: "It's a good start to get the opportunity but you have to earn it each and every day"

 

Well he says the right things, now DO the right things on the field to back it up.

Edited by TheTruth05
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It wouldn't surprise me at all if Flowers ended up posting something like .700-.750 OPS with a better defensive showing than he had last season -- which would be perfectly fine for him to keep his job until an obvious upgrade came forward.

 

I of course wouldn't be surprised if he played like s***, too

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QUOTE (DashFan @ Mar 17, 2014 -> 04:28 PM)
What do you think the chances are that Rick is looking to the draft as a target to get us a catcher? Any guys in there that could have an impact in the MLB soon enough?

 

Come the draft, you take the best player available, and that is likely going to be a pitcher at this point.

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QUOTE (DashFan @ Mar 17, 2014 -> 04:28 PM)
What do you think the chances are that Rick is looking to the draft as a target to get us a catcher? Any guys in there that could have an impact in the MLB soon enough?

I am not sure what it would take to trade for Nieto. The Nats didn't protect him for the rule 5 draft Do we have a 4A player they can use.

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QUOTE (sammy esposito @ Mar 17, 2014 -> 03:43 PM)
I am not sure what it would take to trade for Nieto. The Nats didn't protect him for the rule 5 draft Do we have a 4A player they can use.

I don't get this line of thinking. Just because the Nationals didn't protect him doesn't mean they don't like him. He was simply a young catcher coming off a good not great season in A+. The odds of any team selecting and keeping him on their major league roster all season was and is still is slim to none. Perhaps this one particular season the Sox will go against the norm and keep Nieto on their roster all season, but that's simply of out of desperation at a position of significant need. The odds are still incredibly low even if Nieto makes the opening day roster and if I was the Nationals GM I'd take my chances on getting him back in a month or two. He's not going to give Nieto away for a song, it just isn't going to happen.

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