Backup Plan: Who Could Catch On with Cardinals
TOWER GROVE — By all accounts, the St. Louis Cardinals and backup catcher Jason LaRue believe they are a good match. LaRue, a favorite of the team’s coaches and the team’s leaders, has the feel for calling a game that the Cardinals desire, the arm that controls the running game, and the willingness to accept his role as a rare starter.
What the Cardinals have to determine, as discussed in today’s look at the catcher position as the club transitions from 2009 to 2010, is if the role LaRue can fill is the role they assign for the backup.
As the Cardinals audit their performance in 2009 and what to improve upon for 2010, one area of consideration is getting a backup catcher who they are comfortable starting more often to save wear-and-tear on starter Yadier Molina, and perhaps looking at an offensive upgrade at a position they have long stressed defense first, and sometimes defense only. The list of in-house candidates starts with LaRue and probably stops with rookie and defensive option Matt Pagnozzi.
Here is a quick scan of the free agents who could be out there in the coming months, some of whom will be looking for starting jobs and some of whom have made a career of being the backup:
ROD BARAJAS, last with Toronto. Made $2.5 million with the Jays last season and hit .226/.258/.403. Word up north is the Blue Jays want to bring him back. He’ll be looking for a starting deal and there will be teams looking to give it to him. Not an option.
JOSH BARD, last with Washington. Started 71 games for the Nationals this past season, and has been known for always gravitating back toward Boston. He signed there as a free agent last winter, only to be released in spring. Is career .259 hitter, with .230/.293/.361 average last season. Not the traffic cop usually desired, allowing 43 steals on 59 attempts.
HENRY BLANCO, last with San Diego. The former Chicago Cubs backup started 58 games and handled 500 innings for the Padres as their backup this past season. He’s a career .228 hitter, but he had a .292/.325/.392 turn in 2008 behind Rookie of the Year Geovany Soto. Good history of handling the running game, and he’s a career .278 hitter against Cardinals.
RAMON CASTRO, last with Chicago White Sox. Finished year as A.J. Pierzynski’s backup, hitting .184/.262/.382 in 76 at-bats for the Sox. Castro had his standout, backup turns in recent years with the New York Mets, hitting .285 in about 100 at-bats in 2007. Not nearly enough to trump LaRue.
JASON KENDALL, last with Milwaukee. Is 35 and caught the fewest games since his rookie season this past season, but he’s not ready to begin the career fade from All-Star to mentor just yet. Has always been one of the better hitters for average at the position (.290 career) and not been an intimidating arm (64 steals on 80 attempts this past season). He’ll be a starter somewhere.
JASON LaRUE, last with the Cardinals. They know he has the rapport. They know he fits the current role. They know he’s affordable. They know there’s mutual interest in bringing him back. There’s a lot that makes sense about the Cardinals re-signing LaRue, especially if they are sold on the idea he can start more games than … 26! games.
CHAD MOELLER, last with Baltimore. Served as the backup/guidance counselor for rookie Matt Wieters. He had a line of .258/.288/.351 in 100 plate appearances for the Orioles this past season. Alarming number: Allowed 25 steals on 27 attempts in his 28 starts at catcher.
JOSE MOLINA, currently with New York Yankees. Well, this is a familiar name. Yadier’s 34-year-old older brother is one of three catchers on the Yankees’ postseason roster, and he has started games that righthander A.J. Burnett has started this October. Molina has hit .217/.273/.298 in two seasons with the Yankees as Jorge Posada’s backup. He has started 123 games in those two seasons, though 81 came in 2008. He’s got the same genes as his brother, which prompted Angels manager Mike Scioscia to say recently that his team’s go-go running game has been curtailed because “if time is on their side, they’re going to throw guys out.”
MIKE REDMOND, last with Minnesota. A career .289 hitter, he struggled this year and, at 38, acknowledges that he’s nearing the end of his career. Redmond has served well as Joe Mauer’s backup in the Twin Cities — hitting .341 back in 2006 for the Twins — and he told MLB.com he plans to play in 2010, even if it’s not in Minnesota. This past year, he threw out only five of the 40 runners who attempted steals on him. Two years ago, this is the fit, but now …
BRIAN SCHNEIDER, last with the New York Mets. Dislodged from playing time Omir Santos, Schneider is unlikely to return to the Mets, but does that mean he’s willing to be a reduced-time backup? There’s some intrigue here because he’s a lefthanded hitter with a .251/.323/.374 career line and has a good clubhouse rep, dating back to his time as a starter with Montreal. He threw out 19 of 29 runners this past season, and 42 of 63 in the previous season. He made $4.9 million in 2009, and is in his early 30s. Read: starter.
GREGG ZAUN, has $2-million option with Tampa Bay. The veteran catcher was traded to the Rays during the season and he fit into a platoon there, hitting .287/.323/.489 in the final 34 games. A switch-hitter and a career .251 hitter, Zaun threw out one of the 15 baserunners who attempted steals against him in Tampa Bay and only 12 of 55 during the 2009 season. He started 74 games this past season. At least one report has Zaun playing his way into staying with the Rays, who have Dioner Navarro set for a second bite at arbitration.
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THE POST-DISPATCH’s POSITION BY POSITION SEASON RECAP
Starting last week and continuing through this week, The Post-Dispatch baseball writers are touring the Cardinals’ roster to recap the 2009 season and take a look at what to expect in 2010. The above entry is a companion online element for Catcher. Other articles in the series (schedule subject to change):
- First Base — Oct. 16, “Pujols’ Comments Surprise Cardinals”
- Second Base — Oct. 18, “Schumaker Settled In at Second” and online: “Schumaker vs. Kennedy vs. the Field”
- Shortstop — Oct. 19, “Given Chance Ryan Didn’t Come Up Short” and online: “Depth beyond Brendan Ryan”
- Third Base — Yesterday, “Cards’ Options at Third Will Start with Freese”
- Catcher — Today, “Cardinals Ponder Molina’s Workload” and online: above
- Starting Rotation — Thursday
- Bullpen — Friday
- Outfield — Sunday
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Derrick Goold said he was going to Mizzou for capital-J journalism, but after growing up in the Time Zone Baseball Forgot he was really drawn to MU sitting between two major-league cities. Goold joined the Post-Dispatch in 2001 after working for The Times-Picayune and Rocky Mountain News, covering sports from LSU to NHL and every level of baseball in between. 
Spend a little more and get Schnieder–LH bat, decent defense, can play more than Jason LaRue–to give Molina time to rest for those long runs to first and so that he won’t oversleep and miss autograph sessions.
DG - what is the reason that B Anderson is not considered a viable backup? What is his role in the Cards org going forward?
As I look at the outs/steals ratios of almost all of these “candidates” and as I have listened to the numbers of play-off catchers and during the season for the majority of catchers I ask myself why do teams not run more? I understand (as an old, very old catcher) that most steals are actually “off the pitcher” but not so much that the odds do not seem to favor running more often. Yeah, yeah I know about running yourself out of an inning but having someone on second is more of a scoring opportunity than on first. Of course Yadi in the exception to the rule.
I never understood the unwillingness of manager’s to state that certain pitchers would use certain catchers. I understand that manager’s decide who will play any given game, but the terror that strikes (fill in blank with any manager) the heart of a manager when saying, ‘we like Molina catching Burnett - they work well together’ seems odd.
Tony: “LaRue catches Wellemeyer.”
See! That didn’t hurt.
MOlina can know when his days off will be. Isn’t there an advantage to knowing you’ll have the next day off? I know I like it.
I will admit to not being able to figure out all the codes and login instructions for general articles elsewhere on the Post website. Because of that, Derrick is stuck dealing with my drivvel. Today’s question is regarding the article appearing elsewhere on Pujols’ elbow. That article has the following sentence in it:
Left unsaid is whether the bone chips may have been the spurs that helped stabilize a partially torn ligament in Pujols’ elbow.
Huh? Fragmented pieces of bone in an articulating joint help to ’stabilize’ that joint? How? By inflaming the surrounding tissue to the point that the pressure stabilizes the ligaments?
I sure hope it was the reporting and not the doctor, otherwise I think we may have found out why there have been a wave of mysteriously long healing processes with Cardinal players.
I like Larue as a back up.
I also like LaRue as the backup. We know what he brings. I’m sure he can start more than 26 games on the season if given the chance. We know he can hit when he needs to hit and he can throw when he needs to throw. He fits the budget. I just don’t see what’s not to like.
LaRue’s next job could be as an OTR trucker; he’s got the looks!
As a lifetime Cardinal fan who now lives in the Memphis area and watched the Memphis Redbirds a few times, I can tell you that Pagnozzi is not the current answer for Molina’s backup. Maybe some day but what I have seen of him, he is not Major League ready especially at the plate. I have seen him strand many a runner in AAA by not getting the ball out of the infield with less than 2 outs. I would definetly keep LaRue as the backup unless a better situation arises.
I would suggest we keep LaRue since a small upgrade would take some of our resources needed in other areas like signing DeRosa and other free agents. From what I gather LaRue is too much of a known quanity, both in the clubhouse and with the pitchers to toss away in search of some other catcher who may or may not be successful along those lines. Keep Jason!