Brian Cashman addressed the media last night and discussed the catching debate for 2011. He confirmed my prediction that he would be hesitant to hand uber prospect Jesus Montero the starting catcher job (because he has no major league experience).
Cashman said Austin Romine, Francisco Cevelli and possibly a catcher on the market will compete with Montero in spring training for the job. I added my emphasis below.
“I'm sure Montero's gonna want to prove that it's time for him to catch,” Cashman said. “I'm sure Romine's gonna want to prove that, 'Hey, why is Montero getting all the ink, they should be writing about me.' And I'm sure Cervelli is in the middle of this thing saying, 'Hey, this is a bunch of crap, because I should be the guy that they're talking about being the everyday guy. I've got more experience than the other two.' Which creates great competition -- that's what I want. And I wouldn't even close the door on looking out in the marketplace and see if I can secure somebody else out there as a cushion. ... I hope that'll be a great healthy competition.”
LoHud suggests the Yankees may vie for a catcher cheaper than John Buck, a name I suggested in my last post on the Yankees’ catching situation.
Here’s a list of free agent catchers (via MLBTR):
Rod Barajas (35) - Type B
Josh Bard (33)
Henry Blanco (39)
John Buck (30) - Type B
Ramon Hernandez (35) - Type A
Gerald Laird (31) - Type B
Victor Martinez (32) - Type A
Bengie Molina (36) - Type B
Miguel Olivo (32) - Type B
A.J. Pierzynski (34) - Type A
Yorvit Torrealba (32) - Type B
Matt Treanor (35)
Jason Varitek (39) - Type B
Gregg Zaun (40)
Take your pick of Type B’s or below, I guess. Keep in mind Cashman could certainly trade for a catcher too.
