Veteran Free Agent Help - Catchers

Yesterday I touched on some veteran shortstops the Pirates could target in the offseason. However, I really can't see any of them happening unless the Pirates were to trade Cedeno and receive a young SS in return. Today we'll look at catchers the Pirates could target.

Ryan Doumit will be a Pirate through 2011. He has a club option for $7.25 million in 2012 and $8.25 million 2013. The club must excercise both after the 2011 season. Doumit has never played more than 116 games in a season. Furthermore, his defense has been questionable at best. Beyondtheboxscore.com ranked Doumit last of all catchers in baseball defensively. Doumit may be terrible defensively, but for his position, he is a strong offensive catcher. Of qualified players (min 242 PAs), Doumit is 5th in batting avg in all of baseball and first in the NL with .263. He's tied for 1st in the NL with 14 doubles, and is 2nd in the NL in OPS with .763. So there is definately some give and take with Doumit.

Which brings me to my point. Could the Pirates trade Doumit? Tony Sanchez is a year or two off and the Pirates have some young starters. There are a few veteran catchers on the free agent market. This could be an offseason where the Pirates turn Doumit for other needs such as rotation help or a shortstop. Should they go that route (and part of me says don't), here are a few veteran catchers the Pirates could turn to...

Catchers

Jason Varitek - Boston Red Sox - 2011 Age: 39

Ok, you're probably right, he will most likely retire in Boston. But SHOULD Varitek consider leaving Boston, Pittsburgh should snatch him up. Varitek won't add much offensively and his defense is a wash (this year aside), but his leadership is uncanny. Based on his success in the regular season and in the playoffs, the pitching staff and the clubhouse could learn a lot from him. The Pirates will surely have to pony up a nice sum and would take a hit defensively, but the repsect and leadership qualities he exihibits could help a young team prosper in the future.

Jose Molina - Toronto Blue Jays - 2011 Age: 36

Technically Molina isn't a free agent. He has a $1.2 million club option for 2011. Also, Molina has never been a starter. However, the Pirates should do what they can to get their hands on this Molina brother. He's one of the best defensive catchers in baseball.

Molina will not wow people with his bat. He's a .238 hitter in his career. But he's never thrown out less than 28% of runners trying to steal and has thrown out 41% for his career. Beyondtheboxscore ranks him as the 4th best catcher defensively in all of baseball in 2010 (it must be noted he only has 23 starts).

Molina has played for 2 World Series teams, has caught some of the league's best pitchers, and is a solid fill in. Molina's option is extremely affordable and he is still showing he has it defenively, but if the Pirates can get his hands on him and platoon him with Kratz or Jaramillo, they should, at the very least, consider it. The staff could use it.

Ramon Hernandez - Cincinatti Reds - Age in 2011: 35

Looking for a little offense? Look no further. Hernandez is a career .278 hitter in the NL. He has hit 20+ home runs twice in his career. He's never had a negative WAR in his career. Need some defense? He's also thrown out 30% of the runners that have tried to steal on him in his career and has had 1 passed ball the past 2 years.

If the Pirates are looking for a more complete player than Doumit, perhaps Hernandez could be their guy. The problem? He has an option that kicks in if he plays in 120 games, which is within striking distance as he's been in 54 games through 80. If he doesn't get to that number and becomes a free agent, I hope the Pirates look to keep him in the division.