THE PLOT THICKENS WHEN IT COMES TO THE YANKEE CATCHER ROLE

When Russell Martin made a mad dash to Pittsburgh, it left the Yankees with yet another hole to fill. Now that we signed Kevin Youkilis and Ichiro Suzuki, we are all curious about who will become our next starting catcher.

Brian Cashman originally said that the Yankees would look internally to address the issue before making any big contracts. That left us with Francisco Cervelli, Chris Stewart and Austin Romine. All guys I like well enough, but none that scream "starting catcher" to me. Who knows though, the Yankees might surprise us. We wrote about how Cervelli might have a shot at it and same thing for Romine. Read both ALL EYES ON CERVELLI AS RUSSELL MARTIN BOLTS NEW YORK and  GIVE AUSTIN ROMINE A SHOT! WHY NOT?

Both Cervelli and Stewart have a better bat than Martin had, I believe that. However, when it comes to defensive skills, Martin won that contest. For me, it is important to have a catcher that runners are afraid to go on. Neither Cervelli nor Stewart are that guy in my humble opinion.

Romine is young talent with a bright future ahead of him. But he is still wet around the gills. He is a decent enough fielder but his bat could use some work. He has the potential to become a starting catcher, but I don’t think that 2013 is the season in which he will accomplish that.

The Yankees have now signed Bobby Wilson to a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training. He will be the fourth catcher fighting for the starting position. It’s like trading one .211 hitter for another. Wilson would make a good option for a back-up catcher, but I just don’t see him making it as starter.

With the salary crunch that Brian Cashman is under, it is probably safe to say that no big contracts will be signed this season. So, it's safe to assume that this is what we will have to look forward to. While Mike Napoli and A.J. Pierzynski might have made nice additions, the asking price is a bit high for what the Yankees are doing. 

This kind of puts me between a rock and a hard place as a Yankee fan. Choosing between the lesser of two evils is not something we are accustomed to. The 90’s and Jorge Posada have spoiled us. We want a great defensive catcher with a great bat. Gems like that are far and few in between though.

Right now, for me personally, I would like to see Chris Stewart as our starting catcher and Francisco Cervelli as our back up. Of the four, they are the two I trust most behind the plate. How about you?

--Erica Morales, BYB Writer
Twitter: @e_morales1804




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