A GUY WALKS INTO A BAR WITH 3 CATCHERS...

It is interesting to see the drama of the catching position continue to unfold and how many people want in on the story- even the everyday fans.  It is as if a guy walks into a bar with three catchers, you see, one is a veteran, one a rookie and one a wanna-be.  Only two can stay and the other needs to go away.  But, you see, all of them have proven their worth in the big leagues and so no one wants to be sent down to the minors again.  They want to contribute to the team but in this case, maybe to another team.  Now, I am not saying that there isn’t talent in all three of our Yankee catchers and the ones coming up the pike in the farm system, but already, I am getting annoyed at the jabber on the news wires about decisions that have not even been made.

Just this week, Boston Globe Baseball Writer Nick Cafardo wrote this nugget in his "Updates on Nine" column: “With Brian McCann aboard and Francisco Cervelli the backup, Romine is very much available. Romine finds himself in the same spot as the Red Sox’ Ryan Lavarnway, with really no business going back to Triple A.”  Really, Nick?  You know this for a fact?  How do you know that Cervelli is going to be McCann’s back up?

I personally don’t think Cervelli should have any place on the team- I think we need to clean house of the drugs and move on to other prospects including Austin Romine, JR Murphy, Gary Sanchez for this year and Peter O’Brien, Luis Torrens and Alvaro Noriega later in 2016, 2018, and 2019 respectively.  We don’t need Cervelli despite his amazing enthusiasm.  He broke a lot of hearts last year when he admitted to using PEDs- a lot of hearts, including my own.

According to MiLB.com, Gary Sanchez is “just all sorts of talented, both offensively and defensively," said Yankees senior vice president of baseball operations Mark Newman. "He started in the U.S. when he was just 17, so he's got [1,522] plate appearances under his belt now. He's been around some, and it's showing. It's just not the kind of package you see too often in catchers."  Can’t he be waiting in the wings after we give Romine the shot he deserves this year?  The article goes on to say that, “Sanchez is undeniably the Yankees' top prospect, and he took another step toward proving that designation this season. The native of the Dominican Republic slashed .253/.324/.412 with 15 homers, 27 doubles and 71 RBIs during a season in which he moved up to Double-A at the age of 20. He also threw out 46 percent of would-be basestealers at Tampa and 39 percent with Trenton.”

Impressive to say the least, so with McCann in the starting rotation and Romine as a potential back up, I feel confident saying that the odd man out is Cervelli.  But really, anything can happen.  Hey, if the Mets can sign PEDs user Bartolo Colon then there is hope for Cervelli as trade bait.  Why not dangle him out on a string instead of giving up another great catching prospect like we did with Jesus Montero (ironically also testing positive for PEDs)? 

Bottom line, anything can happen between now and the end of the spring.  So, coming out with a statement like Cafardo did as if the backup catcher position is a done deal is just premature.  Let’s focus on the important things like prepping for the season, staying healthy and keeping our eye on the prize.  Good luck to all of our catchers and our team.  Do what you need to do to be primed for 2014.  Happy New Year!

By the way, for another take on homegrown Yankee talent, check out Erica's piece today as well, titled:

 WITH THE HOMEGROWN, THERE IS NO GUARANTEE

--Suzie Pinstripe, BYB Opinion Columnist
Twitter: @suzieprof




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