Inside the spring-training roster: Catchers
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Feb 05, 2008 
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40-man roster players: Francisco Cervelli, Jose Molina, Jorge Posada.
Non-roster invitees: Kyle Anson, Jason Brown, Jesus Montero, P.J. Pilittere, Austin Romine.
Competition: There isn’t any. Barring injury, the Yankees will break camp with Posada as their starter with Molina backing him up. Posada is coming off the best offensive season of his career (.338/.426/.543) and the Yankees liked Molina so much that they signed him for two years and $4 million.
Promotion possibilities: Cervelli, who turns 22 in March, started for Class A Tampa last season and will likely start for Class AA Trenton this season. He could catch in a pinch for a game or two. But if Posada or Molina went down, the Yankees would probably make a trade.
Youngsters of interest: Montero is an 18-year-old from Venezuela the Yankees invested heavily in ($2 million in 2006). Some scouts believe he’s too big (6-4, 230 pounds) and lacks the flexibility to catch and will eventually emerge as a first baseman or DH. But all agree that he can hit. Romine was a second-round draft pick out of high school last June and will get a taste of MLB life at camp. He’s the son of former big leaguer Kevin Romine. His arm strength is such that he closed for his high school team.
I’m a big fan of Romine. Love his high ceiling, same with Montero. Its nice to see we have three good young catchers in the system, Cervelli, Montero and Romine. Don’t count out Anson and Weems. They could always make the jump. Although Anson is more of a Cervelli type catcher, All glove and no bat.
Pete, I hope you aren’t missing the Giants’ victory parade!
Has montrero worked on his conditioning> Maybe Joba needs to have a chat with him
“Has montrero worked on his conditioning”
what are you basing this on?
I hope the Yankees watch this parade. I’ve missed these.
Thanks Pete, I see you started this with the easiest position -Catcher. The next easy one is inf’s besides 1st base and outfield besides LF. The biggest questions are 1. Who will be the yankees 1st baseman (Duncan, Ensberg, or someone else) 2. Bullpen 3. Bench players. 4. Does Ian start the season starting.
If anyone is watching this parade you are thinking the same thing as me…there is nothing like a victory parade down the Canyon of Hero’s in the best city in the world!! We need a Yankee parade in October…this is just the begining to NY being back on top and the planets being aligned in order! Congrats to the NY Giants!!!
Jeter settled with New York on the whole Tax disparity thing.
Link: http://tinyurl.com/2hzxjj
“Has montrero worked on his conditioning> Maybe Joba needs to have a chat with him”
Yah…Montero’s not fat, he’s just a giant of a kid. Have you seen photos of him? He’s MASSIVE.
Sara, if anyone is watching this parade, you’re also thinking the same as me… these reporters are really stupid.
ESPN is reporting that Jeter and NY have settled Jeter’s tax problems. Also Bryan Hoch wrote on his Blog that the Newark Star-Ledger reported that the yankees might sign Kevin Mench (I hope I got his name right) as a fifth outfielder. If anybody knows anything else it would be great to know.
Rodg12 you beat me to the Jeter story. Nice going.
What was the last New York team to win a championship? The Yankees (2000). Sorry, I don’t follow hockey, and the Knicks are, well, the Knicks.
BTW. I used to love the Ewing Knicks. I can understand them not being able to get over the hump because the East had some strong teams then. But where did it fall apart after that?
I’m dvring it, it has been too long since I’ve seen one. I keep telling everyone at work, that there will be one in October and I’ll be at it. There are some sticks in the mud here, they don’t get it and think it is stupid.
Sorry, that’s “The Yankees(2000)?”
I’m going to puke. Paris is on CNN saying she feels for Britney. With a straight face.
Say it ain’t so, what channel are you watching???
Only NYC can conduct a parade like this. Only NYC. First class everything in sight.
Not like a silly cowtown 200 miles north on I-95.
SNY New York has it live ….. live on WABC.com
Jennifer,
You’re at work so I’ll give a play by play of Roger entering the deposition.
He’s wearing a natty grey suit (with pinstripes lol), pink shirt, and a hideous tie. But it works. Actually, he looks quite dapper.
He’s got a buzz cut (shorter than Jeter’s spring cut!)Also carrying coffee and a sporting a big smile.
(And to those who were offended about our comments about Andy’s clothes. Give me a break. We never said anything about Andy’s character, just that his tie was hideous.)
Haha, I’ve got on NBC. The lady has no idea what she’s talking about, and I think she just said this is more exciting than the birth of her child. Um, okay…
wnbc.com is supposed to be streaming the parade live on its website for anyone at work
Mel I saw the picture, someone was laughing that Andy’s suit was ill fitting. Rogers looks horrible, it is way too tight!
No catching instructor drills the catchers like Tony Pena does.
Jorge, Jason Brown, Francisco Cervelli, and P.J. Pilittere have been drilled by Tony, others have not.
Mel, it wasn’t a case of being offended by comments of what Andy was wearing. It was more like, who cares what he was wearing? I’m sure Andy really woke up that morning that he was either going to make or break his best friend and said, “Gosh, I wonder if this tie will match my suit!!”
Great point Florida Yank. Our catchers should get great instruction this spring with Tony still in the fold and Giradi as the manager. I was really glad the Yanks were able to keep Tony on the staff. He’s a real asset.
The thing is Say it aint so, he probably should have been thinking about what he was going to wear. One of the Lawyers who posts on here regularly (might have been murphydog) brought up the point that this something they go over with clients, study in school or something to that affect. Appearance is very important in today’s society.
“BTW. I used to love the Ewing Knicks. I can understand them not being able to get over the hump because the East had some strong teams then. But where did it fall apart after that?”
The curse of trading Ewing away! …..
Here is a Pinstrip Potentials post from 12/06
Age: 16
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 220
Drafted: Signed out of Venezuela in 2006 for $2m
Position: Catcher (for now)
Bats: Right
“Batting: Jesus Montero is 16 years old. Jesus Montero’s bat is now. His bat is among the best to come out of Latin America in history. He has 80 power on a 20-80 scale, which means he has the potential to hit 40+ home runs at the major league level. He has an advanced approach at the plate, meaning that he knows how to select his pitch. We are unsure about his strikeout and walk potential due to his lack of professional experience to this point. It is very difficult to judge too much about Montero at this stage in his development. The Yankees are already adjusting his swing to allow him to “
jennifer,
Andy’s sleeves went down to his knuckles. Roger should’ve worn something looser, the tight suit shows off his sculpted bod.
rodg12, it’s not like he showed up wearing pajamas. He was in a suit and tie. The guy’s going through hell, we can’t give him a break on his clothes?
I don’t really care what he wears. I was just making the point that it is something that people look at and evaluate. I’m with you, he’s in a suit and tie, looks good to me.
Considering how money as those guys make, at least Clemens should have shelled out for a suit that fits. Well he is out of work now, so I guess he has to cut corners to make ends meet. A tailor to make one of his tattered old suits fit is obviously too much for the poor old guy to handle.
Still no excuse … they could have consulted Jeter on necktie selection instead of going with their Texas fashion instincts.
I hope that’s all that’s deemed wrong about them in congress’s eyes.
I really like having Molina as a backup. He’d be starting on many teams. He’s a competent defensive catcher who can come up with a big hit from time to time. As Posada ages I’d like to see him get more days off with Molina filling in once a week or every ten days or so. With Molina behind the plate I don’t feel that its as much of a handicap as it was with someone like Garcia. I’m a big fan of this signing and I think it will quietly payoff without many people noticing. Hopefully Jorge can have another season like last year.
I think with Girardi as an ex cathcer, and being more recently involved in baseball..he will pace jorge quite a bit. Posada goes down, we are F’D.
Pete,
Thanks for this information, it’s nice to get a handle on the Yankees depth chart at each position. Really great stuff.
Pete,
Thanks for this information, its nice to get a handle on the Yankees depth chart (current, not future) at every position. Great stuff.
Pete – this was probably an easy one. Wait until you have to write about the first base situation.