Cashman says Yankees willing to stay in-house at catcher
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Misc on Nov 30, 2012 
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Believe him or don’t believe him, but Brian Cashman said this morning that the Yankees are willing to stick with their in-house, defense-first options at catcher.
“At the very least, that’s our fallback,” Cashman said. “But we are going to have to pursue a lot of areas on this club: The bench, right field, potentially catching, maybe not. It’s possible that our catchers are right here on this roster right now. That is very possible, and more likely than not, to be honest. But we’ll see. Patience is a virtue and good things come to those who wait.”
Last night, Russell Martin agreed to a two-year deal with the Pirates. Indications are that the Yankees are not particularly excited about the other top catchers on the free agent market, and there’s no obvious trade target out there. Currently, the Yankees have backup catchers Chris Stewart and Francisco Cervelli, prospect Austin Romine, and recently designated for assignment Eli Whiteside.
“We do have placeholders there,” Cashman said. “We have people that can handle and run the game. The offense is an area that, currently with what our roster provides, will be a downgrade from what we’re used to. But the most important aspect of those games is (defense).”
A few other catching notes from Cashman…
The Yankees were not surprised by Martin’s signing
“This isn’t something that caught us off guard. It’s something we were very well aware of. The agent was very honest with us, as well as the player, Russell. The best shot we took at retaining him was in spring training and obviously it was more difficult and now he’s moving on.”
Cashman felt he could only put so much money toward the catching position
“I like Russell Martin. I’m a big Russell Martin fan. But ultimately we have a lot of holes to fill and we have to be very careful how we spend our money. The market for Russell was aggressive, as it should have been, and our focus has been on our pitching and after that I have a lot of different holes to fill and we need to be careful how we allocate our remaining funds to make sure we can fill all the holes. I feel we were fortunate to have Russell Martin for the two years that we had him, and I’m sorry to see him go. I think the Pirates got a really good one. But at the same time, I think we’ll find ways to cushion the blow as we always try to do.”
Romine is currently expected to open in Triple-A, but that could change
“I think he’s on the outside looking in, but when you get this close to the big leagues, things can come quick. If you’ve got a lot of talent, things can come quick. That talent, it can close the gap very quickly. At this planning stage, the plan would be for him to be at Triple-A everyday and having a full year at Triple-A, but we’ll see.”
Right field is a higher offseason priority than catcher
“I would say so, yeah. … We’ll have to wait and see how it plays out. We’ll engage the market – the trade and free agent market – but our big focus has been on our pitching, like we’ve been talking about.”
Associated Press photo
Andrew Marchand ?@AndrewMarchand
Cashman says OF is his No. 1 priority, thinks C could be solved internally.
good news…..if you can’t have good production at C then at least have cheap production.
Same GM who once famously said that he would be fine with having Bubba Crosby as the everyday CF. At some point we need to accept the fact that Cashman is not going to put out there what he’s thinking or planning and nor should he.
this is actually a good sign if you ask me.
they might start being a bit more analytical when it comes to handing out longer term deals.
face it – with arod + tex + cc + jeter making up half the payroll after next year, you have to be prudent in spending your money. especially if you want to hold onto cano and possibly hughes.
it’s not imperative they develop the farm guys and we are most likely going to see a major youth overhaul by 2015. when you make major philosophical changes in spending, it takes time to implement.
^^^ it should say “it’s NOW imperative”…
To me, Cashman sounds flustered. He sights the “patience\virtue” thing, and then describes the catchers he has as “placeholders”. Who the hell wants a placeholder onna team with a payroll around the $200 Mill level??? I would guess Cashman did Not believe Martin would sign with somebody this Quick, and thought he had time to dicker with Martin and pursue other catching avenues at his own speed. NOW, when Cashman dickers with a free agent catcher, or talks with teams about trading for a catcher, they know they got him over a barrel. Cashman has been caught with his drawers down.
Is the phrase “don’t let the door hit you” in here somewhere?
fran_cervelli
Todo equipo pasa por cosas como estas,pero estoy seguro que este grupo tan unido pronto ganara,ganara y ganara #VAMOS
Martin was an easy out and Girardi had to teach him how to call a game. He is declining as a hitter and couldn’t even muster a decent batting average in his contract year. I’m glad he’s gone and that the Yankees didn’t overpay to keep him. Now the great minds at the helm of the Yankees will have to see what Stewart can do. They overpaid greatly to get him (George Kontos) and let’s see if the brain trust’s investemnt pays off. More than likely, they traded a good young pitcher for a backup catcher. How often is that done by smart teams?
I shudder to think what they’ll have to give up to trade for new catcher. Cashman gets screwed in virtually all of his trades.
even at a young age, Cervelli has bought into the “use only positive, company lines when speaking with the media in any way”. Nothing wrong with that of course, but not particulalry insightful
Chip-
Spot on. “Bubba Crosby is our CF”. Not.
Mike Axisa ?@mikeaxisa
Reds want a leadoff hitting OF, have excess catching. Gardner for Mesoraco then re-sign Ichiro for LF? Still leaves gaping hole in RF.
not a bad thought if they could add another good outfielder…..
The team philosophy is very different from the Bubba Crosby days. I do expect a low cost, vet to be brought in. He may not be better than Cervelli, Romine or Stewart but would be insurance.
blake November 30th, 2012 at 10:39 am
Mike Axisa ?@mikeaxisa
Reds want a leadoff hitting OF, have excess catching. Gardner for Mesoraco then re-sign Ichiro for LF? Still leaves gaping hole in RF.
not a bad thought if they could add another good outfielder…..
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I think Mesoraco is a little more valuable than Brett Gardner.
I think Kurt Suzuki is a legitimate target.
My guess is that Cashman will take a look at who is non-tendered tonight before doing anything.
Did you see the video of Ichiro showing off the accuracy of his arm?
How about Cervelli tweeting in English. Or can someone here translate.
blake November 30th, 2012 at 10:39 am
Mike Axisa ?@mikeaxisa
Reds want a leadoff hitting OF, have excess catching. Gardner for Mesoraco then re-sign Ichiro for LF? Still leaves gaping hole in RF.
not a bad thought if they could add another good outfielder…..
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Stole my idea, except I said Hanigan. Don’t think I would trade Gardner for either though.
I would see what it would take to get Soto in pinstripes for 1 season. He could fill the breach until something better came along. At the very Least, the Yanks would have a back-up catcher with MLB experience. Stewart does Nothing for me, and there’s the lingering thought that the Yanks know something about Cervelli we do Not. The Yankee treatment of Cervelli last season was Poison Ivyish.
Martin is terrible. Anybody who thinks it’s okay to overpay for Martin for one year either doesn’t know baseball or isn’t as smart as they think they are.
Luckily they didn’t make Martin the qualifying offer. He would have jumped on that in a heartbeat.
“I think Mesoraco is a little more valuable than Brett Gardner.”
probably…might have to add somebody else but Dusty wants a lead off hitter bad.
“Don’t think I would trade Gardner for either though.”
yea….depends on what you’re replacing Gardner with for me…..
Nontenders. Oh boy.
Josh Hamilton on a one year deal?? Stranger things have happened…
But seriously, letting Martin go was no big deal. He hit some HRs but he also hit around .200 for the last 3 years. This isn’t Jorge Posada we are talking about here (is he available?). I’d be cool with a hodge podge of catchers consisting of Cervelli, Stewart, Whiteside, or some veteran like Soto or Barajas to fill in until Romine and eventually Sanchez are ready. We got spoiled with Posada and Mike Stanley. Who remembers our catchers before those guys?? Matt Nokes, Don Slaught, Joel Skinner, Girardi, Rick Cerrone, Bob Geren, Butch Wynegar, etc. etc. all of those guys were Martin type players. We can find another pretty easy and for cheap.
Soto may get non-tendered later today….may be available for minimal cost.
Soto’s WAR last year was -.4 while Martin’s was, as I recall, around 3. That is about what I expect, an at or below replacement level player.
Yanks are supposed to be Deep in Young catchers, so why give up Gardner to simply Add another\Mesoraco? I like Grandal’s switch bat, and he would be the Only young backstop I would be interested in. You either buy into the young Yankee backstops down in the Bushes or you do Not.
The best catcher we have in the org. is still Tony Pena. Good thing we didn’t lose him to Boston.
Kottaras may also be non-tendered.
Martin’s wOBA with the Yanks was just over .320, which is league average for all positions. That makes him pretty valuable, given that he’s also a top pitch-framer and a surprisingly good base-runner, for a catcher.
I think the Yanks looked at their pay limit for 2014. Adding what it would cost to retain Grandy and Cano to the commitments for ARod, Jeter, Teix and CC, they decided that they simply couldn’t afford to pay Martin $8.5 million.
I’m afraid this is only the first of many non-signings. It makes me pessimistic about the next two years.
You either buy into the young Yankee backstops down in the Bushes or you do Not.
–
None of them are close and teams need 2 catchers.
I think Mesoraco is a little more valuable than Brett Gardner.
—
Considering that Gardner is basically Bourn, who is about to get a big contract, I think Gardner is pretty valuable.
Three deals that fit the Yankees budget and needs:
1. Minor leaguer to Washington for Suzuki
2. Eduardo Nunez, Adam Warren and Brett Gardner to Twins for Justin Morneau and Josh Willingham
3. Re-Sign Ichiro
The Twins are rebuilding and this deal could free up 1b for Joe Mauer which is where they think he’s going to have to move. Gardner would replace Span at the top of the order and Nunez would give them a short stop that they desperately need.
In terms of salaries Morneau is $14M that comes off the book after this year, Willingham is 7 this year and 7 next (very reasonable) and Suzuki is 6.5 this year with a club option next year.
Make these deals and the lineup looks like:
Jeter
Ichiro – LF
Cano
Tex
Alex
Morneau – DH
Willingham – RF
Granderson – CF
Suzuki
Bench: Adams, Nix, Stewart, Dickerson
Offering the QO to Martin was in the Yankees best interests if their goal is to cut payroll in 2014 while also trying to win in 2013. Martin for 1 year even on an overpay is ok and there is always the chance he would have declined because of his ego and belief he can get the 3-4 year deal he wanted.
The thing that makes the QO such a nice thing is that they have to forgo the entire free agency process to accept it. A guy like martin, who sincerely believes he should have been a first round pick and probably thinks he is 1 HR away from being the best catcher in baseball, may have declined. Just like Soriano is not going to get 13.3 mil per year but he was obviously going to decline.
Considering that Gardner is basically Bourn, who is about to get a big contract, I think Gardner is pretty valuable.
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Gardner is better than Span and Span just got traded for a first round pick. Mesoraco is a good prospect but has struggled in the majors.
austinmac November 30th, 2012 at 10:59 am
Nontenders. Oh boy
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Yankees got Russell Martin after he was non-tendered by the Dodgers.
I don’t think Soriano was the same situation at all as Martin, but I’m pretty tired of discussing it.
I don’t think Soriano was the same situation at all as Martin, but I’m pretty tired of discussing it.
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The Yankees didn’t even need Soriano
Retaining Martin would not have been the end of the world, where as Soriano accepting would have been like ‘Ugh… this guy?’ for the front office
To me, this is not a problem. We were a better team when Stewart was behind the dish last year.
The big question is whether or not the money saved on Martin will be spent on an OF. If they use the money to improve other positions, I have no problem with journeyman catchers. It isn’t exactly a premium offensive position anymore.
And don’t talk to me about Russell’s pitch framing unless you want to talk about his pitch calling as well.
Cervelli’s tweet in English (via GoogleTranslate):
Every team goes through things how are you, but I’m sure this group as soon united win, win and win # GO
but, if I can read between the lines:
Thank God that he’s gone! I’ve been sleeping in my car for months sticking voodoo pins in a representation of Martin’s contract. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out #GO
The Yankees’ salaries were way out of line with the rest of the league and with history. Over the longer haul, the profligate spending wasn’t sustainable, and the belt tightening always had to happen. Moreover, that kind of extravagance is simply not necessary to put a winnning team on the field. I take some solace in the fact that there seems to be a coherent plan in place, and that they are still fielding solid contenders.
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I really have to disagree with this. The yankees were ahead of their time on payroll and salary, but now they are only going up. The Yankees are cutting down at a time when salaries are increasing like crazy and payrolls are rising. It was sustainable, because the Yankees sustained it for 10 years. They did not lose money. They continued to rake in the cash. Again you miss the point that the extravagance to field a winning team is not necessary for any given year, but to compete over a long period of time it is necessary.
You don’t need 200 million to win in any given year, but for sustained excellence, making the playoffs 99% of the time you need it. Teams which make the playoffs without such a high payroll do not do it with the same frequency, and need other things to go right such as having a crop of prospects come to the majors to act as a core (or supplementary players at least). The Yankees do not have that. Their guy was Robinson Cano and he is a free agent soon. They don’t have anyone on Cano’s level ready to impact the major league club. That is why the payroll should not be going down at a time like this. There is going to be a 2 season gap where no one from the minors is really contributing and the Yankees are potentially going to be without cano for it.
Romine wins 2013 AL RoY – he’ll be our Buster Posey until Sanchez becomes our Buster Posey
Forget Morneau, forget Willingham, and use the players mentioned +, to get J Upton inna 3 or 4 way Blockbuster.
They had good developing players, but the traded them for less value—Kennedy, Jackson, and Coke for Granderson. When you trade good young talent, basically one major leaguer for three, you put yourself at a disadvantage, and have to resort to drastic measures, such as ridiculously high long terms contracts.
Cashman’s bad trades have hurt their future and make it look like they can’t develop major leaguers.
This tendency will be noticed by the owners and will be his undoing. They should monitor his trades as closely as they watch salaries.
He was able to cover his bad trades in the past with heaving spending, but not now. He is good at looking at the discarded players for value, which is his main strength.
Chip, you want to trade for Suzuki, pay I’m $6.5 M despite his zero WAR from last year?
“We do have placeholders there,” Cashman said. “We have people that can handle and run the game. The offense is an area that, currently with what our roster provides, will be a downgrade from what we’re used to. But the most important aspect of those games is (defense).”
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Effin’ Brian…
Who are these guys placeholders for? He means Sanchez right? Please god let him mean Sanchez.
I would trade Gardner for Mesoraco if they could replace Gardner with something good at least short term…..Austin, Healthcott, or Willams would hopefully replace Gardner at some point.
Jerkface –
The landscape of baseball has changed. The free agent market isn’t as good and overpaying questionable talent because they’re the best of what’s available doesn’t help the situation. The problem is not about the payroll, it’s that the Yankees have done a horrible job of development and self scouting in their system. The larger problem is that this is an organization that is steeped in the notion that you can’t trust young players at a time when the only way to meet their financial goal and build a long term future is to trust young players. The alternative is what we’ve seen – older players on short term contracts and struggle to replace them each winter. As for Cano, if the Yankees determine that they don’t want to tie up funds for Cano when he’s 36, 37, or 38 based on what they’ve seen happen with Posada and Alex I don’t blame them.
Ideally I would like them to make that decision now and trade him if they don’t want to keep him. But I don’t believe that money will come between Cano and the Yankees.
Someone get the South Beach Tow crew to Cervelli’s car stat!!
(South Beach Tow is a TV show produced by….. JENNIFER LOPEZ!)
JLo Yankees.
austinmac November 30th, 2012 at 11:49 am
Chip, you want to trade for Suzuki, pay I’m $6.5 M despite his zero WAR from last year?
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I would offer them a low level minor leaguer and maybe Frankie Cervelli.
Suzuki had an awful start to the season with the A’s last year, but after being traded to Washington his numbers were better than Russell Martin’s.
Jerkface November 30th, 2012 at 11:24 am
Considering that Gardner is basically Bourn, who is about to get a big contract, I think Gardner is pretty valuable.
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Gardner is better than Span and Span just got traded for a first round pick. Mesoraco is a good prospect but has struggled in the majors.
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Gardner for Olt or Reddon!!
Thing is, the Yanks don’t know whether Cervelli and Romine can last a full season. Both are injury prone. Not a good combo at catcher.
Yanks fans ma see a lot of Chris Stewart and/or Eli Whiteside next year.
Chip November 30th, 2012 at 10:17 am
Same GM who once famously said that he would be fine with having Bubba Crosby as the everyday CF. At some point we need to accept the fact that Cashman is not going to put out there what he’s thinking or planning and nor should he.
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I do feel like these are very different circumstances though.. Cash said that back when the Yankees still wanted to be great. Now the Yankees just want to be JLo.
The landscape of baseball has changed.
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Yes but its that player contracts are catching up with owner revenues, an area the Yankees are well positioned to excel in. They have been doing it for 10 years. They did not have to change. Their change is not about being a better organization or more efficient, but about naked greed.
Shame Spencer November 30th, 2012 at 11:55 am
Chip November 30th, 2012 at 10:17 am
Same GM who once famously said that he would be fine with having Bubba Crosby as the everyday CF. At some point we need to accept the fact that Cashman is not going to put out there what he’s thinking or planning and nor should he.
——————–
I do feel like these are very different circumstances though.. Cash said that back when the Yankees still wanted to be great. Now the Yankees just want to be JLo.
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If that was the case then the Yankees would’ve walked away from Kuroda and Andy and gone with Warren and Phelps or cheaper major leaguers like Garcia or Pavano in the rotation with CC, Hughes and Nova.
Here’s hopeing that Cashman does Not turn RF into a scavenger hunt, like he has Now done with the catcher position. If he comes away from the Winter Meetings with nada, you know the howling in Yankee Land will reach a fever pitch.
Jerkface November 30th, 2012 at 11:56 am
The landscape of baseball has changed.
–
Yes but its that player contracts are catching up with owner revenues, an area the Yankees are well positioned to excel in. They have been doing it for 10 years. They did not have to change. Their change is not about being a better organization or more efficient, but about naked greed.
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No, it’s because teams are locking up players and buying out their early free agent years (or not letting them get to free agency at all) thus diluting the free agent talent pool. Additionally, because revenues around the sport are up teams you don’t have teams like the Royals dealing away talent to lower payroll (Marlins as an obvious exception)
If that was the case then the Yankees would’ve walked away from Kuroda and Andy and gone with Warren and Phelps or cheaper major leaguers like Garcia or Pavano in the rotation with CC, Hughes and Nova.
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That’s not really 100% true though.. all those guys are signed to 1 year deals. Is that really the same thing?
I just don’t buy that we’re going to see an upgrade from Russell Martin at the C position in 2013 and it’s pretty sad to think about it in those terms. I think anyone expecting an upgrade just because of Cashman’s past rhetoric is just hoping and dreaming… something I’ll totally get on board with until reality smacks us in the face.
If the Yankees let Cano walk next year they probably aren’t making the playoffs for a few years.
Shame Spencer November 30th, 2012 at 11:59 am
If that was the case then the Yankees would’ve walked away from Kuroda and Andy and gone with Warren and Phelps or cheaper major leaguers like Garcia or Pavano in the rotation with CC, Hughes and Nova.
——————–
That’s not really 100% true though.. all those guys are signed to 1 year deals. Is that really the same thing?
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Sure it is. Look, the Yankees could (in theory) go out and sign Greinke and Hamilton but with or without budget constraints it would be stupid to do so given the major questionmarks surrounding both guys.
What I take from them letting Martin walk is that the Yankees were willing to pay to keep certain players (Andy, Kuroda, Mo) but not to keep a marginal catcher.
Shame Spencer November 30th, 2012 at 12:01 pm
I just don’t buy that we’re going to see an upgrade from Russell Martin at the C position in 2013 and it’s pretty sad to think about it in those terms. I think anyone expecting an upgrade just because of Cashman’s past rhetoric is just hoping and dreaming… something I’ll totally get on board with until reality smacks us in the face.
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Yankees weren’t going to upgrade at catcher if they had re-signed Martin either. They would’ve just been paying more money for the same bad player. The thing is that you can get similar production from players for less money.
The Yankees have a budget that they are operating under. They were unwilling to allot 8.5 million dollars in 2014 to Martin. We’ll see how this plays out in RF now that they have some flexibility from the catcher position. I would expect the bench to be filled out by one year guys. Has anybody done the match on where we are for committed 2014 dollars?
LGY November 30th, 2012 at 12:01 pm
If the Yankees let Cano walk next year they probably aren’t making the playoffs for a few years.
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And the fans would go insane if they missed the playoffs. Letting Cano walk wouldn’t be a problem if they had replacements ready to step in. The same thing regarding Martin.
Russell is going to have fun losing games wearing a Pirates uniform. Good riddance.
From what I can gather, Cashman all but said that Romine could very well win the starting catching job coming out of ST.
Just because “the plan” was for him to play 1 full year in AAA does not mean the team will
follow that plan.
(math)
LGY November 30th, 2012 at 12:01 pm
If the Yankees let Cano walk next year they probably aren’t making the playoffs for a few years.
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yup. just like losing pujols crippled the cards
I’d be against Barajas as payback for the 2001 WS. Other than Womack, have we ever picked up anyone who was on that team?
“If the Yankees let Cano walk next year they probably aren’t making the playoffs for a few years.”
unless they replace his production before he leaves (Hamilton)
Sure it is. Look, the Yankees could (in theory) go out and sign Greinke and Hamilton but with or without budget constraints it would be stupid to do so given the major questionmarks surrounding both guys.
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I think we just disagree on the general premise. You think the reason the Yankees wouldnt sign said players is because of performance question marks and/or the downside of overpaying. I think they won’t sign said players only because of the budget and only the budget. Ex: They aren’t going to spend that amount of money on Andy next year if he wants to play and it doesn’t fit the budget, period.
I don’t think we’ve seen the last of them overpaying either.. they may do it with Cano. So I suppose we’ll see if this is really a new, more shrewd Yankee business model or just a matter of practicality given the restrains on next year.
I don’t think Kuroda was an over pay. I don’t think Andy was either.. I sincerely believe both he and Mo, if they were interested in shopping their services, could have gotten those salaries from other teams. I know others on here disagree.
Best way to reach $189 Mill, and restock this team short and long-term, is to deal Cano NOW, and plug J Upton and his AAV into RF. EASY PEEZY.
Should we petition Chad to gather donations in LoHud GB7′s name, for some kind of new fund at No Greater Sacrifice, or Wounded Warriors, or something?
Shame -
I agree that we disagree.
I like to think that the Yankees are smart enough to learn from the mistakes they’ve made in the past (signing over 30 players to long term contracts that don’t go well at the end)
yup. just like losing pujols crippled the cards
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They did replace him with Carlos Beltran and a bunch of young prospects that actually produced. The Yankees couldn’t afford Beltran and we have no prospects
The cards also only won 88 games??
I just think the moves they’re making now are circumstantial and not indicative of a smart, savvy business approach.
They haven’t proven they can do that all that well just yet.
Toronto wins 122 games next year
What’s wrong with AJ Pierzynski? He posted 27 HR and 74 RBI with a .278 / .324 / .501 / .825 slashline in 2012 – a prime Posada year – and he even hit four triples.
Yes, I know, he’s a not a defensive catcher, right, ok, so?, well neither was Posada, but what did the Yanks do with Posada? Win a pair of World Series and a pair of pennants with him as the full-time catcher after winning a WS with him sharing the position with Girardi.
The Yanks don’t need a good or better defensive catcher to win it all or reach the World Series – recent history (2000 on) proves it.
The Yanks should offer AJ a year and $8.5M (Martin’s 2013 salary) I think he’ll take and be done with it. You sacrifice defense to keep the offense at catcher, re-sign Ichiro for RF, Ibanez for DH. Yeah you have an old-ass starting nine (Jeter, A-Rod, Ibanez, Ichiro, AJ) but so what when the 2012 Yanks had the oldest average age of any team in team history and still made it to the ALCS and further than 2011 when they had a lower average age? Age is overblown.
Get a deal AJ, Ichiro, Yankees.