Wednesday: Catching Up

From 1991 to 2003, Ivan Rodriguez was the Rangers’ front line, MVP, Gold Glove award winning catcher. He was a star catcher, equal to the best in the game. When Pudge left after the 2002 season, the Rangers were suddenly faced with the difficulty of finding a replacement. Since then they have been unable to produce a catcher who can consistently play solid baseball like Rodriguez did. It's just another 'Rangers frustrations' that the fans have had to endure these many years.

First the Rangers signed Einar Diaz, who compiled a 257 batting average while manning the backstop and the pitchers, who ended that season with a team era of 5.67 (worst in the American League). Also, Todd Greene served as Diaz’ backup that season. The next year, both were gone and the Rangers turned their hopes to Gerald Laird. We all remember Laird got off to a terrific start, but then was lost due to an injury soon after winning the American League Rookie of the Month award. Then stepped up Rod Barajas, who has been the only consistent catcher for the Rangers since Rodriguez departed. But still, Barajas is to Pudge as Adam Everett is to Derek Jeter. In 2004, Barajas whacked a career high 15 homeruns, while helping the pitching staff compile a much improved 4.53 ERA. Barajas won the starting job in 2005, and had the best offensive year a Ranger catcher has had since the days of Ivan Rodriguez. He hit 21 homeruns that year, but struggled in 2006 as a healthy Gerald Laird began to make it back into the spotlight. Laird hit 296 as the backup in 06 and at long last won the starting job in 2007, as Barajas’ days with Texas came to an end. But then Laird, perhaps too ardent in his desire to prove to the Rangers how valuable he was, posted a dismal 224 batting average, while the Ranger pitching staff struggled with an ERA of 4.75. Also, in the second half of 2007, Laird saw his playing time decrease significantly upon the arrival of Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who unfortunately had little offensive production, hitting 253 with the Rangers in 07. In 2008 Laird saw even less playing time as again the Rangers wanted to see what Saltalamacchia could bring to the table. But Saltalamacchia struggled for most of the season and only rarely showed signs of his full potential, which left Rangers fans wondering how good he actually was. Taylor Teagarden then came up for the end of 2008 (Max Ramirez also had a brief stint with the club in July) and Rangers fans know the rest of the story.

I’m still waiting for the Rangers to get a solid catcher, someone who can play gold glove caliber defense and put up MVP type numbers like Pudge did. Will this ever happen? I think the answer lies within the results of the 09 season, as Saltalamacchia will get his first opportunity to prove what he’s worth, and Teagarden will get his first chance to start the season at the big league level. Saltalamacchia has yet to convince me that he’s the real deal like he was advertised to be when he played in Atlanta. Every time I see him hit I see a young player trying too hard, plus his defense certainly does not warrant high praise. Teagarden on the other hand is a proven catcher defensively (at least in the Minor Leagues), but his offensive abilities remain to be discovered (we all know that the show he put on at the end of last year could not be continued throughout an entire season). Then there’s Max Ramirez who, unless traded, could still be the next great Ranger catcher. He’s a powerhouse offensively and his defense is improving, but he hasn’t exactly had the chance to prove how good he is at either of those areas in the Major Leagues. As far as age goes, Saltalmacchia is the youngest, followed by Ramirez and then Teagarden. That’s a plus for Salty because he has extra years to prove his value. The Rangers are obviously loaded with catching talent and one of things I’m looking forward to most about this season finding out how that position will begin to shape up.

Ever since Ivan Rodriguez left, the catching position has been very inconsistent for the Texas Rangers. It’s an essential position for winning teams and if you look at the clubs who recurrently make it to the postseason, you’ll find that they usually have a catcher who is reliable. The Red Sox and the Yankees are good examples, but also take a look at a team like the Dodgers and you’ll find that their star catcher Russell Martin has been with the team for three seasons and they’ve made the playoffs two of those three years. I know that doesn’t mean that a team gets to the playoffs based on how good their catcher is, I’m just pointing out that having a solid catcher helps out the team and helps stabilize it. The Rangers seem to be close to getting their new hopefully star catcher for the future, the only question is who it will be among the three young, but esteemed candidates.