Saltalamacchia

by HectorLuna on Jun 6, 2007 5:00 PM EDT Comment 23 comments

When will the Braves move him to first? He he is hitting much better than Thorman and they have McCann at catcher (he's been hurt off and on though). Today in the Marlins game, everyone and their mother stole off Salty.
D Uggla (1, 3rd base off K Davies/J Saltalamacchia), A Boone (2, 2nd base off B Boyer/J Saltalamacchia), A Amezaga (5, 2nd base off T Yates/J Saltalamacchia),
H Ramirez (18, 2nd base off T Yates/J Saltalamacchia),
R Abercrombie (5, 2nd base off C Paronto/J Saltalamacchia).
Shouldn't he be moved?

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McCann

has one of the worst arms in the national league. Salty's is WORSE?

by Curtis Pride on Jun 6, 2007 5:09 PM EDT reply actions

He has a strong arm

Prior to today he had been very impressive throwing guys out. But Bobby Cox's loyalty to Thorman is killing the etam. Salty has a great bat and has looked great thus far. Their lineup would look pretty sick with everyone healthy if they do what they should do.

Johnson
Renteria
Chipper
Andruw
McCann
Francoeur
Salty
Diaz

by bravitos5122 on Jun 6, 2007 5:09 PM EDT reply actions

Thorman is terrible

he's a poor mans Ryan Klesko and that's being nice. Salty will be the 1st baseman in 2008 and hopefully will become a poormans Justin Morneau who also moved from catcher.

by Bravesin07 on Jun 6, 2007 5:11 PM EDT reply actions

considering his economic situation

that poor man sure has a lot of stuff lately

by wily mo on Jun 6, 2007 5:24 PM EDT up reply actions

Dude

Morneau played catcher for 22 games in the GCL and Appy league. Morneau is a L/L, Saltalamacchia is a S/R. Morneau hit AA at 20 and raked it at 21, and was handed a full-time job in the majors at 22. Saltalamacchia hit AA and struggled and was aggressively promoted to a MLB backup. Justin Morneau had a .310/.378/.527 line through the minors. Saltalamacchia had a .273/.370/.448 line.

Would you stop making this ridiculous comparison?

by limozeen on Jun 6, 2007 6:50 PM EDT up reply actions

MISTER WIZANSKY!

yo, relax. it's not that ridiculous. morneau didn't catch that much, and the handedness point is fair enough, but just comparing them as guys standing at the plate, i can see it. salty's minor league numbers are depressed by a few things - his breakout year was in myrtle beach national park, and i don't think there are too many people left who believe that his brutal first half last year in AA actually meant anything, given that we now know he had a hand injury and considering the way he's hit since his midyear DL stint last year.

i think it's dead wrong to try and make out like he had trouble with the AA level or something - there was never anything to indicate that. he wasn't striking out; nobody could point to a hole in his swing or a breaking ball problem. he just wasn't hitting the ball with any authority. the hand injury is the simplest explanation.

by wily mo on Jun 6, 2007 7:54 PM EDT up reply actions

yeah

All I'm saying is that Morneau was a premium, premium guy, a guy who was projected to be a plus plus player at the hardest MLB position to be above average at. Salty is great, and I kept him high on my lists even though he "struggled" at AA, but to make it seem like he's Justin Morneau just because they both were catchers at one point is asinine and it needs to be pointed out that about the only thing they have in common is their height.

by limozeen on Jun 6, 2007 9:39 PM EDT up reply actions

well,

their height and hitting the crap out of the baseball. i think salty is also a double-premium guy. i had him as a top 10 prospect going into 06 - now admittedly i was new to the prospecting game at that point and was weighting it way too heavily towards hitters. but i think people have missed the boat on him a little bit between him hitting in a cavern in 05 and then being hurt in 06. and all the while playing catcher, which had to draw down his numbers. once you move him from behind the plate and let him focus on hitting - i mean, if morneau is a .305/.370/.550 hitter, i believe salty can do that.

just because bravesin07 says something doesn't automatically make it ridiculous. i've been using this comp myself.

by wily mo on Jun 6, 2007 10:30 PM EDT up reply actions

well

If you truly believe in those split stats, why not Mark Teixeira (6'3" S/R, 1B)?

I think Saltalamacchia profiles more like Victor Martinez than a true banger 1B though.

The thing that bothers me about what he's saying is that it hinges on 22 short-season games at catcher, and that Morneau's and Salty's career paths are in no way similar.

by limozeen on Jun 7, 2007 12:01 AM EDT up reply actions

huh

teixeira actually being a switch-hitter helps i guess. that never occurred to me.

salty might hit like victor if he had to catch all the time, but i think if you turned him loose he's got power to match anybody. i mean, you watch him hit, you don't doubt it. i don't anyway.

by wily mo on Jun 7, 2007 12:56 AM EDT up reply actions

small sample size alert

He gunned down a couple yesterday, has a plus arm, and was pretty solid in throwing out runnings in AA (2006-07). I'd wait for more data before drawing any conclusions.

by MPK on Jun 6, 2007 5:17 PM EDT reply actions

yeah

yesterday salty threw out 2 of 3 and people (even rotoworld or some major source i was reading) started the campaign to move mccann to first. today they steal 4 on salty and now he's out of there. let's just take it easy.

by wily mo on Jun 6, 2007 5:25 PM EDT up reply actions

Klesko

was a good player. Thorman is terrible and not close to a poor man's Klesko.

by bravitos5122 on Jun 6, 2007 5:18 PM EDT reply actions

Klesko wasn't good at first

When he started out he hit like .245 or something like that and was Platooned.

by Bravesin07 on Jun 6, 2007 5:24 PM EDT reply actions

Thorman

Thorman is a poor man's Russel Branyan really.

by cajunrevenge on Jun 6, 2007 5:32 PM EDT reply actions

One game

As long as we're making snap judgments about players based on one game, shouldn't Thorman be moved up in the order? He had three hits today! He's awesome!

by emagnes01 on Jun 6, 2007 5:48 PM EDT reply actions

Salty's future

So seriously folks, what can we expect out of Salty for the remainder of the season? It looks like he'll split time between 1B/C with an eventual shift to 1B. Sure, he can hit but.......does he get the ab's?

Projections??

P.S.- Possible trade bait?

Fan of Fenway

by bodyiq on Jun 6, 2007 6:30 PM EDT reply actions

Trade Bait

Look around the majors and see how many teams need a plus-catcher, which Salty could be (arguably already is...). The Braves have McCann and he can hold his own for years to come; meanwhile, the Bravos have so many spots that could be upgraded: 1B, LF, 3B (Chipper is brittle folks), 5th starter...

Just thinking out loud here, but what about Salty to Colorado for Koshansky? The way Koshansky is hitting right now, he would be an instant upgrade @ 1B over Thorman. Or send him to PIT for Walker...then move Chipper to 1B.

Anyhow, Salty's off to a nice start and his value is high right now... I'd deal him.

by Will Play Roto for Food on Jun 6, 2007 6:38 PM EDT up reply actions

Braves and prospects

Besides the fact that they will never trade Salty for that little, JS just doesn't trade for prospects

Check out MVN.com/mlb-braves for the best Braves coverage

by was385 on Jun 6, 2007 7:38 PM EDT up reply actions

koshansky

salty's worth a lot more than that. i mean a lot more. he's a better hitter, never mind that he can catch. the braves would be better off just sticking him at 1B.

by wily mo on Jun 6, 2007 7:57 PM EDT up reply actions

I agree with you

All this talk of trading Salty is a little wierd. I see him spraying liners from BOTH sides these days. He isnt somebody I would be interested in trading AT ALL. Unless, I suppose, in a package for a real good starter. Having 2 great young catchers isnt a terrible problem to have. The real question is which one goes to 1b. Honestly I think both of their bats would be plusses at first also. I think they are that good.

casedog

by casejud on Jun 7, 2007 12:09 AM EDT reply actions

the thing is...

... unless Salty or McCann starts hitting better once they move to 1B -- which, as wily alludes to, is possible, but you really don't know -- you simply decrease the player's value when you move him to an easier position. When the Braves were in this same situation with Marte -- forced to choose between either moving a veteran star (in that case, Chipper) or a young prospect to an easier position, or trading one of them -- they resolved it by trading the prospect, Marte. I think they should do the same with Salty.

and boom goes the dynamite.

by Mean Dean on Jun 7, 2007 1:58 PM EDT reply actions