BA catcher ratings

by scooter on Aug 11, 2007 11:09 AM EDT

catchers are tough to rank, but I thought BA's top ten catchers was particularly confused. They had Clement 1st, Conger 2nd, Anderson 3rd, Towles 4th, and Teagarden all the way down at 10th. To me this overranks Conger, who has proved little ,and underranks Taylor Teagarden who looks really promising to me.

I''d probably have the top five of the list something like Clement, Teagarden, Anderson, Towles, Conger, with Max Ramirez heading up the back 5.

Teagarden came out of college touted as a superb defensive C and even coming off of his TJ surgery is throwing out a high percentage of base stealers.

Teagarden had a 1054 OPS in High A ball (Cal Lg, though) and is at .998 in AA (small sample size caveat).

He's catching 2 or 3 days a week as a precaution coming off his injuries. That doesn't seem problematic to me. A broken back is actually better than most back injuries: the bone heals, and you're better, it's not like a chronic back condition. And, as for TJ, about 90% of pitchers not come off of TJ as good or better than before, and for a catcher it seems even less problematic -- particularly given how he's been throwing. It seems smart in the 2nd year off of TJ to limit Teagarden's throwing, but that doesn't throw up a red flag to me -- standard recovery period is 12-18 months, no?

That resume is, to me, far more impressive than others on the list aside from Clement. Conger seems to have an impressive bat, but it's unclear if he'll stick at catcher and he has a lot more to prove.

Am I overrating Teagarden, or am I right that he's being underrated? Any other comments on their catcher rankings?

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Teagarden looks

like he has a very good bat. But I wonder if his future will be behind the dish. Same with Clement.

by chard11 on Aug 11, 2007 11:10 AM EDT reply actions

The Rangers

are being pretty cautious with him. They rotate him with another catcher since it's his first year back from TJ. You'll see him assume a regular catcher's workload next year.

Teagarden is a better prospect than anyone on that list other than Clement. He can defend, works well with pitchers, takes walks, hits for power and hits for average. The fact that he is #10 is pretty ridiculous.

by FirebatM3 on Aug 11, 2007 1:22 PM EDT up reply actions

Behind the plate

Why wouldn't they keep him there? He has plus defense (some say his defense would play in MLB right now) and would obviously have more value there.

He may be trade bait down the line if Salty is installed at C permanently. I don't see them keeping Salty, Teagarden, M. Ramirez, etc. Ramirez may move to DH or 1B or something, but Teagarden is a catcher.

by t ball on Aug 11, 2007 1:48 PM EDT up reply actions

A catcher that

has already had TJ and might be better served at another position. I don't think its out of the question that he could end up somewhere else.

by chard11 on Aug 11, 2007 5:28 PM EDT up reply actions

i guess

i'm unclear why TJ makes him unsuitable to be a catcher. lots of pitchers come back from TJ and throw 100+ pitches every 5th day at 90 MPH+, or work as relievers available 2 out of 3 days.

a catcher who maybe throws down to 2nd once or twice a game wouldn't seem to be an issue at all -- so long as the TJ surgery was successful, many claim it actually makes the elbow stronger.

by scooter on Aug 11, 2007 5:39 PM EDT up reply actions

Ditto

He will be given every possible chance to be a catcher before a moment's thought is give to moving him. Any list of minor league catchers ranked defensively would have him near the top.

by t ball on Aug 11, 2007 8:59 PM EDT up reply actions

Well in

my opinion most pitchers have no other choice but to get back on the mound.Teagarden's bat gives the Rangers a little more wiggle room. I am not saying he won't be catcher.Just made a comment to spark some discussion. Nobody knows how a player comes will be after an injury. Also pitchers have a much more extensive rehab when the have an arm injury.

by chard11 on Aug 12, 2007 11:20 AM EDT up reply actions

Conger

Conger's stat line and pedigree and stat line remind me of Saltalamacchia at the same age. Salty severely broke out at 20 in A+, so it will be interesting to see what Hank does next year in the same situation.

by aCone419 on Aug 11, 2007 11:24 AM EDT reply actions

Response

Teagarden is probably being underrated a bit here, but I understand the thought process behind his ranking. His arm looks okay when he's only catching a couple of times a week, but nobody is certain as to how it will hold up under the stress of a full-time catching schedule. His statistical production looks great, but he's 23 and was playing in the Cal League, so you can expect the usual skepticism there. You could probably also expect some dropoff in his statistics were he to catch full-time . . .DHing half the time kept him fresh, but I doubt you'll find many who think he'll hit enough to play an offense-first position in the majors.

If his arm holds up, then yeah, he looks like a pretty solid catcher to me. But there are a lot of questions that need to be answered, and the answers will have a very heavy impact on his future value.

I don't think Conger is really overrated here. He's got an awesome bat that has plus potential at any position. A catcher from a warm-weather state hitting .295/.342/.475 in the Midwest League? Sign me up. I really doubt he sticks at catcher, but that's fine . . .just figure out how to keep him in the lineup.

by mrkupe on Aug 11, 2007 11:25 AM EDT reply actions

Conger's back issues are alarming

i could care less about his production right now but if that back continues to act up he won't be behind the plate for long

by Wheelhouse on Aug 11, 2007 11:33 AM EDT reply actions

Conger has been injuried a lot

He broke his Hamate last year and now his back is bad. Though he didn't lose power from losing his Hamate Bone.

by Bravesin07 on Aug 11, 2007 12:09 PM EDT reply actions

Where's Cervelli?

Same age as Hernandez, identical OPS, one level higher, plays in worse hitter's league. Also compares very favorably to McBride.

Ramirez is not a catcher. And Pena isn't as good of a prospect as Montero.

Todd Frazier for President

by FrazierFan on Aug 11, 2007 12:10 PM EDT reply actions

In his dreams

on the favorable comparison to McBride. You are entitled to an opinion but phrase it as such. You have made a completely unsupportable claim without any support. Ramirez is a catcher at the present time. Just not a good one defensively and that is reflected in the rating since he may be the best hitting prospect in this group. I doubt that Cervelli can even compare to Robbie Alcombrack in terms of tools.

by sdtribefan on Aug 11, 2007 1:48 PM EDT up reply actions

Better performance, year younger, higher level

and he's a good defender. What's not to like? I did support it. Cervelli is younger, has a higher OPS, and plays one level above McBride.

Alcombrack is a completely different beast, he would have to be compared to a Jesus Montero.

Todd Frazier for President

by FrazierFan on Aug 11, 2007 2:10 PM EDT up reply actions

According to all reports,

McBride is far superior defensively in all aspects than Cevelli. There is a big difference is organizational depth! Until the Lofton trade, McBride was blocked and Atkins said they kept McBride in Lake County to handle a very inexperieced pitching staff. Atkins also said that he would probably hit AA next year. BTW, you can compare Alcombrack to Montero or Posada if you want but neither is realistic. In a different system, Alcomback would already be playing low A.

by sdtribefan on Aug 11, 2007 11:05 PM EDT up reply actions

protected content?

Isn't this subscriber only and not to be posted? If it isn't, I'd love to see their other positional rankings.

Just the names will suffice, I don't need all the commentary.

I also think Teagarden is underrated, but I own him on my fantasy team, so maybe that's why

by Curtis Pride on Aug 11, 2007 12:45 PM EDT reply actions

Angel Salome

I'm guessing he is missing due to the steroids?

by nyy601 on Aug 11, 2007 5:00 PM EDT reply actions

Not in this case

I believe this list was published before the substance-testing results came out. Jeff Sackman at BrewCrewBall.com wondered about Salome's omission at that time.

http://www.brewcrewball.com/story/2007/7/18/15170/1388

He the testing results came out about a week later.

Ichiro, on facing Daisuke Matsuzaka for the first time: "I hope he arouses the fire that's dormant in the innermost recesses of my soul."

by DaleCoop14 on Aug 11, 2007 5:20 PM EDT up reply actions

Copyright violation

It is protected material and should not be posted.

by buccoben on Aug 11, 2007 5:26 PM EDT reply actions

mistake on my part

computer lets me in without asking for password, so didn't note that it was member only.

fixed it above in a way that isn't a violation.

by scooter on Aug 11, 2007 5:36 PM EDT up reply actions

it's not it's a free article

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=6467

by Trenchtown on Aug 11, 2007 9:14 PM EDT up reply actions

That's BP

though it's another interesting chart

by andwoo on Aug 11, 2007 9:47 PM EDT up reply actions

Actually

It is a free article.

I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.

by WayneCampbell05 on Aug 12, 2007 3:16 AM EDT up reply actions

teagarden

i think he's probably better than the 10th-best catching prospect, but he's not terribly underrated by BA. remember, they're all about tools rather than production. and teagarden is pretty old--he was a college draftee two years ago and is still in the cal league. somehow i don't think he will be texas's catcher of the future, with salty in front and max ramirez behind him.

i'm a big conger fan, by the way. who knows how he will turn out, but i really like his swing. i'm not surprised BA is so high on him. they've loved him since he was in high school.

by jpahk on Aug 12, 2007 12:33 AM EDT reply actions

Teagarden

missed a year due to injury. Developmentally, this is his first full year of professional baseball and so far he's held his own in Cal League and TExas League.

by FirebatM3 on Aug 12, 2007 3:08 AM EDT up reply actions