brox13 wrote:

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There is only a logjam at a position if the players are all around the same ability level. If Stassi comes in and performs as his tools and makeup would indicate, no one would block him. His best case scenario is better than Wagner, Exposito, or Fed-X. The odds of those three all being starting caliber catchers isn't good. If hell freezes over and it does happen, you trade them for other positions of need. I'd love to see the Sox take Stassi and Luke Bailey, with Bailey missing the rest of this season and starting fresh next season at a level below Stassi.

Agree we needn't worry about a logjam (and as others have pointed out, this would be a great problem to have if we did), and I'd be fine with them taking Stassi and Bailey if those options were there at value-for picks. Also agree the notion that Wagner, Exposito and Fedex all becoming major-league starters is unlikely, but I think there's a decent chance one out of the three -- if we're hugely lucky maybe even two -- could eventually start at the MLB level. Fedex and Exposito are still too far away from that to make any kind of realistic prediction, as you are obviously taking into account.

That said, a guy yet-to-be drafted like Stassi who's reputed to have many, many positives, but not a strong arm is clearly even more of a longshot at this stage. The arm issue bothers me because it's just SO bad at the MLB level right now for the RS. Because of RS pitching philosophy, the ML team will never be high on the charts for CS; that's just a fact and a tradeoff they're willing to make (and I don't disagree). But to me, that's even MORE of a reason to put catchers into your system with plus arm potential. They'll need better than average arms to help mitigate the fact they'll always be at something of a disadvantage in throwing out runners. It's one thing to have a major league team that will always be on the below-average end of CS, it's another to advertise to the universe that the opposing team can run at will. We've had games this year where that's clearly how the oppostion sees us and it will remain a danger for years to come (since it's based on giving priority to pitching, which isn't going to change, nor should it). So to me, a plus arm for a catcher is especially important for the RS.

Of course I freely acknowledge that a draft pick is simply a draft pick. If Stassi has terrific tools otherwise and hits well and progresses through the system, we'd all be delighted to have him. If someone in the system turns out to have a better arm and other skills equivalent, that would be both astonishing and delightful (and we can trade Stassi). All I'm saying is, for the catcher-of-the-future in Boston, I'd value a plus arm more than some other attributes. The three guys we see with real potential already in the system, all have plus arms (though Exposito needs to work on his accuracy).

BTW, what I'd REALLY like to see at the major league level is a catching tandem (I know, we're hurting to have even one ML-caliber guy and now I want two). But I remember when Varitek and Scott Hatteberg were a tandem (before Hatteberg got hurt, then lost out to Varitek). With a position that demanding, sharing it with two almost-equals has a huge upside.

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