Cashman’s (Back-Up) Catcher Conga Line
So, now, Jose Molina joins the end of the dance line….
Who else is on it? Here are the back-up catchers that Brian Cashman has acquired since he’s been G.M. of the team:
Chris Turner (2000, Free Agent), Joe Oliver (2001, Free Agent), Todd Greene (2001, Free Agent), Chris Widger (2002, Free Agent), Alberto Castillo (2002, Free Agent), John Flaherty (2003, Free Agent), Wil Nieves (2005, Trade), Kelly Stinnett (2006, Free Agent), Sal Fasano (2006, Trade), and Jose Molina (2006, Trade).
Chris Widger (in 2002) and John Flaherty (in 2003 and 2004) were pretty decent back-up catchers. But, the rest have been terrible. It will be interesting to see where Molina ends up – will he be as good as Flaherty when he first got to New York, or, will he be just like Alberto Castillo and Wil Nieves? If I had to place a bet, it would be on the latter.
Wil Nieves played in half as many games and had half as many ABs for the Yankees as Jose Molina has had for the Angels this season (61 vs 125).
If Rotoworld is right, and Jose Molina’s fate with the Yankees is to be a supposedly better-hitting, better-fielding Wil Nieves — catching once a week (Giambi is coming back soon, and the team is overloaded at 1B/DH) — he won’t keep that .242 BA, nor a lot of his defensive timing as well. He’s used to playing more, and has been a #1 catcher in the past.
Basically, the Yankees lost 3 years in age in this trade, not much improvement in the SB/CS rate (18/7 vs. 21/6), no improvement at all in the CERA, 4 Es in 40 games vs. 1 E in 25 games for a barely discernable difference in Fld%—.987 vs. .983. All “small sample size” stats, of course, and of catchers for 2 different rotations. But there they are.
Some fans are saying “defensively, huge improvement”, but I don’t see it, frankly. Others are saying “Molina adds 60 points of BA and 52 points of OBP”. He achieved that for his PREVIOUS team, it’s not like it benefits the Yankees unless he maintains it going forward — with probably half the playing time.
Who was GM in 1998? Wasn’t it Cashman? Remember that potent BUC Dale Sveum that year — released halfway through the season.
Brian Cashman became Yankees G.M. on February 28, 1998. But, Dale was an INF – not a catcher.
Ah. Though I do seem to recall he actually came back to the Yankees in 98 as the bullpen catcher.