Why Blanco Should Pave the Way for Thole
By Mike Silva ~ December 3rd, 2009. Filed under: Offseason Speculation.
As NYBD contributor Joe Demayo pointed out on twitter, it appears the Mets are about to bring in Henry Blanco although no deal has been made official. It did get me to thinking that signing Blanco could pave the way for Josh Thole to become the everyday catcher and eliminate for Bengie Molina.
Anyone who questions Thole’s bat obviously wasn’t watching him in Binghamton (.816 OPS), his September call up in New York (.752 OPS), or his latest numbers from Venezuelan Winter Ball (1.059 OPS). The kid can hit and if he puts up an OPS between .750 and .800 that would put him right there with the top five catchers in baseball. The knock on Thole is his defense and that is where Blanco comes into play.
Henry Blanco is a veteran catcher that could spell Thole against lefties, mentor him on the defensive nuances of the game, and sub in defensively when necessary. For his career he has thrown out 43% of base stealers and is known for his defense. This obviously puts Omir Santos on the outside looking in at AAA. Inevitably you are going to need a catcher because injuries happen. Santos is a great guy to have as organizational depth and can do a solid job for any two week stretch.
All signs point to Bengie Molina becoming a Met in the near future, but I wouldn’t be upset with a Blanco/Thole tandem at the big league level with Omir Santos as depth.
December 3rd, 2009 at 10:33 am
Oh boy! Blanco might be a great sub, but can he catch more than 50 games? Thole might(remember Murphy) be a good hitter (no power) but by all accounts is no where near a ML catcher. A Blanco/Thole platoon would be worse than Castillo at 2B and Murphy at first and would certainly make it unlikely the Mets would escape 4th place.
December 3rd, 2009 at 10:49 am
RUK
Would you be ok with Molina? He is prob the best combo of Off/Defense on the market.
It’s all fair points you bring up.
December 3rd, 2009 at 8:20 pm
I don’t like Molina at all but I certainly don’t want a Thole/Blanco catching tandem. Thole needs a year to prep his defense in AAA, Nnot at the big league level if we plan on competing.