A really interesting debate came up this morning when I wrote about our newest minor league catcher, J.R. Murphy, that I believe deserves its own thread. I wrote:
Do we have too many catchers in the system? The typical answer is “You can never have too many catchers.” While I agree to a point, there is something here that the Yankees need to consider. Teams need a balanced minor league system. They need players at all positions to fill holes and move up the ranks. The best way to do this is to find players who will actually develop into major league players – to pick right. The Yankees have selected and paid big money to Jesus Montero, Austin Romine, J.R. Murphy, Kyle Higashioka, and Gary Sanchez to all possibly fill one position. Only Montero and maybe Murphy have a chance of moving to another position. At some point, the Yankees need to have the confidence to feel happy at catcher and try to fill other important positions. Trade bait is a good thing to have, but we’d rather develop a fill for a need.
To be graphical:
| Level | Year | Name | Cost |
| AAA | 2003 | Francisco Cervelli | Neg |
| AA | 2006 | Jesus Montero | 1.5m |
| A+ | 2006 | Austin Romine | .5m |
| A- | 2008 | Kyle Higiashioka | .4m |
| Rk | 2009 | J.R. House | 1.2m |
| Rk | 2009 | Gary Sanchez | 2.5m |
That is a lot of money to spend on catching. The Yankees have a lot of catchers in the pipeline. I understand that catching is a rare position and a surplus of catchers can easily be traded for other trade chips. However, remember that teams often value their own prospects more than the prospects of other teams. So, whenever trading away your own prospects for other assets, you are always swimming upstream. It costs less, both in money and assets, to develop your own pitcher or shortstop or right fielder than it does to trade one of your own developed players to fill that need. The exchange rate just isn’t to our advantage.
At some point, the Yankees need to have the confidence in their system to spend 3.7 million dollars (the cost of Sanchez and House) on other positions. They have to trust that somewhere in their array of catchers is a long term replacement for Jorge Posada. Money is a limited resource even to New York, and it needs to be spent as efficiently as possible.
But that’s my opinion. What do you guys think?
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
15 Responses to When Is It Too Much?
Leave a Reply
TIQ IQ
Well I think acquiring a lot of catchers is a clear indication the Yankees are not sure about Montero’s ability to stay at the position, and when you are dealing with catchers you aren’t sure if they will develop to the point you think they will. Do we have a lot? Yes but I really see no problems with it unless we get a few more, I agree the system doesn’t seem to have a lot of contributing position players at other positions but a good team starts with a good pitching battery and if I had to guess I would say Romine is trade bait and J.R. Murphy and Gary Sanchez are the desired catchers to be on the roster while Montero is seen as a DH (I could be dead wrong) it just has always seemed to me like Romine was destined to be traded.
Isn’t the philosophy of a team like the Yankees to draft the best players available and to sign the best players in the international free agency. They don’t have the luxury of some other teams that draft in the top 5 to choose the position that they need, they are usually drafting from 25th to 30th. I do not have a problem of having a surplus of catchers since it is no guarantee that any of them will have big league success. This is the most premier position and if you have one player that can stick there and be an allstar then you have a luxury that very few teams will have. If two of these prospects are at the same level in the minors and split time, it might hinder them defensively which is a problem, but it helps not putting stress on a catcher before he has an opportunity to play at the major league level.
There is no guarantee that any will make it to New York, but having a surplus gives the Yankees better odds that at least one will and if any others show the potential and have proven themselves than you may have a blue chip prospect that “MIGHT” net the Yankees major league ready prospects at positions that they might be thin in.
Very Very well said!
I see what you are saying, but I don’t have a problem with the situation. Like Mark said, draft the best player you can and worry about what happens down the road.
Here you’ve got this whole list, but Cervelli is really a backup type, Jesus and Romine can battle it out, and everyone else is at least three years away. In order for this to be a problem three or more of these guys have to make it at the big league level. I’m not sure that’s going to happen.
I disagree with your assessment of Cervelli.
He is already a much better catcher then Posada, in fact, about equal to Molina. His bat is much better then Molina but, not equal to Posada (who is). Remember; Catchers do not have to hit like Posada to be front line catchers. He can hit in the .270′s with gap power…good enough for a #1.
But he isn’t and won’t be a star which is what Montero and maybe even Romine might be. So while there is value it does make sense to try to find a better Posada replacement than one that is “good enough.” Having a bat better than Molina’s doesn’t say a whole lot.
I have no problem with it. It’s safe to say all of these guys won’t pan out. Montero may not even stick at the position. But a good hitting catcher is worth his weight in gold, and an excess of Catchers can always be traded to fill a need down the road.
I’m pretty sure people were saying the same thing when the Yankees had Joba, Phil and Ian and they kept drafting pitchers. These things usually work themselves out.
You can never have to many pitchers or Catchers….
Agree with EJ – Even if a decent percentage of these guys develop into chips, you limit the teams you can deal with by overloading at one spot. What if we really want a certain guy, but that organization has no need for catchers? If you’re going to overload at any position, it better be one that rhymes with snitcher.
Every team could use a catcher, this is one of the positions you are allowed to overload for a few reasons:
1. There is never a guarantee that a prospect will pan out and become a major league player.
2. Prospects can outgrow this position or struggle with defense and be moved to another position.
3. It is very difficult to develop an allstar catcher and having a blue chip prospect at this position is very hard to come by and will net a nice haul of prospects to help fill out other positions that the team might be thin in.
We have definitely traded our fair share of Catchers in deals in the past…
I’ve been rooting for a few top picks being spent on corner OFs that can mash for a couple of years now. I think the organization underrates the value of that position.
I just don’t think they have come along… is the more likely scenario then “they just don’t care about the OF”.
Even though they have already spent a lot of money on catchers, they have developed a player like Montero. If every one of those other players busts, they will still have made a profit because of Montero. They seem like they are good at developing catchers and if they think that they can develop catchers better than any other positions, than they should continue to get them.