Martin Maldonado, $3.9 million deal

[Angel Oracle]

Machete is 31 this season, but hasn't caught a ton of MLB games.   I could see him catching 100+ games/season for the next 4-5 seasons.

Bob Boone was always the durable catcher in this org, starting most games until iirc his age 38 season.

Also, I can see a solid 2nd half hitting improvement, now that Machete has had experience catching 130 games in a season and shouldn't wear down so much down the stretch.   Still, limit him to 100-120 games tops now that Rivera is also here.

[Warfarin]

12 hours ago, Dochalo said:

not sure our reasons are different at all.  In fact, your post is something I strongly agree with.   Catcher defense, framing and sequencing is likely undervalued.  The fact that the halos finished with a near .500 record and one of the worst SP staffs in baseball is a testament to that.  Maybe I am undervaluing Machete by saying he's a 2 win player.  Or maybe I'm right considering that by conventional value he's a shade over a 1 win guy.  33 yo Kurt Suzuki rocked a 2.8 WAR season.  

My point is that we are likely overrating MM a bit.  We were ranked 24th by C WAR last year.  

I bet Eppler thinks he can replace Maldo pretty easily.  Doubtful he gets an extension.  

 

Cheers my friend!

[Warfarin]

3 hours ago, Angel Oracle said:

Machete is 31 this season, but hasn't caught a ton of MLB games.   I could see him catching 100+ games/season for the next 4-5 seasons.

Bob Boone was always the durable catcher in this org, starting most games until iirc his age 38 season.

Also, I can see a solid 2nd half hitting improvement, now that Machete has had experience catching 130 games in a season and shouldn't wear down so much down the stretch.   Still, limit him to 100-120 games tops now that Rivera is also here.

The stats obviously weren't available back then, but it would be interesting to know how Bob Boone's defense held up as a framer during that time.

I disagree that he is less likely to wear down now that he has the "experience" of catching 130 games a season.  By far more than any other position, being a catcher is grueling.  If we want to make the playoffs, the wisest strategy would be instead to rest Maldonado as much as possible during the season, with a target of 100-110 games started, because will need him to start every single game possible in the playoffs.  If anything, my thought is since we trotted him out so much last year, he might be worn down a bit more easily this season.

Another interesting stat that I would like to find out is how a catcher's framing is impacted as the season goes on.  I can't seem to find it online, but I did see an example with the Dodgers last year.  Grandal stated a lot of games for the Dodgers, and stats showed his framing held steadily/got slightly worse as the season wore on.  Conversely, Austin Barnes' framing kept improving month by month, such that he completely overtook Grandal by season's end.  We, as fans, probably can't really tell by the naked eye how a catcher's framing progresses/regresses as the season goes on, but I do speculate the more we trot out a catcher, the more fatigued he may get, and the worse his framing might be.

Something to consider as we formulate our team this year and in future years.