Who's Going to Catch On?

The recent rash of injuries is not the way we wanted the Yankees to finish the spring. Included on the list of injuries are the catchers who are both dealing with minor issues. Francisco Cervelli has a Grade 1 hamstring strain, and as a precaution the Yanks will hold him out of the remaining spring training games. Jorge Posada has been complaining of a stiff neck and has also been held out of the lineup. Both players feel better and say they will be ready on Sunday when the season opens. However, having a 38 year old catcher and another who has had several concussions over the last few years, does raise an issue about the organization's depth at catcher. Let’s look at some catching options if it becomes necessary:

The 2 catchers in Triple-A are Jesus Montero and Mike Rivera. No way Montero gets a shot this early. The plan for the 20 year old, top prospect is to spend most of this season working on his catching skills and maturing as a hitter. That leaves 33 year old Mike Rivera who has a career .244 batting average (.228 last year and .250 in 18 at bats this spring). Obviously he is not going to scare anyone with his hitting but at least he has some major league experience. Rivera has played in 181 major league games with the Tigers, Padres and most recently the Brewers. However, he has also been having some hamstring problems and had not played since March 20. He did play yesterday and had a hit in 2 at bats before being replaced by Austin Romine. It's expected that the Yankees will release Rivera, so he may be out of the discussion before it even starts.

P.J. Pilittere is another option with at least some Triple-A experience (28 games last year). He has yet to play a game in the majors and wasn't projected to make the SWB Yankee roster. Now, instead of being released or sent to Trenton, could he be a DL move or two away from catching in the Bronx? Scary.

Last year Cervelli spent some time in Triple-A but basically jumped from Double-A to the majors. Could Austin Romine also follow that path to the majors? Defensively, he could be ahead of all the other minor league prospects at the position. He has a cannon for an arm and yesterday threw out the speedy Joey Gathright with a great throw. He is currently slated to play at Trenton this year and saw a decent amount of time with the Yankees this spring getting into 10 games. Romine, 21, was selected by the Yankees in the second round of the 2007 First-Year Player Draft out of El Toro High School in California. He batted .276 with 61 runs, 13 home runs and 72 RBI in 118 games with Single-A Tampa in 2009. After that season he was named the second-best prospect in the Yankees organization by Baseball America. He is also 86 on the list of BA's top 100 major league prospects.

Probably a more realistic option is scouring the waiver wire for more experienced catchers. Heard yesterday that our old friend Chad Moeller asked for, and received his release from the Orioles. He was the Orioles backup to Matt Weiters last year, but lost the job to Craig Tatum this spring. He told the Orioles that he wanted to explore other options rather than go to Triple-A. The Yankees struck quickly and signed Moeller to a minor league deal today. There was also some question as to whether Jose Molina would make it as the backup for the Blue Jays. He was in a tight battle with Raul Chavez. On Wednesday the Jays announced he won the job for now, mainly because of contractual issues. It’s possible Molina could be available at some point this season.

The strength of the Yankee farm system is clearly in the catching position. Top prospects Montero, Romine, Gary Sanchez, J.R. Murphy and Kyle Higashioka will provide the Yankees a bright future. Until then depth at catcher will be a concern all year if the team doesn’t have some major league ready talent to draw on. But we know the Yanks will always find their man.