Curtis 'Wait, He's White?' Thigpen has gotten his dreaded DFA notice, indicating that in all likelihood, Michael Barrett will be the leading candidate for the backup catchers spot leading into the 2009. Thigpen, who only two years ago was considered Toronto's catcher of the future, endured both 2006 and 2007 unable to hit the damn ball with any consistancy. For a player who worked his way up the organization largely due to his offensive skills, the sudden inability to make contact saw him first leapfrogged by other propects, and finally offered up to the world. Due to Thigpen's youth and flexibility, it's unlikely that he won't find some interest by another system's minor league pool, but his days in Toronto have gone the way of Russ Adams.
While many people have floated the idea that one of our celebrated prospects like Arencibia or Jeroloman might make the backup role out of Spring Training, it seems unlikely that for a ballclub with an eye towards 2010, they'd rush either prospect to the bigs from AAA. Most likely, both will be looked at as either September call-ups, or injury replacements at most, for some seasoning. That leaves Michael Barrett the only likely candidate for the backup catching role.
Barrett is a player that always made me wonder why there was so little confidence in his abilities. Despite the fact that punching out his teammates seems to be his primary source of entertainment (when not kicking the shit out of A.J Pierzynski, a service which deserves a medal), Barrett has been a very solid offensive and defensive catcher through his career. The fact that he was picked up for a minor league contract shows a real lack of confidence in his abilities, which likely stem from his numerous injuries.
It reminds me, in a way, of how baseball pundits used to refer to Halladay being injury prone, as if getting his leg broken from a line drive is somehow related to his pitching or conditioning. Most of Barrett's injuries have been freak accidents; a broken index finger, foul ball to the face, bruised balls (sorry, 'intrascrotal hematoma'). Looking around at a number of ballclubs very shallow in their catching pool, it's surprising that the Jays would get Barrett for virtually nothing.
Barrett and Barajas are an interesting tandam. Both are considered excellent defensively, with identical FPs of .992 in their careers. Barrett is historically the superior offensive player, which begs the question of how the two righthanded catchers will be played by Gaston.
Barajas: .241/.289/.409 OPS+ 77
Barrett: .264/.320/.422 OPS+ 89
Assuming Barrett can avoid injury and rebound to his normal production, it's possible we'll see another usurpment of the starting catcher role this year.
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