Quote:
Originally Posted by BWillie
If Salvy is still elite this year I will eat my hat.
I hope I have to eat my hat.
|
I adore Salvy, but it is a concern. He's gonna be 35 in eight weeks. And while his days of catching 140+ games are long gone, he's got a lot of mileage. But he should still have some left in the tank. I'm hopeful he's got one more season of All-Star type level play in him before hopefully slowly declining into a decent, mediocre player, padding his numbers, and when it's all said and done, getting some serious HOF consideration.
I can see him starting around 90 games at catcher this year and probably next before transitioning into a full time backup. Timing-wise, that should work out great, as by then someone of the Mitchell, Jensen or Ramirez will be ready to take the reigns as the primary backstop. Rotate Salvy in as DH and occasional 1B, and he should still get plenty of AB's for the next few years if he's still productive. Might not hurt if he were to take some reps at 3rd. With BWJ at short, Salvy's limited range at 3rd wouldn't make him a total liability, and he certainly has the arm for the position.