Sox sign C Juan Centeno to MiLB deal (+ catcher talk)

Really?  Looks like the kind of backup to the backup you stash in AAA with good defense and weak but not completely inept offense, that you could have have come up and play 10 games here and there and not embarrass you



www.amazinavenue.com/2013/10/3/4781182/new-york-mets-position-prospects-juan-centeno-scouting-report 

I wonder if this is the pre-cursor to moving a catcher.  Centeno seems to be good depth as a defense first catcher with a great arm, though it might get tricky if they need him called up more than once.

I’m thinking Dan Butler as the comp, give or take. A break glass kind of fill-in if one of your MLB catchers goes down but not a guy you want up for more than 10 days.

I’m leaning more towards competition for Dan Butler (if he comes back) and Oscar Hernandez. The arm on Centeno doesn’t seem all that special either. Only thrown out 6 of 47 base runners that have tried against him in the majors.

I'm thinking the same except substitute Leon for Swihart and visa versa.

Where do you find that kind of info?  Just curious.

I would think Swihart's upside would generate more trade interest rather than Leon's all glove no hit and if the Sox are looking at Vazquez as the starter, then having Swihart as a backup does little to further his career.

Leon can be a backup catcher. Swihart as a backup catcher is a waste.

He's going to be 27 and he has yet to really prove much, but I still think he has offensive upside. I'm not convinced that he can't hit .270 - .280 with 10 - 15 homers as an everyday catcher. I would think another team would be willing to take a gamble on his upside and let him start and live with the defensive issues, probably a team that's second division or on the fringes of contention - a lot of teams need catchers.

I don't think Leon would fetch as much in a deal. If anything they'd probably non-tender him and I think that would make a lot of the pitching staff unhappy.

Leon can be a capable backup to Vazquez. Yes they're similar in that they're known for their defense first, and they both can have long periods of struggling at the plate.

But I think in the biggest games Vazquez won over Cora's trust. Other than pairing Leon with Sale, I think Vazquez started all the other games, including Porcello's who is a huge backer of Leon.

Vazquez is only a season removed from hitting .290. It's probably almost as fluky as Leon's .310 with pop in 2016, but I think Vazquez has more of a shot at recovering most of his "good luck" from 2017 than Leon does at getting any of his 2016 results.

Frankly I think Swihart is a better bet to recapture his 2015 numbers and rates, but I don't see it on the Sox at this point, and certainly not as a backup.

I really think Swihart is the guy the Sox intend to trade and they probably can get a reasonably useful middle reliever for him with some upside from some team.

Fangraphs

I would not be so quick to get rid of Swihart because the staff will be changing over . I keep thinking when Vasquez got hurt and 3verything stayed the same. This will be very intertesting. I keep seeing the big picture with Swihart. I keep rooting for him.

FYI, the Red Sox bullpen catchers are former farmhand Mike Brenly, who retired midseason 2015 to take the position, and Mani Martinez, who's held that position since like 2005 (claim to fame is probably catching the bullpen cop home run, although you can't see him because he's in his crouch behind the fence).