Wanted – Backup Catcher, Must Have Glove

Now that the World Series is behind us, we’re nearing the beginning of free agency. Seattle Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto will be looking to improve a ball club that went 76-86 in 2015. With the middle of the order signed through the next several years, the team is not likely to be getting into a bidding war for any of the bigger names on the free agent market. They should look to get in early and lock up the best role players available before someone else does. We might see a flurry of movement from the M’s early in the off-season this year, which makes me all giddy.

In my last article, I talked about the Mariners need in centerfield and suggested that if they were going to be competitive in 2016, they’ll have to get stronger up the middle. This week, I’d like to continue that train of thought by taking a look at the situation at catcher.

Mike Zunino was supposed to be very good. He was supposed to hit for a decent average, clobber home runs and be a middle-of-the-order bat for years to come. Zunino was drafted by the Mariners in 2012 with the number three overall pick and was considered by scouts, at the time, to be an excellent defender behind the plate with the most polished offensive skill set of any catcher in the draft, maybe even any college player drafted that year.

The Mariners did what they are known to do though and rushed Zunino through their farm system in less than a year.

He was promoted to the major leagues on June 11, 2013 and since then has been their full-time catcher. In that time, he has seen 961 at-bats and produced a slash line of .193/.252/.353. Yes, it really is that bad.

Mike Zunino’s horrendous numbers are absolutely indicative of the sort of decision-making the Mariners’ front office was guilty of throughout the Jack Zduriencik era. The number of young, talented players that came to this team, either through draft or trade only to under perform and never reach their potential seems almost criminal to me as a baseball fan. I would rather have at least gotten to see those guys develop into the stars everyone thought they would be on another team; one that actually develops players. Hopefully, under Jerry Dipoto and his gutting of the Mariners’ instructional and developmental departments, this won’t be a trend we see continue. But for now, the Mariners have a problem at catcher.

Mike Zunino is one of the better receivers in the game today. Pitchers reportedly love throwing to him and he frames pitches, blocks the plate and throws out runners all very well. He also has some legitimate power in his bat. I think if he can figure out the mental side of things, overcome the psychological parts of hitting that have him swinging at bad pitches and almost never walking, he could still be a very good hitter. If the Mariners could get something in the neighborhood of .250/.310/.430 from Zunino, they’d be in great shape. As of right now, there is no sane reason to depend on that happening, and until it does happen, the Mariners will need to find a major-league caliber catcher.

They need someone who can hit left-handed, or more specifically, someone who can hit right-handed pitching. There’s not much out there in the free agent market that makes sense, as most of the catchers available come with glaring offensive woes as well. And I think that long-term, the Mariners are still hoping Mike Zunino will be their starting catcher, so you can probably rule out them throwing money at guy like Matt Weiters.

There is one guy out there that I think fits the bill well from an offensive standpoint, and that’s John Jaso.

Former Mariner and fan-favorite John Jaso is a left-handed hitter, a free agent, and an on-base machine. He has a career on-base percentage of .361, which is the product of having a level swing, a good approach at the plate and a very high walk-rate. In the lone-year he played for the Mariners, he struck-out 51 times and walked 56.

Offensively, I think he’d be a perfect compliment to Zunino. Defensively, however, John Jaso is a liability. He’s actually no longer even listed as a catcher. His player page has him listed as a DH, and he didn’t call a single game last season.

If Jaso can catch for the Mariners two or three days a week, he might be a valuable piece to the puzzle. I’m not sure that’s a gamble the M’s can afford to make, even with the upside that Jaso’s on-base percentage brings.

As far as free agent catchers are concerned, I think he’s the most sensible player available, but the Mariners should probably be looking at the trade market to try to find a player who could split time with Zunino until he looks like he can get on base more frequently.

There are a several teams who saw poor offensive production from the catcher position last year, and they will also be looking for help behind the plate. I think it would be wise for the M’s to not take a wait-and-see approach.

I liked John Jaso when he was in Seattle, and I wouldn’t blame the M’s for going that route if they think he can still catch a bit. And who knows, maybe as we speak, Mike Zunino is at a training facility figuring out what’s kept him from evolving into the hitter we all thought he would be. And if that’s the case, we should all be wearing rally caps in October next year.