For a few hours today there was a rumor that the Mets were considering signing Ivan Rodriguez. I'm all for the Mets signing the best players available but this signing would have rubbed me the wrong way.
The first thing I thought of was that the Mets already have Mike Nickeas, Rob Johnson, and Lucas May competing for the backup catcher job. Three people competing for one role is enough chaos as it is, bring in a fourth possibility would create a major logjam. Then, there is the fact that the Mets have gone with veteran catchers for the past few seasons with Ronny Paulino, Henry Blanco, and Rod Barajas and were not pleased with any of them. Going with the same plan that didn't work three times in the past just wouldn't make sense.
And the last reason I would be confused by this signing is because of the timing of it. The rumor was that the Mets would wait to see how Johan Santana progressed and then decide to either spend money on pitching or catching. If the money was to be spent on catching they would go for Pudge. It just doesn't seem fair and/or respectful to the catchers the Mets brought into camp to make a decision like that. It made me think of the scene in Miracle when a few of the players tell Herb Brooks that they don't like bringing in Timmy Harrer so late because he hasn't spent the last six months training with the team. He isn't part of the family. Obviously these aren't teams in the same situation but bringing in another catcher when the others have been fighting for the job just wouldn't sit well with me.
It takes time for catchers to connect with their pitchers and vice versa. Three catchers are working to create relationships with an entire pitching staff right now. You cannot simply throw a catcher onto a roster and expect things to work. That's pretty much what they would be doing with Pudge.
Luckily, it looks like I won't have to worry about Ivan Rodriguez appearing at Mets camp.
Let's Go Mets!
The first thing I thought of was that the Mets already have Mike Nickeas, Rob Johnson, and Lucas May competing for the backup catcher job. Three people competing for one role is enough chaos as it is, bring in a fourth possibility would create a major logjam. Then, there is the fact that the Mets have gone with veteran catchers for the past few seasons with Ronny Paulino, Henry Blanco, and Rod Barajas and were not pleased with any of them. Going with the same plan that didn't work three times in the past just wouldn't make sense.
And the last reason I would be confused by this signing is because of the timing of it. The rumor was that the Mets would wait to see how Johan Santana progressed and then decide to either spend money on pitching or catching. If the money was to be spent on catching they would go for Pudge. It just doesn't seem fair and/or respectful to the catchers the Mets brought into camp to make a decision like that. It made me think of the scene in Miracle when a few of the players tell Herb Brooks that they don't like bringing in Timmy Harrer so late because he hasn't spent the last six months training with the team. He isn't part of the family. Obviously these aren't teams in the same situation but bringing in another catcher when the others have been fighting for the job just wouldn't sit well with me.
It takes time for catchers to connect with their pitchers and vice versa. Three catchers are working to create relationships with an entire pitching staff right now. You cannot simply throw a catcher onto a roster and expect things to work. That's pretty much what they would be doing with Pudge.
Luckily, it looks like I won't have to worry about Ivan Rodriguez appearing at Mets camp.
Let's Go Mets!
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