Comments on: The Blue Jays’ Catching Conundrum: J.P. Arencibia & Travis d’Arnaud

By: jakely

jakely — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 00:09:04 +0000

It’s a great problem to have. I personally really like the look of Arencibia. I thought what he did with the bat last year was quite good. He did foresake working on his hitting for the most part last year. His backstop chores were ordered as his focus. He had a big curve behind the plate and I thought it was obvious he really worked at it. Can’t ask for more than that. Still a curve there. The thumb killed a month or more for him. That’s a natural power swing he has. He’s confident with a bit of swagger.The other numbers will come up. I really like his ceiling. His floor will have him in the upper half of backstops. He’s got nowhere to go but up. Whatever they do, there’s not many more attractive trade chips than catchers and I like the way AA deals. We should make out like bandits. Seriously, what area of the team in the coming years doesn’t look like we’ll make out like bandits? Cant beat deep.

By: bear19

bear19 — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 21:30:13 +0000

@dave_church
More to baseball and team value than just hitting.
Mathis is an A catcher behind the plate, rather importand for a younf staff.
Scotia said he was worth a run a game..works for me.

By: dave_church

dave_church — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 15:06:00 +0000

@BuffaloSojourn Completely agree with this. I think AA takes into account popularity/intangibles, though I don’t think he’d shy away from a deal on that account. He dealt Shawn Marcum, which wasn’t a super popular deal at the time, if I recall correctly. I don’t think it’s something the Jays will have to worry about right now, as I mentioned, but it was something I was thinking about as I followed the spring.

By: dave_church

dave_church — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 15:03:31 +0000

@bear19 The biggest concern I- and I think the majority of “stathead” types (of which I am an amateur at best) have with Mathis is that he’s an awful hitter, and has proven that in his time with Anaheim. The general consensus on him is that he’s good defensively, and calls a great game, but those are more difficult to measure and prove. With that in mind, I’m more comfortable evaluating players where I can see tangible evidence that they’re good. I would love nothing more than for Mathis to prove me wrong and be great in both facets, I just don’t picture it happening.

By: bear19

bear19 — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 15:52:32 +0000

I’m surprised that you are so dismissive of what Mathis brings to the table.

By: BuffaloSojourn

BuffaloSojourn — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 13:27:01 +0000

The important thing to remembr is that no decision need be made for at least another 3 months. I’m fairly confident that Arencibia has the abilities to add 40-50 points to his average and OBP. If he can knock out 35 homeruns, that’s not horrible for a 1b/dh.
This time last year, all the talk around JPA was his lack of bat(160ish BA). His explanation was that he’s always been able to hit; he spent he entire spring working on his defence, with almost no time in the cage. Combined with the hand injury, it’s quite remarkable he pounded out 23 homeruns (in 440 at bats-about 30 homers if 600 at bats).
The point being, almost everyone has assumed that JPA’s 2011 stats reflect his ongoing skill level. Perhaps it will be, but one year is not enough of a track record. Personally, I’m somewhat confident that this will turn out to be his floor. The question is how high is his ceiling? Think it would be fair to allow JPA at least another 300 ab’s to see if he has another 2nd year progression in him. With the fact that D’Arnaud needing at least 1/2 a year seasoning, why not wait until July to even bother discussing what the future of the 2 players hold.
Another problem is the rising popularity of JPA among the fans, and seemingly his teamates. It very much seems that Arencibia has that intangibles you want in a catcher; every team wants one of their team leaders to be the catcher- by the very nature of the position (most involved player in game, defensive quarterback, leader of the pitching staff, etc.). Ths would make it even harder to trade him away.
It is only now becoming apparent that Anthopoulis places a higher value on ‘character’ than we realized (perhaps a direct result of his years as an assistant in what is now increasingly being seen as a fractured clubhouse-but that’s another story). This makes it even more problematic divesting themselves of Arencibia.

By: sporkless

sporkless — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 23:37:04 +0000

The answer to this question is highly dependent on any ninja deal from AA where he gets something he wants in return for one of the two catchers. I don’t think he’d trade one just for the sake of getting rid of one. So if no favourable deals line up, why not have them both on the 25-man, with TdA getting the majority of time behind the plate, and JPA picking up some DH time too (particularly against lefties, as noted by other commenter). Yes, JPA would have to show more offense to be a viable regular option at DH (or even 1B), but it’s not unreasonable to expect him to be able to take an offensive step forward, particularly if he is less focused on catching.

And yes, you could try to teach JPA to play 1B, but I don’t know he’s the right kind of athlete to play any infield position. I’m also convinced that Jose Bautista will be the first baseman within a couple of years, if not sooner, so likely not a big future there.

By: JacobDanovitch

JacobDanovitch — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 23:16:45 +0000

Personally, I think Arencibia and Thames should battle it out for the DH spot when D’arnaud and Marisnick get here. Travis would catch, Jake would play LF, and the winner of the JP/Thames battle would DH. I think Eric could have a nice platoon/bench role.

By: jerkstore

jerkstore — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 14:38:16 +0000

JPA could be a great platoon mate for Lind. Granted it is only 116 PAs, but against LH pitching:

.838 OPS .355 wOBA 123wRC+ .279BABIP

That will play at first base. Considering that is all as a rookie, he likely has room for improvement. Especially if he will be healthier by being not catching everyday. He can also grab PAs by giving D’Arnaud a day off.