{"id":480,"date":"2011-02-09T10:12:24","date_gmt":"2011-02-09T15:12:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=480"},"modified":"2011-02-09T10:12:24","modified_gmt":"2011-02-09T15:12:24","slug":"should-we-leverage-our-catching-depth-in-a-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=480","title":{"rendered":"Should we leverage our Catching depth in a trade?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Jesus Flores' general reaction to his injury troubles for the past two seasons. Photo Toni Sandys\/Washington Post<\/p><\/div>\n

MASN Nats beat writer Ben Goessling <\/a>touched on this same issue back in December and came to the same conclusion that I have: The Washington Nationals may have some catching depth to spare when April 1st rolls around.\u00a0 We have Ivan Rodriguez<\/strong> and Wilson Ramos <\/strong>as the incumbents (having DFA’d last year’s backup Wil Nieves<\/strong>, since signed by Milwaukee).\u00a0 But we also have former starter Jesus Flores <\/strong>coming back from injury and seemingly healthy.\u00a0\u00a0 Plus our #1 hitting prospect not named Bryce Harper <\/strong>is Derek Norris<\/strong>, also a catcher.<\/p>\n

At the end of the spring, I think we’re going to see Flores winning out the 2nd catcher position (by virtue of his age, his experience with the team, and the memory of his 130 OPS+ numbers he put up in 2009 before getting hurt).\u00a0 But there’s little value in having one of the better Catching prospects in all of baseball languishing in Syracuse while we wait to see if Pudge or Flores suffers an injury.<\/p>\n

I can see the Nats moving Ramos or Flores if the right deal comes about.\u00a0 But, the Nats probably need an entire spring training of production out of both guys to prove to other teams that they are healthy and viable candidates.\u00a0 Flores might be a tough sell to teams since he missed most of the last two seasons and seems brittle … but his numbers when he’s healthy are middle-of-the-order.\u00a0 Meanwhile the entire league knows what Ramos is capable of and he may be a better trade candidate.<\/p>\n

Also factoring in is the development of Derek Norris; at this point we’re all assuming he’s going to start in AA and be ready to take over one of the two MLB catcher spots when Pudge’s contract expires after this season.\u00a0 If Norris takes a huge step back or suffers a season-ending injury, then nobody is going anywhere and the Nats will plan for Ramos\/Flores platoon in 2012.<\/p>\n

The Nats still have needs at the MLB level for 2011 though; you can argue that we really could improve at LF, CF and in the starting rotation.\u00a0 Meanwhile, there are several teams out there going into 2011 with question marks at catcher.\u00a0 Looking at these depth charts<\/a> league wide, here’s some possible trade partners (barring injury to existing guys of course):<\/p>\n