The NFL Will Have to Wait for Mo Clarett
August 5, 2009Jesse Owens to be honored in Berlin
August 5, 2009This is one of my all time favorite photos. Its from the ’07 season when Kelly Shoppach hit an improbable walk-off homer against the A’s at Jacobs Field. Those were the days. Four of the six players waiting at home plate are no longer donning the Red, White, and Blue.
Remember last year when the Indians organization had not one, but two everyday catchers? While Victor Martinez was out with an injury which robbed him of his bat speed and power, Shoppach took over the reigns as the regular receiver and ran with it. Not only was he Cliff Lee’s personal caddy during his 22-3 Cy Young season, at the plate Shop was raking like an all star.
In just 112 games last season, Shoppach led all American League catchers in home runs with 21. He hit a more than respectable .261 and was managing the pitching staff fairly well. Once known for his defense and his arm, it was Shop’s bat that was turning heads.
So the Indians headed into the offseason with phenom Carlos Santana in AA, and a big league duo of Vic the Stik and Shop ready to split regular time with Martinez playing some first base. The hope was to maximize both of their talents – especially their bats – since Shop has the stronger arm and Vic has the versatility.
At least Victor held up his end of the bargain. Kelly’s season has been a mess from day one. Last year’s 133 K’s in 352 bats was alarming, but you could live with it for 21 homers. This season, not only are his numbers abysmal (.207/7 HR/28 RBI/67 K’s/178 AB’s), but his defense has taken a major hit.
You always figured that if the Indians did have to trade Victor, it wouldn’t be that big of an issue since Shoppach showed last year that he is ready to be an everyday starter in this league.
Not so much.
Can you say ’09 is a fluke in regards to Shop’s regression? Sure you can. But this league is all about adjustments. The league has adjusted to his pull everything, wild-swinging ways, and he hasn’t fixed the problem. Opposing pitchers know never to give him a fastball because that is really the only way he can hurt you.
In the meantime, GM Mark Shapiro, as I have said many times this season, missed a golden opportunity to move Kelly this past offseason when his stock was at an all time high. Catcher is usually the one position where there is the least amount of major league ready depth and many teams would have given up quality to get a 29 year old catcher just coming into his own. Now, they couldn’t get a bag of balls for him and he is sharing three-way duty with Wyatt Toregas and Chris Gimenez.
Worst of all, with the acquisition of Lou Marson, Shoppach now arbitration eligible, and the Indians needing to cut payroll anywhere they can, don’t be surprised one bit when the Indians non-tender Kelly this offseason, making him a free agent. Why pay Shop over $2 million when you can get that same production for one rebuilding year from Marson, Gimenez, and Toregas while Santana seasons in Columbus?
19 Comments
I liked Shoppach up until his defense for no reason seemed to just be horrid…I thought he was a good throwing catcher, and I was ok if he would toss out 1-2 runners a game and keep everyone close…I could live the the K’s if he was a good defensive catcher…it seems like he knew that once Lee was gone, he was not too far behind…dont know what caused his regression…
Are you that sure you can get the “same” production from any combination that is Marson, Giminez, and Toregas? Neither Giminez or Toregas can hit their weight at the major league level, and all we know about Marson is that he’s an undersized 190 pounds, has a below average arm, and no power.
I’ll go to bat for Kelly Shoppach. Off year, yes. But just last off-season the great Shapiro touted Kelly as a catcher who would start for half of the major league teams. He’s young, he plays with tenacity, is a competitor, has power, and a good/accurate arm. I like Kelly Shoppach, and I’m confident he’ll have a long and successful major league career.
You ARE correct that the cashless Tribe WILL hang Kelly out to dry after the season rather than pay him what would be a very reasonable $2M. So, I hope next year when some combo of Giminez/Torregas/Marson ALL play like the backups that they are or are projected as you’ll refer back to your sentiments here.
@ Isis – How do you even know this? “Neither Giminez or Toregas can hit their weight at the major league level?”
Chris Gimenez, 26-years-old: 81 career MLB plate appearances.
Wyatt Toregas, 26-years-old: 5 career MLB plate appearances.
IsIs sure seems like a sad panda.
@ Isis – we’ve been through this, but I’ll give you the scouting report yet again…
Statistically speaking: Marson’s .433 on-base percentage not only led the Phillies organization, it also led the Eastern League and all Double-A circuits in 2008. His OBP also ranked sixth among full-season hitters.
Scouting report: An athletic backstop who can hit for average and knows how to get on base. He has some extra-base power, but it’s not a strength. His quick release and accurate arm enable him to throw runners out. Also has off-the-charts makeup and handles a staff well.
Upside potential: Everyday catcher in the big leagues.
Strengths & Opportunities: Toregas is an excellent defensive catcher that can control a running game. He consistently averages 1.85 seconds on throws to second base, which is much better than the major league average of 2.0 seconds. He is the best defensive catcher in the Indians system, and he has been ranked as the best defensive catcher in the league he played in the last three years. He has a natural knack for calling a game, is a natural leader, loves to take charge of the pitching staff, and has a lot of pride as a catcher. He moves well behind the plate, and he gives maximum effort and everything he has.
Boom. Roasted
damn, i have liked shoppach every since he broke a bat over his thigh after a strike, hes the man
Quadzilla!
lol @ #6
A little off topic, but Garko hit a triple today.
I can’t believe Isis will go to bat for Shopvac but when it comes to new prospects who have actual potential to help the big league team he rips them to pieces
“He hit a more than respectable .261”
I think years of following Cleveland sports have ruined your standards.
Jacob……as a coach here once said, “I can only go by what I see”.
Guys……..let’s see who fares better down the road, Kelly Shoppach or the trio of what will be journeymen backups at best in Giminez, Toregas, and Marson.
I’ll take a gutsy backstop with pop like Kelly any day over those duds.
@ Isis – A gutsy backstop with pop who also ranks near the tops in the league in strikeouts yet again this season. Last season his 21 home runs were the most for a catcher in the AL, and his .517 slugging percentage was third among all catchers with at least 100 PA’s in the Majors.
This season, he has just 7 home runs compared to the aforementioned 38 hits, 21 walks and 68 strikeouts coming into Wednesday’s game, and his slugging percentage is down all the way to .379. TD hit the hammer on the nail early, and that is if you strike out a lot in the big leagues it is okay only if you can hit the long ball like Mark Reynolds, Adam Dunn or the biggest sluggers in the business.
@ The Other Tim – Take a look at the leader-board offensively for catchers in the Major Leagues: http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/batting/_/position/c/minpa/125. Of the 44 catchers in the big leagues to record 125 plate appearances or more, only 16 are hitting above that .261 mark you mentioned.
According to my calculations, the average catcher with regular playing time (125+ PA) is batting only .257 (taking away Joe Mauer it becomes .254). So while .261 is usually thought of as a below average mark for the traditional power positions like 1B/LF/DH, it is actually a respectable and above average mark for any catcher.
Batting .209 on the other hand with more than three times as many strikeouts compared to walks is just not so impressive. Shoppach is now 29 years old, so I probably agree with TD in that it could be fun watching Toregas/Marson/Gimenez split duty until Santana is ready to take things over full-time.
@ Jacob – I think at this point, one of those netted springy backstop thingies would be an improvement over The Windmill. I really like Toregas’ D, and Marson looks like a solid catcher (his release is really quick from what I’ve seen)…If you can get any of those guys anywhere near .260, I would be happy.
(on a side note, Shoppach did throw someone out tonight)
As far as I am concerned (and its just my opinion), I would take a catcher that had a rifle for an arm, blocked pitches in the dirt and handled the staff more than I would want offense from him…anything you get offensively from your catcher if you have the afore mentioned qualities is a huge bonus…Shoppach does not really block pitches well, rather he just tries to backhand them and he usually misses them…its really disappointing in that aspect…I dont know if the daily wear and tear on him is causing his lazy attitude or if he just has that arrogance about him, but not adjusting your swing when pitchers obviously made an adjustment to you, just screams stupidity to me…
this is what would be an improvement over The Windmill…
I guess what it comes down to for me is: why pay a guy $2 million when he’s clearly not in your long term plans (Santana IS the long term plan) and you can get similar production from guys for 15% of the price? For a team that has NO INTENTION of contending next year, why waste the money?
[…] He also provided an RBI single in the sixth for the final run of the night and although he is currently being criticized by fans for his .220 season batting average, Shoppach did just a lot tonight to show that he could still be […]
Given the admission that trading V-Mart and Lee signaled the end of this competitive era, it doesn’t make (much) sense for the financially strapped Tribe to tender Shoppach his deserved raise. (We’re all in agreement that trading our arguably two most popular “draws” was as much [read: “obviously much more”] financially based as it was rebuilding/future-driven, right?) I was actually shocked (and mildly disappointed) that he wasn’t somehow packaged with Lee considering his status as personal catcher, and with the Marson acquisition and the Santana seat-warming, I really thought Shoppach would be a trade deadline casualty, even before we dealt Vic.
Sadly, my hope is that Shoppach becomes a waiver-wire deal before the end of the month in the hope that we receive some kind of compensation, thus leaving us with the 40-man catching trio of Santana/Toregas/Gimenez (is Marson on the 40-man? Too lazy to check…) and maybe opening up that roster spot for Jordan Brown, who has to be checking his messages before every game for that (inevitable?) call-up…