State of the Mets- Catcher 2010 Recap. Part 2 of 7

Overall, the Mets production from catchers in 2010 was 12th in the National League, with only Josh Thole being above average offensively.

The hyper links are the spring training scouting reports/more in-depth previews. I had looked at the players as of June 1st, so I will include that data as well as the final stats.

Catchers:
H Blanco

• June 1st: 16 games, 14-46, 4 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBIs, .304/.370/.457
• Final: 50 games, 130 AB, 2 HRs, 8 RBI, .215/.271/.300
• My Projection: 40 games, 150 AB, 5 HRs, 20 RBI, .230/.295/.340  
• June 1st Commentary: He already has 6 walks and is playing well in a small sample size. Keep in mind his career OBP is < .300. Defensively he is controlling the running game as expected.
• 1/3 of the season grade: B+
• FINAL GRADE: C-. I can't judge/weigh how good he was mentoring Josh Thole, but based purely on baseball contributions, he doesn't deserve to be on a major league roster.

R Barajas

• June 1st: 41 games, 41-135, 11 HRs, 30 RBIs, 4 BB, 20Ks, .269/.292/.552
• Final: 74 games (+25 with LAD), 249 at bats, 12 HRs, 34 RBIs, 8 BB, 39 Ks, .225/.263/.414
• My projection: 110 games, 360 at bats, 12 HRs, 50 RBIs, 20 BB, 50 Ks, .235/.276/.400 Slug %
• June 1st Commentary: He has pleasantly surprised everyone with his power and his "clutch" hits, but he still is the same player we thought he was: a sub .300 OBP, and a guy who strikes out and doesn't walk. He is a fly ball machine.
• 1/3 of the season grade: B+ 
• Final Grade: C+. He was the exact player I thought he was when the Mets signed him. And his OBP was even lower than expected, .263. That's awful and I'm glad we saved a couple dollars shipping him to the Dodgers. 

J Thole

• Didn't get pre-season projections as I didn't expect him to be called up until September. Well September came early due to injuries and the other catchers ineffectiveness, and he played 73 games. 
• Final Stats: 73 games, 202 at bats, 3 HR, 17 RBI, 24 BB, 25 K, .277/.357/.366
• One thing to note, he only got 30 at bats versus LHP, so the Mets feel he is strictly a platoon catcher at 23 years old?
• He also threw out 11 of 25 prospective base-runners
• Final Grade: B+. Catchers in the national league averaged .253/.326/.388, so he can provide above average OBP from the catcher position, something Rod Barajas knows nothing about.

2011 Starter: Josh Thole, with TBA for the 2nd catcher unless they are convinced he can catch 140 games and hit lefties (then why didn't they give him a chance to develop in 2010)? He isn't going to be an above average catcher, but he can be league average, and for the league minimum, it's better than paying Barajas 3 million or Molina 5 million for simliar/less production.

Who would you like to see as the starting catcher/back-up for 2011? There isn't any one else in the organization, so it would most likely come in the form of a trade.