Francisco Cervelli has played well for the Yankees in his short time filling in for the injured Posada and Jose Molina. Peter Abraham asks what the Yankees should do when Molina comes back:
Do you keep Francisco Cervelli around when Jose Molina comes back? Given that Nady won’t be able to play the outfield for a while, you need to keep Brett Gardner around. It might be hard to keep a third catcher.
Given that Cervelli and Molina should have about the same poor offensive production long term, I’d keep Cervelli and let Molina go. Francisco appears to be a capable defensive catcher, just like Jose. He does bring one thing to the table that makes him superior, however, and that’s speed. Cervelli’s legs haven’t worn out from catching yet, and he’s not an automatic out on a tough ground ball. It’s a small edge, but one the Yankees should take.
Posted by David Pinto at 11:03 am | Players | Permalink | 4 Comments
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May 26th, 2009 @ 11:11 am
Cervelli really could use more reps in the minors. Once Posada comes back, Cervelli will only play once every four days rather than three of every four, and frankly he needs that extra development.
Given that Posada isn’t a surefire bet to stay healthy, the Yanks aren’t in a position to let a quality backup catcher like Molina go just because some rook had a hot 40 plate appearances.
May 26th, 2009 @ 11:47 am
Disagree. Molina being around insures that the Yankees dont have Kevin Cash catching during a pennant race if Jorge gets hurt again.
May 26th, 2009 @ 1:30 pm
[...] Dave Pinto later added his commentary: Given that Cervelli and Molina should have about the same poor offensive production long term, I’d keep Cervelli and let Molina go. Francisco appears to be a capable defensive catcher, just like Jose. He does bring one thing to the table that makes him superior, however, and that’s speed. Cervelli’s legs haven’t worn out from catching yet, and he’s not an automatic out on a tough ground ball. It’s a small edge, but one the Yankees should take. [...]
May 26th, 2009 @ 1:57 pm
What you don’t do is give Jorge Posada an expensive 4 year contract extension.
Oooooops……