
Originally Posted by
rtgthree
We wish you had, too. Always glad to have new voices on the board. It's a good group we have here. I will say that I'm not sure Revere would have been any better than Parra. Revere can't hit either.
Ah, my mistake.
Not by me. The Diamondbacks paid almost $9 million per year for a guy who has a .758 OPS over the last three years. That's colossally bad, and were it not for his home park, I would absolutely project him to be outproduced by The Platoon.
I might be. I certainly think Gattis has the potential, and he has quickly become one of my favorite players in the Braves system (what's not to like?). But I would caution you about getting so excited over winter ball stats. O'Brien is right that there are lots of AA and AAA players down in the VWL, but the competition is highly variable. Umpires aren't that reliable, guys are working on things and not playing 100%, etc.
For reference, the two guys in the VWL ahead of Gattis in OPS are Luis Jimenez, a 30-year-old DH who wandered through seven minor-league organizations plus a stint in Japan before finally getting a cup of coffee with a horrible Seattle team in 2012, and Carlos Maldonado, a 33-year-old catcher who posted a whopping .696 OPS for the Nationals' Triple-A affiliate last season. In 2011, the league-leader in OPS was Gregor Blanco, who followed up his .998 VWL OPS with a .676 performance in the majors.
So don't get me wrong: I'm excited about Gattis, and if he keeps hitting in spring training, I'm all for giving him a job. Or better yet, keeping him as the backup catcher while McCann is out and letting him take as much playing time as he can earn. But I do think he has more to prove. He is a big part of the reason I'm comfortable not making a move, but I don't think his presence is enough of a reason to not make a good move if there's one to be made. With the decreasing likelihood of a good move being available, though, there's nothing wrong with hoping Gattis hits his way into a job.