Who should be behind the plate next year?

[hairmetalfreek]

The catcher position seems up in the air at this point, with Ramon Hernandez possibly on his way out (there is a club option, if declined he will be a free agetn) and the rookie Mesoraco trying to get his foot in the door. If you were the manager, how would you handle the catching situation in 2012?

[icee82]

I think that it needs to come down to competition in spring training. If Mez is the best man, let him start. However I know Dusty Baker well enough that if Mez hit .500 during spring training and Hanigan hit .190, Baker would say "well, he had a bad spring but we are looking for big things from him so I am going to give him the opening day start. He deserves it because he has been around for a couple of years."

[Tadasimha]

Keep Hernandez and Mesoraco and package Hannigan with Alonso (and possibly other prospects) for a right handed hitting LF/starting pitcher.

Nothing against Hannigan but I'd rather have Hernandez showing Mesoraco how to catch in the bigs.

[John239]

Not sure if Mesoraco is ready to hit big league pitching yet, I am a big fan of Ramon, he is an excellent hitter in the clutch and has some power, and brings veteran leadership to the table. Having Ramon around is good for the young Latin pitchers on the staff. Hanigan also handles the bat well and has some pop. You could go with either one of those guys as the starter in my opinion. In fact other than the catching tandem of the Braves, the Reds get more run production out of that position than anybody else which is a nice bonus to have when you have catchers that can hit. As for the defensive side of things, the two more experienced guys are both solid back there and I am sure would make for better handlers of the pitching staff, which comes in handy because Baker does not know how to manage his fairly talented staff. I just don't think that Mesoraco is quite ready yet he is still a very young man and at a position that involves great responsibility but he is the future. I agree it should come down to competition in spring training.