Do the Twins have the best catching in baseball?

[SouthPaw77]

Joe Mauer is phenomenal and Mike Redmond is fantastic as the back-up but do the Twins have the best backstop tandem in the game?

Let me know what you think...

[TwinCity301]

I don't think so. But decent, we'll see how the stats line up this season.

[Imgran]

Martinez-Shoppach surely gives you a run for your money I'd say, especially with the buzz going round that Mauer might be too big to stay healthy at catcher despite his prodigious talents.

[NY16CATCHER]

Nope, not the best tandem, but very good certainly. I think if Jose Morales continues to develop at the AAA level, he will make it very easy for the Twins to move Mauer to a new spot.

Morales is VERY impressive.

[Lafferty Daniel]

Nope, not the best tandem, but very good certainly. I think if Jose Morales continues to develop at the AAA level, he will make it very easy for the Twins to move Mauer to a new spot.

Morales is VERY impressive.

I don't know what's impressive about Morales. His minor league career OBP is only .328 and he's only hit 10 homeruns in 1490 minor league at bats.

[placount]

mauer doesnt want to move though. he wants to catch cause he knows hes good at it. where do they move him to though? dh? morneau is already at first and i dont know that either would make a good third baseman.

sadly though, as i was saying, mauer doesnt want to move and i think it's going to take another injury to convince him to move.

[NY16CATCHER]

I don't know what's impressive about Morales. His minor league career OBP is only .328 and he's only hit 10 homeruns in 1490 minor league at bats.

Have you ever actually watched him catch a game? More than 1? I watched him catch about 40 games last season and I can tell you from first hand observation he is just about MLB ready.

He led or had a share of the IL batting lead last season down the stretch, and lost the title on the last or second to last day of the season, so I wouldn't worry about the offense either.

Don't judge everything by a stat, you can make stats say anything you want if you manipulate them enough.

[Imgran]

mauer doesnt want to move though. he wants to catch cause he knows hes good at it. where do they move him to though? dh? morneau is already at first and i dont know that either would make a good third baseman.

Outfield, then.

[Lafferty Daniel]

Have you ever actually watched him catch a game? More than 1? I watched him catch about 40 games last season and I can tell you from first hand observation he is just about MLB ready.

He led or had a share of the IL batting lead last season down the stretch, and lost the title on the last or second to last day of the season, so I wouldn't worry about the offense either.

Don't judge everything by a stat, you can make stats say anything you want if you manipulate them enough.

How was I manipulating basic stats like OBP and homeruns? Big deal, he had a hot steak at the end of the season, a lot of hitters do that. I used a much larger sample size than that to determine he's below average offensively.

[NY16CATCHER]

His "hot streak at the end of last year" lasted from April to September...

and by the way, how many games did you see him catch this past season????

He's made consistant and steady progress as a hitter at every level, despite switching positions 2 years ago and becoming a catcher. If you talk to the Minnesota staff, they are very high on him.

Look at it anyway you want, I don't care, but to judge a player based simply on 2 stats is a tremendously narrow view.