Kotteras?

We're not selling spell-checking software here.

Kris Negron. Justin Upton with speed.

Book it.

I see Pedroia is nearly hitting his weight! Good for him. Of course, he's just being introduced to the big league buffets; he's only gonna make it harder on himself...

Speed kills.

According to Robothal:

The Dodgers, leading the West by three games, refused to part with one of three top position prospects for Wells, 43, resisting the Red Sox's demands for outfielder Matt Kemp, third baseman Andy LaRoche or first baseman James Loney.

So, unfortunately, Colletti isn't a complete idiot.

The scouting opinion on Kottaras, FWIW, is a little different from what others have said:

Kottaras, 23, was the most advanced catching prospect in the Padres' system. Rival scouts consider him a promising offensive player but question his defense, particularly his throwing. Kottaras, at 6-feet and 190 pounds, also might be too small to handle an everyday load at catcher.

he looked smaller than 6' 190 on TV, but he had surprising power.

btw, the report i read yesterday said the deal was for a PTBNL (probably kottaras) or cash. when is that choice made? where does kottaras play in the interim?

Kotteras is in the Padres organization until he's officially named.

I'm still suspicious of this. Usually, when a trade involves a "PTBNL or cash," the player is rather minor, usually a C/C+ type prospect, rather than someone anywhere near a top 100 list. Assuming that the Padres have the choice of trading Kottaras or cash, how much cash would it have to be before they choose to part with Kottaras instead of the money? $1M? More?

Hmm. Could Towers say "I'll give you Kottaras if Wells leads us to a World Series title, $100K if we make the playoffs, and $5 if we don't qualify?"

I still can't believe Theo got a decent player for Fatty Wells. Dayton, why didn't you deal Redman? Up your nose with a rubber hose!!!

"We're not selling spell-checking software here."

It's a reference to Welcome Back, Kotter.

BA doesn't editorialize too much in their trade breakdowns, usually just focusing on giving the basic details about players, but for this deal they made it clear what a steep price they thought the Pads paid.

Is Paul LoDuca with a different body a fair comp here?

Now wait a minute. Scouts complained back in the day that Carlton Fisk wouldn't hold up because he was too big. Same with Gary Carter. I distinctly recall the stupid Baseball Digest comments on the "over large Montreal catcher".

Yogi Berra was 5'9" and 190 lbs. He seemed to do just fine.

Besides, a semi-intelligent manager should plan to sit his catcher 35 games a year give or take. It's common sense.

Thanks, Vlad. I wasn't aware of that show.

***

Methinks Darren cursed the trade; now the Sox will actually get the Epstein guy from the show.

Kottaras, 23, was the most advanced catching prospect in the Padres' system. Rival scouts consider him a promising offensive player but question his defense, particularly his throwing. Kottaras, at 6-feet and 190 pounds, also might be too small to handle an everyday load at catcher.

I'd like to know who those scouts were.

I've seen Kottaras a half-dozen times, and his defense is very good. He blocks and frames pitches well, his footwork is excellent, and he has a quick release.

And Jason Kendall is 6', 180; I don't think anyone's ever complained that he's too small to handle an everyday load at catcher.

-- MWE

Kottaras has to clear waivers before he can be dealt, since he's on the 40-man.

-- MWE

Kottaras has to clear waivers before he can be dealt, since he's on the 40-man.

and i assume if he doesn't clear waivers he can be a ptbnl after the season is over?

I'd like to know who those scouts were.

The SD Union-Tribune had a similar take:

The Padres didn't envision Kottaras as a candidate for their starting job in 2007. Scouts from two American League clubs who saw him last month rated him a backup catcher. Critics within the San Diego franchise and outside of it had concerns about Kottaras' durability, defensive makeup and ability to work with pitchers, plus his throwing mechanics. The Padres had challenged Kottaras to become more assertive as a field general.

For what it's worth, PECOTA doesn't like his bat very much, projecting a .250 EQA in both his age 26 and age 27 seasons.

The average catcher hits about .270/.330/.415 so that expected .250 EQA isn't so bad. Even if the 'scouts' are right about his defense, I think that's a pretty nice return.

Right, the average catcher this year has a .251 EQA, though that obviously includes significant playing time from backups...more so than other positions. My point was that PECOTA thinks that he's average with the bat for the position overall and slightly behind average for a starter, which would seem to run counter to the scouting reports that see him as a 'promising offensive player'. Since it does differ from the scout's view, it seemed worthy of mentioning. In the end, there's nothing wrong with being average, though if his glove really is below par and PECOTA is right about his bat, he's a below average player overall for the position.

I'd like to know who those scouts were.

I've seen Kottaras a half-dozen times, and his defense is very good. He blocks and frames pitches well, his footwork is excellent, and he has a quick release.

People at this site generally get ripped to shreds over sample size - is a half-dozen enough times for a baseball fan to override scouting reports on a minor league catcher's defense, pitch framing, footwork and release?

The average catcher hits about .270/.330/.415

Wow, really? That sounds so high.

Incorporating Epstein into the intro would have made it about 150 times funnier. Maybe, something about a note from Theo to Towers signed by Epstein's mother. Oh, and up your nose with a rubber hose.

Don't look now but Natale is up to .282/.39?/.42? in high-A. That's pretty good in a tough park, but a far cry from the monster #s he put up in Greenville.

Natale's August: .356 .477 .563, 19 BB, 15 K in 87 AB. His K rate is way up after the jump but his BB rate has remained excellent.

That's not bad at all. In the two years the Sox have been in Wilmington, no one's put up a SLG much above 450, I don't think.

His OBP and SLG are reveresed there, which is probably about a wash.

Aren't platoon splits kind of worthless at the C position since coaches like to pair them with pitchers instead of exploiting the split?

Mirabelli is a case in point

Mike Rozier made his first start in high-A today and didn't fare well, though he started off nicely.

Through 4 IP- 3 H, 1 ER, 5/1 K/BB
Final line- 4.2 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 5/3 K/BB

Anyway, I haven't totally given up on him. Though he will never be the overpowering pitcher Gammons hyped him up to be in those mythical instructional league outings.