Monday, September 19, 2011

The best catching duo in baseball

During the 09 season, the Rangers traded for Ivan Rodriquez, who was a longtime Ranger and a fan favorite. After the season ended, they decided not to resign him, and the Washington Nationals picked him up. In his two years in Washington, he has made 6 million dollars and registered a WAR (Wins above Replacement Player) of just .4. This equals a WASP (see the page about WASP above) of 15000, which is simply not good at all. After having some struggles in the '10 season, the Rangers acquired two new catchers, Mike Napoli (in one of the more lopsided trades of the year), and Yorvit Torrealba. Napoli has been fantastic, leading all catchers in BA, OBP, SLG, and HRs. His OPS is over 1.000 and he has a WAR of 5.1 (there are MVP candidates with lower WAR). His WASP is also a very good 1137. Yorvit Torrealba has also proved to be rather valuable, registering a .6 WAR (you may think that is low, but this is the backup catcher we are talking about, most teams would kill to get this kind of production for the backup catcher). He is still overpaid at a 5000 WASP, and has an OBP barely over 300, and an Isolated Slugging of just .112. However, he has caught nearly 800 innings, and hits about equal (actually slightly better against righties, despite being right-handed) against lefties and righties. Simply put, the Rangers have the best catching duo in baseball and that is a big reason they are winning the AL West.

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