Article:SF Giants: Catching Prospectives Aren't Too Exciting

With day two of the MLB winter meetings winding up, there really isn't much new to talk about on the Giants front.

The new name of the day Tuesday was Kevin Kouzmanoff, as apparently the Giants and Padres have discussed a possible deal that could land the third-basemen in San Francisco. The names being discussed on the Giants end have been Fred Lewis and Kevin Frandsen, neither of whom appear to be much in the Giants plans heading into 2010. That said, Bruce Bochy did shoot down the Kouzmanoff rumor during his media session, saying any deal of any kind, not just the Kouzmanoff rumor, is not immanent. Bochy also said Tuesday that he expects both Andres Torres and Eugenio Velez to play big roles with this team in 2010, and adding more outfielders to the mix is not necessarily a sure thing. Since there isn't much new talk to discuss today, I figured I'd take a little bit closer look at the top-4 free agent candidates to be the Giants opening day catcher next April.

Miguel Olivo: Probably the top all-around option on the FA market. Hits for power, with a .250'ish average and. Good defender, solid arm and has a good rep as a receiver (caught AL CY Younger Zack Grienke). Only thing is that he may be seeking a 2+ year contract, and as the second best catcher on the market, he'll likely find some team that will give it to him. Although he's not quite as good as Bengie is, he's probably the closest thing to Molina in this class of catchers.

Yorvit Torrealba: Former Giant has ties here, and is still highly respected by those in the Giants organization. Very good receiver, pretty good defender with a solid arm. Hit .291 as a part-timer last year and shined for the Rockies during their World Series run in 2007 as he had a knack for coming up with the clutch hit when needed. He just wouldn't replace the power that Molina brought like Olivo would and the Giants need that pop in the lineup. He'd be my second choice behind Miguel Olivo.

Rod Barajas: Barajas has hit some home runs over the past few seasons (has averaged about 15 per year since 2004), and even drove in 71 runs for the Blue Jays last year, but he just doesn't do anything else for you. He's not an especially good defensive catcher, although he's serviceable, and isn't know for his receiving abilities, although he's worked with Roy Halladay over the past few seasons. Torrealba and Olivo are both better all-around players, but as I said, there aren't many catching options this year, and if someone is going Torrealba or Olivo multi-year deals, Barajas might not be a bad fallback as option #3.

Jason Kendall: Much more defensive minded than offensive these days, but still will get on base at a respectable clip and even steal a base here and there. His average has plummeted the last 2 seasons while playing in a hitters yard, which doesn't bode well for his offense going forward, but in this market, this winter, Kendal is still among the top options available and will be starting for somebody next spring. If the Giants can't get any of these 4 guys, I'd rather just see them go with the Steve Holm/Eli Whiteside/Jackson Williams combo until Posey is ready.

Trevor Cole The Giants Baseball Blog