This is a leftover from yesterday, but I think it’s worth discussing a bit. The Bucs claimed catcher Matt Pagnozzi of the Rockies off of waivers yesterday. In and of itself, it’s not really a significant move. Pagnozzi’s 28 and he’s only played in 28 games over parts of three seasons with the Cardinals (in 2009 and 2010) and the Rockies. The reason is that he’s not a great hitter. Even though 2011 is the fifth season that he’s spent all or part of at the Triple-A level, he hit just .275/.337/.421 with the Rockies affiliate in very hitter-friendly Colorado Springs. His career minor league line is significantly worse than that: .220/.296/.306. I don’t know much about Pagnozzi’s defense, though I suppose I’d assume he has a strong reputation as that’s how guys like him hang around for so long.
The reason this is interesting is because the Pirates have two catchers with expiring contracts and team options for next year in Ryan Doumit (who’s option is a dual option for 2013 as well) and Chris Snyder. Behind them there’s Mike McKenry, who’s a backup at best, and then two minor leaguers who may not be ready for the Majors in Eric Fryer and Tony Sanchez. Two months ago, it seemed like the Pirates could let Doumit and Snyder walk and go into 2012 with Fryer and McKenry behind the plate, but Fryer struggled a bit when he returned to Triple-A and given how quickly he moved through the system this year, it would make sense if the team wants to get him some more time in the minors before making him a regular big league player. Pagnozzi, then, would be another guy to consider for a spot next year in the even that they can’t work something out to bring Doumit or Snyder back next year.
I doubt they’ll bring Snyder back given his injury problems both this year and last year (his back problems are more serious than the various minor maladies that always cause Doumit to miss time) and they almost certainly won’t pick up Doumit for two years, so catcher is probably going to be a need they have to address this winter. Pagnozzi doesn’t really address the situation, but we’re talking about a team that played Dusty Brown and Wyat Toregas at catcher this year. I think we’d all like to avoid that again, and Pagnozzi might help along those lines, at least.
