Buhner Dot Com Est. 2000, which is like 1947 in Internet years.

2011-12 MLB Offseason Outlook: Catchers

I thought I'd try to take a look at this coming offseason with free agency and potential player movement, and there's generally two ways to do that - by team and by position. Since it would end up being longer to do it by team (and you know my attention span), I figured we'd do it by position. Today's position (my personal favorite) - catchers.

POSITION: CATCHER
(Players listed by 2011 WAR)

Available players:
C Ramon Hernandez CIN (2.0)
C/OF Ryan Doumit PIT (1.8)
C Jose Molina TOR (1.3)
C Kelly Shoppach TB (1.1)
C Chris Snyder PIT (0.7)
C Jason Varitek BOS (0.5)
C Ramon Castro CWS (0.4)
C Ivan Rodriguez WAS (0.4)
C Josh Bard SEA (0.0)
C Jorge Posada NYY (-0.4)
C Jason Kendall KC (DNP-Injured)

Gone already:
C Yadier Molina STL (4.1) $7M club option EXERCISED
C Rod Barajas LAD (1.3) SIGNED w/ PIRATES (1 yr, $4M, plus club option for '13)
C Henry Blanco ARI (1.2) RE-SIGNED (1 yr, $1.2M, plus club option for '13)
C Matt Treanor TEX (0.7) SIGNED w/ DODGERS (1 yr, $850K, plus club option for '13)
C Gerald Laird STL (0.1) SIGNED w/ TIGERS (1 yr, $TBD)
C Brian Schneider PHI (-0.9) RE-SIGNED (TBD yr, $TBD)

Teams looking: Tampa, Houston, LA Angels

Yuck. If you're a free agent catcher this offseason, I hope you're not looking for a starting role, because there sure aren't many to come by. Tampa probably has the only decent opening, with Shoppach a free agent and John Jaso being John Jaso. It's not unthinkable for Shoppach to come back to Tampa at less than the $3.2 million that would have been his salary had the Rays not bought out his option. If you're Ramon Hernandez, you have to be wondering what you said when potential starting gigs in Pittsburgh and LA disappear without a thought (although to be fair, the Dodgers likely aren't signing anyone without using a Groupon this offseason).

Hernandez is the cream of this crop, coming off of two solid seasons with Cincinnati, although he hasn't broken the 100-game barrier since he played for Baltimore in 2008. Doumit has issues staying healthy and isn't that great at catching baseballs, but can hit. Varitek, Pudge, and Kendall are likely done, while Posada will likely get a chance somewhere, but hopefully for everyone involved not behind the plate.

Wild guesses: Molina to the Rays, Doumit to the Angels, Hernandez to Houston, with the rest looking for backup roles or non-roster Spring Training invites.

Thanks to mlbdepthcharts.com for a lot of great info.