Atlanta Braves Off Season Trouble Spot – Catcher
By Fred Owens
Christian Bethancourt was supposed to be the Braves catcher of the future. Is that now a thing of the past? Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Christian Bethancourt was for two years or so the Atlanta Braves best everyday player prospect, but when it came time to take the wheel he ended up in a the ditch.
Catcher Gone Awry
The Braves put all their catching eggs in Christian Bethancourt’s basket this spring and hired A.J. Pierzynski to back him up. That lasted about a month before Pierzynski became the number one guy and Betti was back in the minors trying to find the form that made him such a prized prospect.
Braves fans expected Bethancourt to grow into their version of Yadier Molina….minus the hideous neck tattoos of course. His reputation was great defense with a bat that needed to mature. We all know what we saw last year, and that wasn’t it.
As much as John Hart and his soldiers say they haven’t given up on Betti, they tried this summer to grab Jonathan Lucroy from the Brewers. This move doesn’t exactly support the common understanding of their statement.
No Lucroy for you
Most fans dream of adding Lucroy in exchange for a firm handshake and thank you…but that won’t happen.
Lucroy was injured (toe) most of this season and in September was diagnosed with concussion. Together those injures held him to just over 1 fWAR. He is however considered a 3.5 fWAR player and a force on both sides of the ball.
The Brewers could very well trade him, but will certainly ask for two top ten prospects and at least one more player in return. Concussed catchers do recover, but every foul ball that slams into the mask makes the team trainer pop up and watch closely.
He turns 30-years-old next season and the potential cost in prospects makes a trade unlikely unless there are more pieces to it. Certainly I can dream of one up, but being a pragmatist I’ve looked elsewhere.