Team Depth Part 1: Catchers

Let's face it Detroit got better this off season. Miguel Cabrera is a monster. Adding him to any team makes them better. Plus, Detroit gains by having Renteria at short and Guillen at first instead of Guillen at short and the Traveling Willburys at first.

But here is why we should have hope: the baseball season is crazy and we have incredible depth.

Let's go through it.

One thing to remember: injuries can happen in an instant, but failure takes time. If a player is an injury risk, then you need a player that is major league ready today. If a player is a failure risk, then you need a player that could be ready by the all-star break.

Catcher:

V-Mart is a stud. He has apparently come to camp slim. Good to hear. Victor Martinez is no failure risk. If healthy, he will hit. He isn't especially injury prone, but catching makes all catchers injury prone. Here we are as good as anyone can be.

If V-Mart goes down, we have Kelly Shoppach. Shoppach could probably get a starting gig somewhere. We should feel good about this. He is still a failure risk. He has never held down a starting position. However, he has shown some signs of being able to handle starting duties. So, we have the injury replacement, and V-Mart is not a failure risk. Could Martinez get injured and Shoppach fail? Yes. And this is a worst case scenario for ttfc. Nevertheless, ttfc thinks we are about as good as can be. (Can anyone think of a better backup catcher? Doumit in PIT? Salty in TEX or is he the starter? Hmm...)

If V-Mart and Shoppach go down or V-Mart goes down and Shoppach fails, then what do we have? Yamid Haad and Wyatt Toregas.

Haad is the number three catcher. He has some major league experience with the Giants in 05. If Martinez or Shoppach goes down with an injury, Haad will probably get a chance to be the backup. But let's be clear; Haad's ceiling is backup catcher. If he sees more than 50 major league ABs, ttfc is in real trouble.

Toregas should start the season at AAA. He needs at least half the season at AAA. He has a lifetime .722 OPS, and a good defensive reputation. At this moment, Toregas would be a very high risk of failure. Given some time, he may improve upon that, but not someone you need getting ABs at the major league level this year.

The most likely scenario in the case of an injury is to trade for some veteran backup. Trade possibilities? I don't know. Really, there aren't enough quality starting catcher to go around. Instead of trading for a replacement, maybe Joel Skinner could suit up again. He can probably still hit as well as your typical backup catcher. No one available will be able to hit. That is all you need to know.