I’m not a Major League Baseball General Manager, I just play one on TTFB.
It’s easy to have all the answers when you’re perched in your favorite recliner with your laptop and a cold beverage. It’s quite a different story when you’re in the war room of an MLB office, hoping to push your team over the top or lift it up from the depths of hell with some blue-chip prospects.
That being said, I do have the answer for Los Angeles Dodgers GM Ned Colletti. There has been speculation over the past few weeks as to where starter Hiroki Kuroda will be traded. Tigers? Indians? Rangers? Red Sox?
Pull your chair closer, Ned, because I can make your job easier.
Book a flight to New York. Pack enough clothes so you can stay as long as it takes. Roll up your sleeves and do what you have to in order to trade Kuroda to the Yankees for the first legitimate catcher the Dodgers have had since Mike Piazza.
Here are the facts:
- The Dodgers are going nowhere this season and Kuroda is their best trade prospect (who’s not named Clayton Kershaw, Matt Kemp or Andre Ethier).
- The Dodgers have a black hole at the catching position, both on the major-league level and below.
- The Yankees have more highly touted catchers in their system than John Kruk has chins.
- The Yankees need help on the mound for the title run behind CC Sabathia.
Which catcher should the Dodgers try to land for Kuroda? If I’m Colletti, I’m asking for either Jesus Montero or Austin Romine. Straight up. I’ll give the Yankees Kuroda for either of those prospects.
If that’s not good enough for the Yankees, I’ll even throw in Rafael Furcal or Juan Uribe, a bucket of baseballs, a case of Dodger Dogs and a palm tree from Chavez Ravine. What’s to like about Montero and Romine?
• Montero – He is only 21-years old, but hit 34 homers and drove in 140 runs (with a .336 batting average) in 2009. At triple-A in 2010, Montero smacked 21 homers, drove in 75 runs and posted a .289 average.
• Romine – He is 22 and had solid numbers at single-A in 2009 (13-72, .276) and at double-A in 2010 (10-69, .268).
The Yankees probably won’t part with Montero for Kuroda, but I’m still asking if I’m Colletti. It’s kind of like bargaining at a flea market. You ask for Montero, the Yankees say no, and then you “settle” for Romine.
As a Dodger fan, I would be excited at the prospect of going into Spring Training next season with Romine as our starting catcher. It would help on several fronts. First, it would solve our need for a catcher for years to come. Second, it would eliminate Dodger fans having to watch washed-up catchers bat .200 and fail to throw out a runner all season.
Please, Ned, do all of the remaining Dodger fans who are still loyal to the crumbling organization a favor. Make a trade with the Yankees for a catcher. Do it before we coax Benito Santiago out of retirement.