clock menu more-arrow no yes

Filed under:

Is Chad not hanging in?

New, comments
By Jeff Sackmann
/ new

If you buy something from an SB Nation link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

Nothing angers some Brewers fans more than the thought of Chad Moeller, so it was interesting to read this comment from today's Drew Olson chat:

I think it was telling yesterday when Mark Johnson started a game against the Cubs a day after a rainout and when it was televised back to Wisconsin. I don't know if Ned was trying to send a message, but he may have been. I said before - Moeller's contract is guaranteed, but I'm not sure about the roster spot. Could a trade/release/reassignment occur? Maybe. Doug Melvin pointed out yesterday that there are 23 catchers in the major leagues making between $650,000 and $1 million. The Brewers have had many of them: Blanco, Bennett, Bako, etc. The state of catching has never been more dire. If Bill Schroeder dropped 20 pounds, he'd probably be in the mix for a job somewhere!

As I've said in the past, Mike Rivera deserves a shot.  I don't know about Mark Johnson, but I wouldn't be surprised if he could at least match Moeller's numbers.  It's worth pointing out what I wrote about Chad a couple of weeks ago:

Moeller isn't a particularly good backup catcher, nor is he a seriously dreadful one.  It isn't unusual for a team's second catcher (or a tandem of second and third catchers) to start fifty to sixty games, so it also isn't fair to hold Moeller to a higher standard because he's "more" than a backup catcher.

If you missed that post, you may want to go back and read the whole thing--I picked apart the NL Central backup catching situation until there was no picking left to do.

I do like what Drew is suggesting, though: the job is actually up for grabs.  I don't mind if Chad has a strong spring and wins his spot, but it would be ridiculous if his performance in '04 and '05 earned him 60 starts this year.  I would've liked it even better if the Brewers had NRI'd a couple of shot-in-the-dark catchers--somebody like J.R. House, or maybe Josh Bard via trade--to give the organization a bit more depth.  Maybe Johnson and Rivera give us that depth, but I sure get the impression that the Brewers brain trust don't think so.  

Anyway, I don't want to read too much into Drew's comments--he's a beat reporter and hears things, but I suspect his intuition on this isn't any better than yours or mine.  That said, I certainly hope he's on to something.

More From Brew Crew Ball

Loading comments...