There was a surprising quote from Detroit Tigers assistant GM Al Avila in the Toledo Blade.
“Within the Detroit Tigers organization, catcher is probably our weakest position,” Avila admitted.
Okay, so that wasn’t the suprising part.
“We do have the best catcher in the organization coming to Toledo in Max St. Pierre.
“He’s a year at the most away from being a big-league catcher. I don’t know if he will be a regular, but he will be a regular if he hits. Defensively, he can do it. He can catch and throw, and he plays with a high energy level.”
Max St. Pierre, who will be 26 in April and hasn’t had an OPS over 700 since he was a 20 year old in West Michigan (it was 701 that year). While the fact that he may be the Tigers best catcher in the organization is disheartening, the fact he’s on the brink of the majors is surprising to say the least.
Indicators like this go a long ways towards explaining why the Tigers drafted Chris Robinson in the 3rd round and have invited him to the Major League camp during spring training. Baseball America prefers Robinson to St. Pierre ranking him as the best defensive catcher in the organization.
When I readt that, I guessed Avila meant that St. Pierre was the best defensive catcher in the organization rather than the best catching prospect. I get the feeling they have always liked him and that he could very well become a backup catcher for the Tigers. I’d be very surprised if he became a regular.
I’ve been watching Max St. Pierre for a few years now (if for no other reason than that his given name is Maxim and he hails from Montreal, so you just *know* he’s the go-to party guy)… He seems to have been advancing bit by bit, and at this point, he’s got backup catcher written all over him. Something between, let’s say, a Javier Cardona career and a Paul Bako career. I noted that 5 catchers were drafted by the Tigers last June, which seemed like an unusually large number to me.
I still wonder if the Tigers wouldn’t be better off using Shelton as a backup catcher to give Pudge his days off instead of carrying a backup in Vance Wilson. I sure it would cut into Shelton’s offensive output, but I can’t help but think that the team would be farther ahead with the extra position player or possible productive pinch hitter as opposed to Wilson.
On Catcher I may be a little predjudice but Brian Peterson just signed with Detroit, previously with the Reds. Check out his stats! Looking forward to seeing him in Toledo!
Brian Peterson is the guy who should be backing up Pudge. He has a great attitude and a cannnon for an arm, check out how great he has been defensively in the minors. He would be a great backup for pudge. He will get you a few hits and play hard everyday he gets a chance. He should be the backup catcher without a doubt.