Tucker Barnhart...

[mth123]

C'mon son.

His 2010 season is an obvious outlier. Leaving off the rest of his career to try and mask that is lame. His 692 OPS in 2009, his major league career OPS of 712, and his minor league career OPS of 753 all make that very clear. Hanigan has been a 700ish OPS hitter ever since he arrived in the majors. His 2011 and 2012 seasons are right in line with that. You are basing your entire argument off of 126 plate appearances in 2013.





That is what I suspected. Your problem is not with Hanigan, it's with Dusty. How does getting rid of Hanigan solve that problem? Whose to say Dusty won't keep that low-cost vet and play him over Mesoraco? Then the Reds have downgraded at catcher for no good reason.



I thought the big problem Mesoraco-backers had with how Dusty is doling out playing time was that a young catcher needs repetitions if he is ever going to get better. How is sitting Barnhart on the MLB bench any better? At least Mesoraco got 450+ minor league games under his belt before getting buried on the MLB bench. Barnhart hasn't even been in 300 yet. Why are you in such a hurry to have him rot away caddying for Mesoraco?

The number I'm most basing my Hanigan issues on is 8/16/80 which says he'll be 33 in August and arb eliible for one more season.

I think there is a big difference between Mesoraco and Tucker. Mes was a first round pick, top prospect and projects to be an All Star caliber player. That's growth that can be significantly stunted. Barnhart is a low level pick, a defensive specialist who projects as a defensive minded back-up. He's already a plus-plus defender. He's probably never going to be much of a hitter. He's not likely to be much more than he already is and at some point he's going to be sitting on a major league bench. Waiting another season or two isn't going to make him any more than the 30 to 40 start per year, defensive minded back-up that he could already be in 2014. Why wait if there isn't a pay-off? More time in the minors would not have ever made Bill Plummer a starter. Barnhart can have a nice career backing-up a solid starter. If they think he's got a chance to hit more than that, then I'm fine keeping him in AAA and bringing in a journeyman, but it's time for Mes to become the 5 days per week catcher.

It's not really a Dusty problem. Mesoraco has outgrown the need for a tandem partner (Hanigan) and needs more of a pure back-up behind him (Barnhart or some other defensive minded 30 start per season guy). Hanigan is going to command a $3 Million or so salary and he's aging. His rapport with some of the existing starting rotation along with his familiarity and salary are going to suggest more playing time than Mesoraco's partner should get. He's past the age where catchers maintain their ability. Want a safety net? Fine, but its time to cut the chord IMO. Trade them a year too soon and not a year too late. Let Hanigan go elsewhere where he can play 45% to 55% of the time, but he shouldn't be that here in 2014.

[Steve4192]

Barnhart is a low level pick, a defensive specialist who projects as a defensive minded back-up. He's already a plus-plus defender. He's probably never going to be much of a hitter.

I think you are underselling Barnhart. I think he has the potential to be another Hanigan, one who reaches the majors much earlier and will therefore have a longer useful career. Catchers who are plus-plus defenders and can also post an above-average OBP are pretty damn rare. I think Barnhart can be a darn-good starter in the majors. Not a superstar, but a solidly above-average starter.

It's not really a Dusty problem. Mesoraco has outgrown the need for a tandem partner (Hanigan) and needs more of a pure back-up behind him

How do you figure that? Mesoraco only has 100 MLB games under his belt and is barely able to keep his head above water. I'm all for letting him play in hopes that he continues to improve, but it is VERY premature for a contending team to put all it's eggs in the Devin Mesoraco basket. Once he's got a couple hundred games of 700+ OPS under his belt, then maybe, but right now he's not even 40 games into his first season over the 700 mark.

Besides, even if Mesoraco is everything we hope he is, catcher is the one position where you always need a good backup. Catchers get dinged up more than any position on the field and are regularly in need of time off. Better to have a quality backup like Hanigan around rather than some dumpster-dive AAAA reject.

[Edd Roush]

I saw on the transactions thread that Barnhart has gone on the DL. Anyone know for what injury and how long he will be on the DL?

Tucker has taken a step forward from his 2012 AA numbers with a .256/.332/.352 line in 249 AA PAs this year.

[dougdirt]

I saw on the transactions thread that Barnhart has gone on the DL. Anyone know for what injury and how long he will be on the DL?

Tucker has taken a step forward from his 2012 AA numbers with a .256/.332/.352 line in 249 AA PAs this year.

Not sure of the injury, but he got absolutely obliterated at the plate last week, so it wouldn't surprise me if it were related to that.

[George Anderson]

Not sure of the injury, but he got absolutely obliterated at the plate last week, so it wouldn't surprise me if it were related to that.

He did get 3 hits in his last 2 games FWIW.

[JaxRed]

They swapped him out mid-game (pinch hitter) yesterday but there was nothing in the game that looked like it would cause an injury. I would not have been shocked if Lutz had gone on DL, he got hit by pitch yesterday and it sounded nasty

[LoganBuck]

They swapped him out mid-game (pinch hitter) yesterday but there was nothing in the game that looked like it would cause an injury. I would not have been shocked if Lutz had gone on DL, he got hit by pitch yesterday and it sounded nasty

Lutz tweeted he was fine, but it did hurt.

[redsof72]

Barnhart has a hamstring injury.