(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
The search for a legitimate backup catcher for A.J. Pierzynski continues today as the White Sox trade pitcher Lance Broadway for backup catcher Ramon Castro of the New York Mets.
Chris Widger, Sandy Alomar, Toby Hall, and now Corky Miller have all fell short of the expectations of a backup catcher for the Chicago White Sox ever since the A.J. Pierzynski-controversial-era bagan in 2005, a year in which Pierzynski was the center of the Sox World Series Championship run.
The problems with the backup catchers have been they all have been about defense, but only defense in the aspect of blocking the ball at the plate, not throwing out runners.
Castro gives the White Sox a great arm to throw out runners on the bases, something in which they have lacked in a catcher since Miguel Olivo in 2004, now catching for the rival Kansas City Royals.
The White Sox have been fortunate to have Pierzynski and his bat and sub-par throwing arm healthy for the past four and a quarter seasons, but Castro certainly provides some insurance not only defensively, but offensively as well. Castro has a career .417 slugging percentage since breaking into the league with the Florida Marlins in 1999.
For the Mets, they are getting a still unproven arm in Lance Broadway, who at one time was the White Sox best pitching prospect. Broadway has gotten lost in the shuffle of late, limiting his appearances out of the bullpen to eight games, Broadway posting a 5.06 ERA.
Broadway has two career starts in the majors and should get some time to start in emergency situations with the Mets. This could have also been a money move, as Castro was making about $2.6 M this year and with a big chunk of the Mets payroll on the disabled list, I see this as a good business move for the Mets.
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