Barajas Back in Blue

What a difference a year makes.

T

he Jays finally have a starting shortstop, a complete rotation heading into spring training and, now, they have a backup catcher.

The bonus? He's about 50% cheaper than he would have been a year ago.

As I write this, I'm crossing my fingers that Rod Barajas doesn't back out of his new one-year deal with the Toronto Blue Jays for $1.2 million.

This is the same Rod Barajas who, this time last season, the Jays were a change-of-an-agent away from handing the reigns to as their starting catcher. This is the same Rod Barajas who would have cost the Jays $3 million per season a year ago. This is the same Rod Barajas who nearly cost Greg Zaun his starting job. 

Who knew that, in a year, the Jays would have both catchers they coveted the previous off-season under contract?

So, one year later, is Rod Barajas still the player the Jays thought they were about to sign last year?

Offensively, Barajas joins a Jays team that struggled mightily last year. Needless to say, he would have fit in just fine.

Playing in under fifty games for the first time in his career, aside from two seasons of five games each in 1999 and 2000, Barajas posted just four home runs and ten RBI, just one above his career-low in each category.

His .230 batting average was his lowest since he played 80 games with Arizona in 2003 and hit .218.

What Barajas did improve during the season, however, was his strikeout-to-walk ratio. With twenty-one walks and twenty-four strikeouts, Barajas posted the best numbers of his career in this category. Whether he was forced to be more patient at the plate due to his injury status, however, remains to be seen.

The up-shot for Barajas is that every season in which he's registered over 300 at-bats, Barajas has hit over ten homeruns, over forty RBI, and an average of at least .249. In essence, if he and Zaun were to split time (82 games, averaging 3 at-bats per game) Barajas would receive 246 at-bats, and provide solid numbers for a platoon catcher.

Pressured by a catcher that's able to carry the load behind him, you could also expect to see a slight increase in Zaun's numbers in the latter months of the season.

Defensively, Barajas provides the Jays with an upgrade over Zaun. Barajas' fielding percentage is six points ahead of Zaun's over their careers (.992 to .986) and, despite playing in nearly 300 more games than Barajas defensively, Zaun is head and shoulders above Barajas in the errors department, 73 to 28.

The main asset that Barajas brings is the ability to throw out base runners. While Zaun has worked at a 22.7% clip while picking off base-stealers, Barajas is a full 11% higher, inlcuding throwing out 22 of 42 and 23 of 44, both 52%, in 2004 and 2005 with the Texas Rangers. 

The Jays may be in a very interesting situation this season. In left field, shortstop, and catcher, the Jays have the option to platoon. These positions have a strong offensive option that can start the game--Matt Stairs in left, David Eckstein at short, and Zaun at catcher--while having a defensive specialist the Jays can bring in throughout the later innings--Reed Johnson in left, John McDonald at short, and Barajas at catcher.

I, however, think that in both left field and catcher, the Jays will more than likely allow a player to play a full game, rather than bring in a defensive substitution late in the game like at shortstop.

Aside from Johnny Estrada and an aging Mike Lieberthal, there really aren't other options out there better than Barajas. With the potential upside--the annual phrase used with Jays free-agent signings--that Barajas brings, and the fact that the Jays don't need a long term solution like Estrada due to the presence of Robinzon Diaz and Curtis Thigpen, the Jays have found the perfect solution to round out their free-agent spending this off-season.

It's up to them to stay healthy now.