Atlanta Braves Spring Training 2012: What's the Future at Catcher?

The Atlanta Braves have always been stocked full of talent.

Their minor league system has always had players who were in the top of prospect rankings throughout baseball.

Last year, there was Julio Teheran (No. 10), Freddie Freeman (No. 17) and Mike Minor (No. 21), while 2010 had Jason Heyward (No. 1) and Teheran (No. 34).

This year is no different as the Braves have Teheran (No. 4) again, Arodys Vizcaino (No. 36), Randall Delgado (No. 42), Andrelton Simmons (No. 65) and Christian Bethancourt (No. 91).

That's a plethora of talent.

For this article, I want to focus on Bethancourt and the catcher situation, because he could possibly be the Braves' catcher of the future.

There's no doubt that Brian McCann is the starting catcher in Atlanta. He made that known when he first burst onto the big league scene in 2005.

However, McCann is eligible to be a free agent this offseason, if the Braves don't pick up his team option (which I believe they will). But, then there's the 2014 season where he will be a free agent and likely command big dollars.

So, the biggest question is will McCann stay in Atlanta and give them the hometown discount?

Obviously, nobody knows the answer to that question and we still have time to wait on the answer.

Now, you've got Bethancourt who is still a year away from making a big league roster. What do you do with him?

David Ross is a free agent after the 2012 season and I don't see the Braves re-signing him. So, does that open the door to Bethancourt to be a backup in the big leagues for a year or will he be traded before then?

Bethancourt has the talent to be an everyday catcher, but his path to MLB is blocked in the same way that Yonder Alonso's was blocked in Cincinnati before they traded him this offseason.

While the Braves don't have to make any rash decisions on Bethancourt this year, the offseason is going to be key. It is then that the Braves are going to have to make a run at going ahead and signing McCann or committing to Bethancourt for the future.

If they do re-sign McCann, I'm sure the Braves will likely find a trade partner for Bethancourt, knowing the kind of return they could get for him.

Then, the Braves are going to have to look for a capable backup because I don't believe any of the other players in the system are capable of being a good backup in the big leagues. J.C. Boscan and Evan Gattis may be able to fill that role for a brief amount of time, but the Braves are going to need to look at a veteran.

If Ross does indeed leave after this season, I could see the Braves signing a guy like Ryan Doumit or Dioner Navarro to fill the backup slot. Of course, that's based on if the Braves keep McCann long-term and/or if Bethancourt gets shipped somewhere else.

Of course, then you have the factor of a McCann injury or something else happening, and then you have to figure it out from there.

Whichever way the Braves decide to go, I believe they are in a good position. Although many fans are attached to McCann, I don't think the team can go wrong with either direction.