Brayan Pena New Back-Up Catcher; 1 year deal

[CapitalTigers]

I like this pick up, 30 year old veteran and will do a nice job of backing up Avila.

Jason Beck ‏@beckjason

#Tigers find their backup catcher. They announce a 1-yr deal with ex-Royal Brayan Pena.

[A.J.K.]

via Tigers Rumors - MLBTradeRumors.com: Reliever Matt Hoffman has been DFA'd to make room for Pena on the 40-man roster.

[Walt]

Your move KC. :P

[Gehringer_2]

I like this pick up, 30 year old veteran and will do a nice job of backing up Avila.

Jason Beck ‏@beckjason

#Tigers find their backup catcher. They announce a 1-yr deal with ex-Royal Brayan Pena.

Yup. A safe way to start the season, but the best outcome would be for Holaday or Cabrera to bump him out of a job by season's end. He doesn't really bring a useful bat against LHP so no improvement on that score.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

I think this is a crappy signing.

The LH portion of platoon splits is nothing special. He can't hit and has a low OBP.

Guys have run on him fairly frequently over the last 2 years (1 AB attempt per 6 2/3 IP for Pena, roughly 1 per 9 IP for Alex).

He is a replacement level player.

[pyrotigers]

I like when the Tigers pick up terrible players, so I'm delighted

Paying money to a guy who to be worse than our minor leaguers just because he has played in MLB before wooo

[clemma]

He couldn't carry Duffy Dyer's laundry

[ballmich]

Wow, I didn't think DD could make me wish they re-signed Laird, but he certainly is putting forth an effort.

Clark: "(Clark notices that there is cat food in the jello.) Aunt Bethany? Does your cat by any chance eat jello?"
Eddie: "I don't know about the cat, but I sure am enjoying it."

[lesgoblu02]

blech

[Gehringer_2]

I think this is a crappy signing.

The LH portion of platoon splits is nothing special. He can't hit and has a low OBP.

Guys have run on him fairly frequently over the last 2 years (1 AB attempt per 6 2/3 IP for Pena, roughly 1 per 9 IP for Alex).

He is a replacement level player.

Haven't seen any salary announcement. I'm guessing they aren't paying him much more than a replacement level salary. Do you think he cost them more than a million?

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

Pena's batting line against lefties:

2010: 0.204/0.264/0.245
2011: 0.250/0.292/0.309
2012: 0.265/0.278/0.368

Career: 0.245/0.287/0.327

Avila's batting line against lefties:

2010: 0.182/0.289/0.356
2011: 0.273/0.349/0.430
2012: 0.176/0.304/0.235

Career: 0.234/0.330/0.352

All things considered, I'd probably rather have Alex facing lefties than Brayan. I didn't think that would be possible.

[ballmich]

I'm a little surprised by Hoffman, but he's not a huge loss. Ortega, would have seemed to be the better choice, given his complete suckitude.

I love carrying four catchers on the 40-man, especially when three of them are absolutely horrible.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

Haven't seen any salary announcement. I'm guessing they aren't paying him much more than a replacement level salary. Do you think he cost them them more than a million?

No, but paying 500k for a guy that isn't going to address Alex Avila's weakness (batting against lefties) makes no sense to me. I'd much rather spend $1.5 million on a guy that can hit lefties.

[tiger337]

I'm assuming Pena is good at working with a pitching staff, because I'm not seeing much else to like. I think experience is important at the catching position, so he's probably better than Holaday, but that's not saying much.

[drownwithyou]

Why not get someone who can actually hit lefthanded pitching?

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

I'm assuming Pena is good at working with a pitching staff, because I'm not seeing much else to like. I think experience is important at the catching position, so he's probably better than Holaday, but that's not saying much.

Pena is a switch hitter. Can't have too many of those.

Who cares if he can't actually hit from either side?

[Gehringer_2]

Why not get someone who can actually hit lefthanded pitching?

They tried that with Laird - his hitting against LHP promptly tanked last season.

IDK, maybe they like Cabrera for backup C but since he is no sure thing yet, they need some insurance for at least the 1st half of this year. Otherwise, for Olliver and the price of signing Pena you would think they could have done better.

[TStar]

Need more switch hitters so Leyland can craft his R-L-R-L-R-L-R-L-R lineup this season too.

[T&P_Fan]

This is nothing more than DD not doing his homework. Filing in the role of backup catcher should have been the easiest thing for the Tigers to do. Yet they find someone who can't hit lefties when what we really needed was someone who hits lefties.

It's a good thing this really doesn't matter that much, still a poor move by Dombrowski. Dave continually fails when it comes to role/backup players.

[TStar]

Is Pena a lock to make the Opening Day roster? I get the feeling that Holaday can still win the job in ST.

On the plus side, now that we have 2 hitting coaches maybe we can get twice the results from Pena. Let Llyod work from him on the right side and Toby on the left!

[ballmich]

I can't defend the rationale of signing Pena. However, I do think that a lot of organizations don't like to straight-platoon the catcher spot based upon opposing pitcher. I think a lot of teams prefer to keep the Pitcher/Catcher pairing, and sometimes assign the back-up guy to a specific pitcher in the rotation. Does anyone think we'll see Pena catching Verlander? I doubt it.

Maybe that is the goal here. I don't like it, but it's the only reason I can see for specifically signing a guy who has a long track record of not hitting LHP, when that was clearly and desparately what we needed.

[CapitalTigers]

FWIW, his BA goes up to .320 with RISP last year. I would imagine he's good at handling a pitching staff. When you have the best pitcher in the game, this is very important imo.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

FWIW, his BA goes up to .320 with RISP last year.

In 50 AB with RISP in 2012, Pena hit 0.320/0.333/0.360. Throughout his career he has hit 0.257/0.288/0.374 with RISP.

In 88 AB with RISP in 2012, Avila hit 0.273/0.377/0.432. Throughout his career he has hit 0.258/0.379/0.375.

I would take Avila's 2012 RISP numbers over Pena's.

I would imagine he's good at handling a pitching staff. When you have the best pitcher in the game, this is very important imo.

This is speculative (both in terms of his ability and in terms of importance). Avila is likely to catch Verlander, so I don't think this is impactful WRT Justin.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

I can't defend the rationale of signing Pena. However, I do think that a lot of organizations don't like to straight-platoon the catcher spot based upon opposing pitcher. I think a lot of teams prefer to keep the Pitcher/Catcher pairing, and sometimes assign the back-up guy to a specific pitcher in the rotation. Does anyone think we'll see Pena catching Verlander? I doubt it.

I suspect Verlander will start 33 or 34 games in 2012. Probably 8 or 9 of those are against a lefty. If the rationale is to not get a catcher who can hit lefties because that guy won't catch Justin, I'd be pretty disappointed.

I know you can't get a straight platoon, but they should be able to get it set up 75% - 85% of the time.

Maybe that is the goal here. I don't like it, but it's the only reason I can see for specifically signing a guy who has a long track record of not hitting LHP, when that was clearly and desparately what we needed.

I wonder if they valued Pena just because he was a switch hitter. Honestly.

[Scottwood]

Our bench sucks and this move doesn't help it.

[Oblong]

I have a really hard time thinking that any argument brought up here is something that DD didn't already think of and figured the risk or whatever was worth it

[tiger337]

I have a really hard time thinking that any argument brought up here is something that DD didn't already think of and figured the risk or whatever was worth it

Probably true. I think he just doesn't like spending money on a bench. That doesn't change the fact that they have a bad bench and have had them in the past.

[tiger337]

Tigers sign Brayan Pena to be backup catcher « Beck's Blog

“We are pleased to add an experienced catcher like Brayan Pena to our club,” Dombrowski said in the statement. “As a switch-hitter, he will serve as a solid complement to Alex Avila as our back-up catcher for the 2013 season.”

[Oblong]

I see his assistant has opened the thesaurus. Happy has been replaced by Pleased and Solid has replaced Quality.

[tiger337]

Happy and Quality are reserved for upper tier signings.

[ballmich]

Is Pena a lock to make the Opening Day roster? I get the feeling that Holaday can still win the job in ST.

Calling Pena the back-up catcher for 2013 would indicate that Holaday isn't in direct competition for the role.

[Gehringer_2]

Calling Pena the back-up catcher for 2013 would indicate that Holaday isn't in direct competition for the role.

I think there is difference to be recognized between 'the backup catcher' and the 'platoon catcher'. They still need someone in the organization with a relatively guaranteed performance floor in case Avila gets injured, a role which is not quite the same as the young guys, one of whom you hope turns out to have enough upside to be a right handed platoon compliment (or more) for Avila but whose downside is still not even being able to make a MLB roster. The problem with Pena in the former role is that if one of the younger guys is looking good, Pena's service time (>5yrs) means he has to stay on the 25 roster even if we want to make a call-up.

So it still doesn't add up completely to me.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

I think there is difference to be recognized between 'the backup catcher' and the 'platoon catcher'. They still need someone in the organization with a relatively guaranteed performance floor in case Avila gets injured, a role which is not quite the same as the young guys, one of whom you hope turns out to have enough upside to be a right handed platoon compliment (or more) for Avila but whose downside is still not even being able to make a MLB roster. The problem with Pena in the former role is that if one of the younger guys is looking good, Pena's service time (>5yrs) means he has to stay on the 25 roster even if we want to make a call-up.

So it still doesn't add up completely to me.

My best guess is the Tigers do not view money spent on the bench as worth it.

[pyrotigers]

I have a really hard time thinking that any argument brought up here is something that DD didn't already think of and figured the risk or whatever was worth it

It's not really an argument when there isn't any upside to Pena. The only way this makes sense is if they think the minor leaguers they have are exceptionally terrible. Which is possible.

[ballmich]

Well I sure hope someone asks DD about signing Pena when Shoppach and Snyder were both available in that ask DD a question thing on Twitter tomorrow. I'd like to see him tell us that Pena is a quality baseball player, just one more time.

[TheCouga]

I think the problem is any "backup" good enough for this message board is also probably good enough to be a starter, or at least the major half of a platoon on about 50% of the major league teams out there. So no matter how much we offer them, they're going to take the job that offers them more starts.

I think that's something posters on here often overlook. Not everyone who is technically available wants to play here.

[Gehringer_2]

I think the problem is any "backup" good enough for this message board is also probably good enough to be a starter, or at least the major half of a platoon on about 50% of the major league teams out there. So no matter how much we offer them, they're going to take the job that offers them more starts.

I think that's something posters on here often overlook. Not everyone who is technically available wants to play here.

It does take two to tango. In Shoppach's case you'd think DD probably made him an offer last year if not this year as well.

In Snyder's case, is the increment between him and Pena enough to make any diff?

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

I think the problem is any "backup" good enough for this message board is also probably good enough to be a starter, or at least the major half of a platoon on about 50% of the major league teams out there. So no matter how much we offer them, they're going to take the job that offers them more starts.

I think that's something posters on here often overlook. Not everyone who is technically available wants to play here.

Somebody good enough to get the majority of a platoon starts isn't of interest to the Tigers though.

Anyone who would be of interest to the Tigers (hit LH pitching well) and could be used in the majority of starts in a platoon situation (i.e. hits RH pitching reasonably well) isn't a platoon player, he is a starter.

Kelly Shoppach has been getting around 70 games a year. In a straight platoon, that would drop to around 50 games. It isn't some huge difference. I'd imagine some extra pay makes up the difference.

[ballmich]

I think the problem is any "backup" good enough for this message board is also probably good enough to be a starter, or at least the major half of a platoon on about 50% of the major league teams out there. So no matter how much we offer them, they're going to take the job that offers them more starts.

I think that's something posters on here often overlook. Not everyone who is technically available wants to play here.

There's probably some truth to this, but at the same time, there aren't a lot of options out there for someone who wants to be a starter. Outside of maybe the Yankees, I can't think of anyone off hand...

Then look at the list of guys who are yet to be signed and outside of Pierzynski, none of these guys has been a full time starter in several years. And quite a few are coming off poor seasons. It's hard to imagine how most of these guys would pass up a major league spot, if offered, even if it is just a 50 game/year back-up role.

Rod Barajas C 37
Henry Blanco C 41
Miguel Olivo C 34
A.J. Pierzynski C 35
Brian Schneider C 36
Kelly Shoppach C 32
Chris Snyder C 31
Matt Treanor C 36

[TigersSlappy]

Rod Barajas C 37
Henry Blanco C 41
Miguel Olivo C 34
A.J. Pierzynski C 35
Brian Schneider C 36
Kelly Shoppach C 32
Chris Snyder C 31
Matt Treanor C 36

That's a motley crew....