System Depth: Catcher

[nsacpi]

Starter: Bethancourt. Christian is our one starter-caliber prospect in our system, and even that is tenuous. A month ago, I would have projected him as a backup. But he gets the upgrade because of signs of improved power and patience during the past two months. He's still very young and has time to develop. The glove is still his main calling card.

Backup: Gattis, Caratini. We have Gattis under contractual control for five more years. While he still has a chance to develop further, at this point his most likely projection is as a bench player. Caratini only played third in his first professional season. At the start of it, his manager in Danville said he would play third this year to get maximum at bats, but would be moved back to catcher in instructs this winter and next year. It remains to be seen where he settles, but the bat will likely carry him to the majors.

Fringe: de la Rosa, Murphy, Tewell. Teams give catchers longer to develop. The organization seems to have a high regard for the defensive and receiving skills of these three guys. It remains to be seen if the bats develop.

Conclusions: Frank Wren has to make his biggest decision this off-season about this position. How much weight should he give to Bethancourt's surge in July and August? How will that influence how aggressively he pursues McCann? The Braves are a team built to contend now and in the next few years. Bethancourt is probably not quite ready to assume regular catching duties in 2014. My guess is the Braves will big aggressively to retain McCann's services.

[thethe]

I still don't think the Bravse go longer than 4 for 60. If Mac accepts that he will be back.

[thewupk]

We need to aggressively go after Mac. Our rotation is going to be very cheap for the time being with Hudson and Maholm more then likely not returning. We have Justin through 2015. We likely have Kimbrel for only a couple more years. Our time to win is now. We need the best possible team and Mac is apart of that.

[PawPawMaxwell]

We need to aggressively go after Mac. Our rotation is going to be very cheap for the time being with Hudson and Maholm more then likely not returning. We have Justin through 2015. We likely have Kimbrel for only a couple more years. Our time to win is now. We need the best possible team and Mac is apart of that.

Couple things. If Maholm and Hudson DO NOT return and I am sure Maholm wont, then the starters are pretty thin. Point to consider, Kimbrel has had better results in his first 3 years than Rivera, Papelbon and Raphael Soriano either did, and his 3 years are better than either of those 3's last 3 years. So, my question, if Kimbrel goes in asking for 10M or so his first arb year (Lincicum did IIRC), and Wren does the typical Braves thing of 2 or 3M max, what happens???