The idea of Ryan Doumit is gaining traction.   Lonnie, the big cheese at Mariner Central, started the idea on Nov. 12th. 

Dr. D egged him on :- ) because, whatever Doumit's other plusses and negatives might be, the fact that he's a legitimate* major league catcher is the overriding consideration.

Both Moore and Johnson are shaky, and even if you add an ML journeyman to shuttle between Tacoma and Seattle, it would still be wonderful to have a 3rd catcher in your active 25.

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Q.  Oh yeah!  This guy was the cleanup hitter for the Yankees, right?

A.  His 8x10 alone is enough for me.  Sign 'im up.

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Q.  Can Doumit catch in the major leagues?

A.  At some point, we redefined "below average defender" to mean precisely the same thing as "should never play the position in a major league game."  I think that's silly.

In 2008, Doumit's CERA was the same as the team's overall.  In 2009, Doumit's CERA was lower than the team's.   Doumit's CS% is 29%, compared to the MLB average of 28.

He caught 100 games for the Pirates in 2008 and 70 for them in 2009 before getting hurt.  His stats are average.  You're saying that he couldn't play 20 games there for the Mariners as their third catcher?

Lots of good ballclubs opt for a bat-first backup catcher, such as the Red Sox with Doug Mirabelli.  It can be a great thing.  You play the bat-first catcher when you're going against a team that can't run, and you leave him on the bench when you're playing the Angels.

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If I go after Doumit, it definitely is on the basis that he can catch some games for me.  Simply as a questionable glove at 3b, 1b, LF, he loses a lot of luster.  (That's not saying he's not possible even then.) 

I wish there were some way to draw a distinction between "minus defender" and "should not be on the field," but apparently there isn't.

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Q.  How well is Doumit going to hit?

A.  Very well for a catcher. 

After 2008, Shandler was talking about Doumit's potential to become a dominating fantasy commodity at the C position -- as was Fangraphs (Golebiewski).   Talking about a roto commodity that you draft in the early rounds.

Looking at the whole picture, I think that Doumit was mostly unlucky in 2009.  I think the man can rake.

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Q.  Creating a buy-low option?

A.  Yep.   I don't think there's anybody who doubts that the LH/SW Doumit will hit.  The questions are about his defense, and those are dubious concerns.  You don't have, and should not have, 25 players who are great fielders.

He is what he is, a bat-first utilityman.  The Mariners haven't had one of those since, Never.  (.202-hitting utilitymen are about making the manager's job easy.  .300-hitting utilitymen are about attacking the enemy.)

He happened to have an unlucky year last year, you reasonably expect the sine wave to bounce back up -- that's not a flier, that's buy low and pocket the profit.

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Q.  And what would be the profit?

A.  Just to put it in perspective, Doumit's RC/27 was 5.77 in 2008 -- higher than Carl Crawford's career RC/27.

I'm not saying that Doumit's going to become an impact #10 player, but you can't rule it out.

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Q.  How heavily do you weigh health concerns?

A.  Seeing that he'd be moving from "everyday catcher" to, well, "not an everyday catcher," I'm assuming that he'd be okay.

It's not like he's been Chris Snelling.  He's played a lot at catcher.   And the Mariners wouldn't be asking for 155 games, anyway.   As a sub, the health record is not much of an issue.

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Q.  Could Doumit be part of a 2-catcher combo?  Could you then trade a catcher to Tampa?

A.  Even if Rob Johnson couldn't play next year, I would seriously consider an Adam Moore & Ryan Doumit combo behind the plate.  (I wouldn't want a Johnons & Doumit combo.)

Granted, Zduriencik's idea would probably be super-utilityman, in which case you're not really going to play Doumit in spot duty at 3b and LF ... waiiiiiiit a MINNNNit, Mr. Seinfield!  

This is Wakamatsu, right?  Is there any good REASON for the cliche that you can't start your backup catcher at third base?  Why couldn't he move behind the plate?

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Q.  Exec Sum?

A.   Doumit's a bat-first utility player extraordinaire.  I looooov eeeeet.  You've got gloves on the field.  Go for complementary skeeels on the bench, then.

SSI is bullish on Lonnie's adopt-a-player.  Make it so, Cap'n.

Cheers,

Dr D