Texas Rangers - Top 5 Minor League Catchers

5. Alberto Martinez (19 years old; .307 / .342 / .347 @ Low-A Clinton; UFA from Venezuela, 2003)

Out of nowhere, Alberto Martinez entered the picture on July 9, when he suddenly appeared in a Clinton LumberKings box score. What was remarkable about that was that Martinez, then only 18 year old, had one pretty ordinary season with the DSL club and a grand total of six games with the Arizona Rookie League club under his belt at the time.

Martinez, a big kid listed at 6'1", 200 lbs. but who is actually a bit bigger than that, resembles Rod Barajas (heavy in the lower half and very slow). He is unlike his fellow Latin American catching prospects Cristian Santana and Manny Pina in that he is far less athletic than that pair and his bat appears to be a bit more refined than his defensive tools.

Few 18 year olds see th! e Midwest League and those that do are usually considered to be among the jewels of an organization’s prospects (only two other 2005 LumberKings, Michael Schlact and Eric Hurley, were teenagers). So it was especially noteworthy that Martinez began his Low-A career by hitting safely in nine of his first ten appearances. And he kept it up. Martinez finished the MWL season by hitting safely in eight of his last ten regular season games, posting multiple-hit efforts in four of them. In 21 MWL appearances overall, Martinez hit in 17 of them.

Defensively, Martinez allowed seven passed balls in his 21 appearances (Kevin Richardson allowed three in 56 games at Clinton), most if not all of which came on sinkers and tumbling changeups from Michael Schlact or Kea Kometani splitters. Thus, he needs to improve his blocking ability. Martinez has a plus arm and pop time that belies his otherwise slow feet: "that kid will nail runners all day" says one pitcher who work! ed with the young Venezuelan.

Observers were encouraged by his improvement during his short stay in Clinton and credited him with a strong work ethic and plus makeup. He already has good command of English and fast-developing aptitude for calling a game.

2006 Projection:

It was a small sample to be sure, but hitting in 17 of 21 games is impressive nonetheless. If he can refine his defensive game, Martinez could become a prospect. He figures to return to Clinton where he should spend the entire season.

4. Manny Pina (18 years old; .247 / .356 / .306; UFA from Venezuela, 2004).

The Rangers signed Venezuelan Manuel Pina as a 17 year old shortstop with a big arm in 2004, and just over a year later, he was a catcher, rated as the 12^th best prospect in the Arizona Rookie League according to B! aseball America who reported that "his defensive skills—notably his arm—already have been compared to a young Ivan Rodriguez" whom he resembles physically.

His plus arm is augmented by quick feet and a very quick release. BA reports that his "pop times to second were consistently in the 1.8-1.9-second range." "Pop time" is the time that it takes for the catcher to get the ball to second base from the moment the pitch hits his mitt. A 1.7 pop time will earn an 70 or 80 on the 20-80 scouting scale. In his prime, Pudge’s pop time was routinely in the 1.6 to 1.65 range. Pina’s times are already major league-average.

Pina shot to the AZL in his first pro season and put together a .247 / .356 / .306 season that included one huge month (July: .357 / .455 / .429) and one bad one (August: .171 / .318 / .171). He appears to be a more disciplined hitter than very young Latin American players are expected to be and he doe! sn’t strike out much. He led the club, taking eight for the team in spite of getting just 85 at-bats so I suspect that he stands on the plate in an attempt to get that Pudge-line plate coverage. Pina’s splits were essentially even.

2006 Projection:

Pina is a strong makeup guy who is mature and confident. The Star-Telegram’s Kat O’Brien noted his "commanding presence" when she met him at the Rangers new Dominican academy in February. He already speaks English and earned high marks for his handling of the little Rangers pitching staff. He figures to stay back in extended spring training where he’ll await the beginning of the NWL season in mid June.

3. Mike Nickeas (23 years old; .202 / .263 / .302 @ Double-A Frisco; Rangers 5^th rounder, 2004)

Unfair.

Mike Nickeas, less than a year ! removed from his last collegiate game, was asked to make a three-level jump from short season Spokane to Double-A Frisco and it wasn’t pretty. The one time all year that Nickeas got on much of a roll (hitting in 10 of 12 games at the end of May), it ended with a six-week stint on the DL after a foul ball broke his hand.

Through it all–through a season in which he reached or exceeded the Mendoza line for all of three days–you would have never known that Nickeas was struggling so horribly at the plate by watching him on the diamond. The young man who was selected to Team USA in both high school and college "for his outstanding makeup more than his physical skills" according to Baseball America, never took his problems at the plate behind it (or to the dugout, or anywhere else).

Nickeas earned the highest possible marks from his pitching staff and Rangers brass for his all-around defensive game and his ability to ha! ndle a staff.

The Georgia Tech alum and two-time nominee to the Johnny Bench Award watch list slipped to the fifth round in the 2004 draft and the Rangers–badly in need of quality catching prospects–were thrilled to tap him and send him off to Spokane where he had an outstanding season before wearing down late in the season with a .198 / .311 / .308 performance in 91 August at-bats after hitting .323 / .432 / .581 in 93 July at-bats.

His 2005 season was abysmal offensively, but an extreme optimist (such as your truly) would allow for the possibility that Nickeas was on the verge of a breakout at the end of May when he hit safely in 10 of twelve games, and just rounding back into form after recovering from a his broken thumb as the season came to an end. After all, he did .360 over the season’s final ten games before going on to slaughter Arizona Fall League pitching with a .425 / .468 / .675 performance against some of baseball’s best pitching prospects.

Both club officials and the Frisco pitching staff have nothing but the highest praise for Nickeas as a game caller and his defensive skills are solid all the way around.

2006 Projection:

Nickeas will return to Frisco and should spend the entire season there, with an August promotion to Oklahoma a strong possibility if he breaks out in the Texas League like I think he will. The price tag on Rod Barajas continues to rise and it isn’t likely that the Rangers will continue to pay for the privilege of having him around, so they need Nickeas to step up and become an option waiting in Oklahoma should anything happen to Gerald Laird in 2007. Call it a hunch, but I think Nickeas is going to have a monster year for the RoughRiders.

2. Cristian Santana (16 years old; DNP in 2005; UFA from Dominican Rep! ublic 2005)

It’s a lot to ask of a 16 year old who has never appeared in an official professional game to live up to the Pudgito hype that has been cast upon him, but everyone’s got a burden to bear that that’s the one that Cristian Santana gets. It didn’t have to be that way. He probably could have flown under the radar for quite a long time, but the Rangers seem to want everyone to know about Santana and they are transparently gleeful about having this kid under contract. Though perhaps I shouldn’t, I take this to be extremely significant.

Signed by the Rangers for a reported $350K after fielding offers from the Red Sox, Cubs, Braves, Yankees, Mets and others, Santana–who is represented by Dodgers shortstop Rafael Furcal--chose Texas in much the same way that blue-chip high school football recruits choose their schools: he felt loved. "They paid a lot of attention to me," he told reporters after working o! ut at Ameriquest Field last summer. "The treated me very well."

Uniquely gifted athletically for a catcher, some of the other clubs who pursued Santana wanted to move him to center field where his plus speed, quickness and arm strength would play, but the Rangers will leave him behind the plate where he feels most comfortable and where he has played all of his (admittedly short) life.

Santana’s primary assets are reportedly his quick hands and feet and an above-average arm. While participating in fall instructionals (where he was the youngest participant), he evoked the image of Pudge by throwing behind runners leading off first base.

2006 Projection:

Given his youth, expect him to debut in the DSL. We’ll be following that club much more closely this year.

1. Taylor Teagarden (22 years old; .281 / .426 ! / .635 @ short season Spokane; Rangers 3^rd rounder, 2005)

Everyone agreed that the top two collegiate catchers in the 2005 draft were USC’s Jeff Clement (selected third overall by Seattle) and University of Texas star Taylor Teagarden. Clement was ostensibly the better hitter while Teagarden was the superior defender. But consider this: In the summer of 2004, both played on Team USA (hitting with wood bats) and Teagarden outhit Clement (.309 to .275) and outslugged him (.473 to .435) and by all accounts, Teagarden rated as a first round talent.

For the Rangers to have scooped up Carrollton, Texas native Teagarden in the third round last June was the equivalent of giving themselves a second first-round pick and arguably delivering the best all-around catcher in the draft.

Teagarden fell to the third round largely because of his agent, Scott Boras. Some clubs refuse to deal wit! h Boras at all and others won’t draft his clients because of the risk that they might not be able to get them under contract. But the Rangers stepped up to the plate, signed Teagarden to a bonus that was a third more than any other third rounder received ($725,000) and sent him off to short season Spokane for the final month of the NWL season. Once there, the argument that Teagarden would not be much of a hitter as a pro gained traction...for a week.

Through his first seven games in Spokane, Teagarden went 1-20. Seven days later, his season average was up to .282 and five games after that, he was hitting .339.

Teagarden finished his professional debut season with a line of .281 / .426 / .635, hitting seven homers and driving in sixteen runs. Oh, and he finished that season with a league championship...three months after winning an NCAA National Championship as a Texas Longhorn.

While Teagarden was among the ! league leaders in whiffs per at-bat (32 / 96), he balanced that negative by frequently drawing bases on balls. His 23 freebies were just three fewer than Junior Mayberry took all year, and Mayberry had nearly three times as many at-bats. The right-handed Teagarden didn’t hit much against lefties in limited opportunities (.158 in 19 at-bats), but he actually seemed to be even more selective against them (.467 OBP).

A technically sound catcher with great footwork, a plus arm and quick release, he’s considered by most to be ready for the big leagues defensively right now. A.J. Pierzynski he’s not. Teagarden is a quiet leader who has been described as "shy," but he is admired by his pitchers.

Teagarden did not finish strong, going 4-20 in the playoffs after finishing the season 7-26 in Spokane’s final ten games including a 1-11 slump in the final five games of the regular season. However, he was reportedly very impressive ! in instructionals, showing good power to all fields.

A dominant pitcher in his early teens, Teagarden gave it up due to an arm injury and he finished 2005–a year in which he won two championships and became a wealthy young man with a bright future on the team he cheered for as a kid–by undergoing Tommy John procedure to cure long-term wear-and-tear. A quick return to action is expected.

2006 Projection:

The Rangers feel that Teagarden may be ready to hit at the beginning of the season and could be back behind the plate late this summer. Look for him to begin his season (whenever that is) as Bakersfield’s DH. If Mike Nickeas can break out in the Texas League and earn a promotion to Oklahoma, Teagarden could see action in Frisco before the end of the year. Missing time behind the plate won’t hurt him as his defensive game is already big league quality. If he continues to hit like he did last summer, he could be! ready for prime time at some point in 2007.

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M.J. Hindman

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