Kelly Shoppach

Kelly Shoppach was a nice piece to the Coco Crisp trade. He'll be a pretty solid big league catcher. But, don't believe the Jason Varitek comparisons that have been thrown around. He's not Varitek and won't be unless he exhibits a big growth spike. Right now he projects to be more like Benjie Molina than Varitek. His projected major league equivalency based upon his minor league performance looks like this: .242 average; .320 on-base; and .419 slugging. He's capable of 18 homers and a similar number of doubles. If you compare him offensively to the other MLB catchers, he'd end up in the top 35%. On the other hand, Victor Martinez would grade out as a top three catcher in anyone's scenario.

But the reason Shopppach's addition to the deal generates a little excitement is that he controls the running game. Last year in AAA, he threw out 44% of the runners who tried to steal against him. Typically, anything over 33% is considered very good. His caught stealing rate will likely go down in the majors, but the bottom line is that, as the cliche goes, he has very good catch and throw skills. When you combine Shoppach's excellent defensive skills with his above average (for the position) hitting, he presents as a good major leaguer.