According to Brian Costa of the Star Ledger, Mets GM Omar Minaya has said Henry Blanco will be the team’s back-up catcher, “We don’t see him as a full-time guy.”
So, in terms of the starting catcher, Minaya said, “It’s going to be between Omir Santos and Josh Thole.”
The 23–year-old Thole hit .321 with three extra base hits in 17 games for the Mets last season.
My how things change. It was only a few weeks ago that the Mets were dead-set on bringing in a veteran catcher and pushing Thole to AAA for at least the early part of 2010. Now, all of a sudden, he is being considered an option to start?
We have been on the Thole Bandwagon here for a while. In fact, we may be DRIVING the Thole bandwagon:
I just want to put it out there right now. Josh Thole could be a stud. He could be up with the Mets THIS SEASON. He's hitting .352/.447/.451 with AA Binghamton as a 22 year old. He's had more walks than strikeouts the last three seasons... I know this is a long shot, but... keep your eye on Thole. - May 7, 2009However, he should not be considered for the starting role at this time. In November, we wrote an article here saying that the Mets should avoid free agent catchers and give Thole a chance to take the starting job.
I don't think that Thole is ready to dominate the National League. In fact, I think Thole might end up being a better baseball player over his career if he had more time in AAA to learn and maybe hit for a little power. However - if there ever was a time to throw a rookie into the fire, it is now.
My justification for letting Thole start was two-fold. First, there didn't appear to be any backup plan behind Santos. Second, I thought the Mets were going to be fielding a better team and having a legitimate chance to win in 2010.
