CUBS VS. BREWERS BREAKDOWN

Thought the breakdown was pretty good. I liked the take on the Braun/Soriano comparison. Surprised they opted for Kendall over Soto, especially since he took Kendall’s job as you pointed out.

You REALLY think Soto is a better defensive catcher than Kendall? WOW.
He’s average at best and that’s being nice.

Kendall allowed 52 steals in 52 games with the Cubs last year. Add that to the 59 he allowed with Oakland, and that totals 111 stolen bases allowed. I think I AM a better defensive catcher than Jason Kendall.

In AA in 2004, Soto threw out 39 of 100 would be basestealers. In AAA in 2005, he threw out 26 of 96. He was drafted as a 3rd baseman and has a huge arm–partly why he was converted to catcher. His calling prior to last year was that he was an excellent defensive catcher–the bat didn’t get going until 2007.

Let’s see how long the Brew sticks with Kendall as their everyday catcher. My guess is not long, at least from what I saw last year.

Um, catching defense is about MUCH more than throwing out potential base stealers.
Kendall calls a great game and is adept at blocking balls in the dirt. Those are two things that Soto is still learning and is not very good at yet.

Furthermore, Soto has never caught more than 105 games in one season, so he’s probably not a guy who can start more than 60% of the teams games. You’re going to need Kendall this year and he’ll play a lot of games regardless of how well Soto plays.

Maybe you haven’t heard–Kendall is a Brewer. And I don’t know which Kendall you were watching last year, but he couldn’t block a beach ball. And even if he could, and calls the greatest game in the history of man, no manager worth their salt is going to give considerable playing time to a catcher who can’t throw out anyone and repeatedly takes his team out of double play situations.

It’s not 1996. The fork is rusting in Kendall he’s so done.

oh, yeah. I forgot Kendall isn’t around anymore. Oops.
Henry Blanco will be starting a bunch of games this year.