Value of a backup catcher

[titanut]

I have Posada. How much sense does it make to pick up a backup
to play on his days off, or have available if Posada is injured.
I am interested in Ben Molina- his stats are better than LoDuca,
Leiberthal, and Javy-why is he still available in a 12 team league?
I would have to drop someone like D Young, Matsui or X Nady
to pick him up.

[jdh]

Molina is at best a .250 hitter. If Lo Duca is available, he is way better, because he will hit around .290 with lots of runs since he's a #2 hitter. One option would be to pick up Flaherty, who is Posada's backup, which ensures that you have a catcher to start that will start on Posada's off days. All catcher off days tend to fall on Sundays because of the day game after a night game thing.

Personally, I wouldn't bother using a roster spot on an extra catcher though because the stats they accrue don't warrant it.

[ondeckb]

Not only don't the stats warrant it.....but you got to be a frigging psychic to figure out when your #1 is gonna sit....invest in starting pitching......

[jdh]

You can tell if you use Yahoo StatTracker or the MLB Gamecast java applet thing, which gives you lineups like 30 mins before gametime, which lets you go and change your lineup before the games start. The problem with that is that if your backup catcher plays on the east coast and top catcher plays on the west coast, you won't be able to change it, since the backup will have already played. That's why getting your catcher's real life backup could be a plan.

Also, when a catcher starts a night game and then has a day game the next day, 99% of the time, the manager will play it safe and bench him to avoid excessive strain. That said, I still don't think carrying extra catchers is the best use of roster space. I'd rather have another bench player or have a starting pitcher.