Could Palmisano beat out Rivera, Munson and Rottino?

[Ralph Wiggum]

Maybe this belongs in the mjaor league thread, but since I'm talking about a minor leaguer, it likely belongs here.

 

Lou Palmisano, at age 25 last year, hit .260 with decent power and good defense at AA Huntsville. Besides Angel Salome (who is still green and grass, and is serving a suspension) and maybe Jon Lucroy, Palmisano has the highest upside of any catcher in the system. Does anyone think he may break camp as the back-up catcher for the Brewers? With Jason Kendall aboard, who has proven to be a dependable, 140+ game catcher in the past, there won't be a lot of at-bats for the back-up. Why not give the young guy a shot with the big club, and a chance to learn from an established pro like Kendall? If Kendall goes down, you can have guys like Munson and Rivera at AAA ready to step in.

 

Maybe this idea is far-fetched, but what could it hurt? Palmisano is starting to get to the age where he isn't a true prospect anymore. At least he'd bring strong defense and power potential to the roster. Of course, if they are looking strictly for a lefty bat, Munson would get the nod.

[colbyjack]

I think the Brewers want Palmisano to get a taste of AAA before having him come to the big-leagues. While age is not on his side, I don't think age matters as much for a player that probably doesn't profile as much more than a backup. Plus, it's not uncommon for a catcher to start his big-league career relatively later.

 

However, it isn't a far-fetched idea. It's certainly possible if he has a big camp, but I do think Munson's lefty bat gives him the advantage for the backup spot as you noted.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Is Palmisano slated for AAA for sure this year? I would certainly hope he'd be the starter there, but wouldn't the two losers of the Munson, Rivera, Rottino battle logically end up there, too? Is it a case with Munson and Rivera that if they don't make the team, could they be cut outright? I would like to see one of those guys as the back-up at Nashville, but not both.

 

I also like Rottino's versatility with the big league club. However, maybe there is room for him and another back-up catcher. I think Rottino could concievably be a more-athletic Matt LeCroy (backing up at 1B, 3B, LF, RF and serving as the #3 catcher).

 

Doesn't Munson also have big league experience at 3B and 1B? I could have sworn he came up through the minors as a hot-shot 3B prospect, and began to don the catching gear after having troubles sticking in the majors because of his offense.

[Mass Haas]

Rivera and Munson are out of options and unlikely to accept assignments to Nashville off the 40-man roster, so hopefully they both shine this spring and gain trade value. It certainly looks like it'll be a Palmisano / Rottino catching combo for the Sounds this season.

Personally, I'd be shocked if Munson's not in Milwaukee and Rivera isn't in another organization on Opening Day.

[DrWood]

Rivera and Munson are out of options and unlikely to accept assignments to Nashville off the 40-man roster, so hopefully they both shine this spring and gain trade value. It certainly looks like it'll be a Palmisano / Rottino catching combo for the Sounds this season.

Personally, I'd be shocked if Munson's not in Milwaukee and Rivera isn't in another organization on Opening Day.

 

hmm, why? I thought it was quite common for players to go down, having an agreement with the club that they'd trade them if another team wanted them. It happened with closser last season. rivera isn't going to retire, and it's unlikely another club will claim him for the majors if he's DFA late in ST.

[Mass Haas]

Because Rivera has already played that game with the Brewers' organization. Would he do that again (reject free agency after being outrighted yet again?) Perhaps, but he'd probably take his chances elsewhere at that point, even on a minor league deal. Obviously not etched in stone...

[TooLiveBrew]

I like the BB totals & rate that Lou carries as a C. Coupling that with what's been reported as strong defense, and that's an ideal backup catcher imo. However, I agree that we need to see how he does at Nashville this year. If he can't out-hit or roughly match last year's .256/.368/.419/.787 in the hitter-friendly PCL, I'm not sure if we should be in such a hurry to make him the backup C.

 

The good thing is that he can always stay in AAA all year, and look to compete for a big-league spot in 2009.

[DrWood]

I dunno that Nashville is that "hitter friendly". Most (not all) of the extreme ballparks in the PCL are in the west, where Nashville plays a minority of games.

[TooLiveBrew]

Interesting, thanks for correcting me. I've just heard so often how the PCL is known to play for the hitters, I didn't realize it was a regional occurance. I then revise my statement to 'if he can sustain that OBP north of .350, along with his D, he has tremendous potential as a backup C.' Fwiw, I really would love to see Lou translate his BBs & SLG to the MLB level.

[colbyjack]

Doesn't Munson also have big league experience at 3B and 1B? I could have sworn he came up through the minors as a hot-shot 3B prospect, and began to don the catching gear after having troubles sticking in the majors because of his offense.

 

When the Tigers drafted Munson (late 90s) as the third overall pick out of USC as a catcher, they immediately moved him to 1B so that they could get his bat up to the big leagues as soon as possible. I think everyone (myself included) was surprised that Munson didn't hit anywhere near of what was expected of him.

 

I do believe he has some experience playing both 3B and 1B, but as you noted his bat has hardly produced to a high enough level for him to stick in the majors as a backup catcher. I suppose he could fill in elsewhere, but I guess I don't feel that the Brewers feel the same way at this point in time.

 

And I think Mass summed up the catching depth pretty accurately. Rivera's has had several opportunities to stick, and if he doesn't make it again he may be more inclined to give it a try somewhere else. Who knows, maybe Rivera beats Munson out, but I do think it will be Rottino and Palmisano at AAA.

 

The PCL is generally known as hitter friendly. Of course there are exceptions to every rule, and the Sounds obviously do play half of their games in Nashville (to be honest, I don't know how that park skews). But I agree with TLB's point, Palmisano needs to find a way to improve offensively in 2008. His first half at Huntsville last year was pretty encouraging, and his numbers did improve significantly (aside from batting average) from 2006 to 2007, both spent at the AA level.

[TooLiveBrew]

His first half at Huntsville last year was pretty encouraging, and his numbers did improve significantly (aside from batting average) from 2006 to 2007, both spent at the AA level.

 

I noticed that 2007 was Lou repeating AA - and to be fair, he improved like one would hope. I think his patience at the plate can really help him in AAA - but it'll have to go hand-in-hand with some more solid/solid+ SLG for Lou to have offensive appeal. If he's as good defensively as is being mentioned, I really think he could help as a backup C as early as mid-2008.

[jimmyjeromehardy7]

I would think Lou is better served starting or playing more at AAA than being a backup in MIL with the potential for 22 starts (assuming Kendall stays healthy and produces) since Yost is reluctant to PH for the catcher to ensure there is one on the bench for extra innings.

[SoCalBrewfan]

The PCL as a whole is pro-hitter but Nashville is one of three parks that are very skewed to the pitchers by league standards (multiplying park and league numbers gives an overall PF of about 95 IIRC)...Tacoma and New Orleans are better known, perhaps, but Nashville has had a similar park factor to New Orleans.

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/features/040408parkfactors.html

 

Or see this thread:

 

http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/files/oracle/discussion/2007_minor_league_park_multipliers/

 

I think Palmisano could probably be an adequate big league backup this year (the standards for backup catchers in Milwaukee are admittedly not high), and I wouldn't be suprised to see him come up if Kendall is hurt. But I'd bet good money that they keep Munson as a LH complement to Kendall though, and give Palmisano AAA time. While I'd like to think Munson would help, and he's showed some pop in AAA and even the bigs, I don't know that he's had big platoon splits. He's not played 3B since 2004, so I don't think that's really an option any more. I would love to have a good lefty hitter who would get one start per series or so, and I think frequent days off would help Kendall (who has caught a lot of games in his career), but I don't know what Yost will do.

 

I would guess that Rivera would move on.

[igor67]

A translation with no age adjustment strongly suggests that the Captain bat last year was more than good enough to play in the majors. Nothing stellar but with solid defense he's be above average as a back up catcher and could easily out hit say Kendall or Estrada.

[TooLiveBrew]

Thanks, igor - I'd been wondering how well he translated. I had a feeling that BB rate would play quite well, no matter what league adjustments were made.

[dadofandrew]

Rivera cannot get on base 30% of the time in AAA, he's strictly depth. I'd say he were a dime a dozen, but as a C, he still has a tad of value, because only about 5 C's in the game can hit.

[pogokat]

Captain lou was off the charts awful in the second half last year...something went wrong after a strong first couple months...

[bork]

What about Munhall? Would he be at AAA as well, with Rottino playing all over the diamond?

[filthyfrog]

And I think Mass summed up the catching depth pretty accurately. Rivera's has had several opportunities to stick, and if he doesn't make it again he may be more inclined to give it a try somewhere else. Who knows, maybe Rivera beats Munson out, but I do think it will be Rottino and Palmisano at AAA.

Remember that the Brewers have rewarded Rivera with at least some big league time in each of the last two years--before that his last Major League appearance was in '03--so he might be content to be the third string catcher again knowing that there's a good chance of a call up. While he didn't hit much in AAA last year, his '06 was good enough that I hope he sticks around.