Brewers sign Frank Catalanotto to minor league deal.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Rangers Release Frank Catalanotto

By Drew Silva [April 1 at 8:12pm CST]

According to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan, the Rangers have released outfielder Frank Catalanotto.

 

The club attempted to trade him, but never received a serious offer. Catalanotto, 34, hit .317/.349/.439 with one home run and six RBI in 41 at-bats this spring. He was dropped, essentially, to make room for Andruw Jones.

 

Hed surely be an upgrade over Gathright. didnt he play some infield postion at one point in his career?

Edited May 12, 2009 by Little Slide Rooter

[dew1679666265]

He's put in 155 games at second and 35 at third. The rest were between the outfield and first base.

 

Offensively, he'd have been a much better option than Miles. Defensively, he hasn't played middle infield since 2002, so I'm not sure he would be a very good bet there. He's also never played short.

 

Ultimately, I don't think he fits the team's needs at the moment and he doesn't hit enough to sign him purely as a bat off the bench.

 

If Hendry were willing to cut ties with Gathright, Catalanotto would be an upgrade there. Otherwise, he won't be much, if any, better than Hoff and probably worse than Reed.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

He hasn't played 2b since 2002. Since then, he's been primarily a LF/1b/dh. He doesn't bring anything defensively that Hoffpauir can't do. He's not a bad bench option at those positions, but I don't see him as anything that would really help the Cubs.

[ISUCubsFan]

Played 2B I believe, but he's a subpar corner outfielder at this point. I doubt the Cubs bring him in over Gathright because they want a designated pinch runner/utility outfielder. He can still hit though, and I wouldn't mind seeing him on the team as a pinch hitter if someone goes down.

[Bruce Miles]

Cubs not interested

[CubColtPacer]

Cubs not interested

 

Thanks for the info Bruce. It is always appreciated.

 

Are the Cubs looking to add anybody to their major league roster at this point, or are they happy with Gathright as the final bench spot? Are any potential deals more likely to be minor league ones for depth in case of an injury?

[Bruce Miles]

Cubs not interested

 

Thanks for the info Bruce. It is always appreciated.

 

Are the Cubs looking to add anybody to their major league roster at this point, or are they happy with Gathright as the final bench spot? Are any potential deals more likely to be minor league ones for depth in case of an injury?

 

Position-player wise, roster is set. Gathright is on the team. They might sign Lamb to a minor-league deal, but that's about it.

[Little Slide Rooter]

See this is why you dont sign spare parts like Gathright to major league deals before spring training. Superior players may very well be available for the same price, if not cheaper by the time it ends.

[CubColtPacer]

See this is why you dont sign spare parts like Gathright to major league deals before spring training. Superior players may very well be available for the same price, if not cheaper by the time it ends.

 

Gathright's deal would not have been a major financial concern to cut if they felt there was someone better (very similar salary to Bako who did get cut). It sounds like they just really like Gathright as a situational player for this squad. As long as they don't have him get very many starts (and he hopefully shouldn't as it is has been made quite clear that Johnson and Hoffpauir are ahead of him on the depth chart) he could do some good late in games.

 

I'd still rather have a decent backup SS/3B instead of Gathright, but barring that person coming available Gathright is an ok player to have. A luxury that's hard to sustain with only a 25 man roster, but at least they have clear defined areas where he'll do well.

[Guest]

man I hate carrying 6 of's. Johnson and Gathright are so redundant on this roster.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

man I hate carrying 6 of's. Johnson and Gathright are so redundant on this roster.

 

Who's the 6th? Hoffpauir?

[Transmogrified Tiger]

man I hate carrying 6 of's. Johnson and Gathright are so redundant on this roster.

 

Who's the 6th? Hoffpauir?

[bukie]

man I hate carrying 6 of's. Johnson and Gathright are so redundant on this roster.

 

Who's the 6th? Hoffpauir?

Yeah, this year's equivalent of Daryle Ward as a backup 1B/corner OF.

 

Meanwhile, they have 4 players total capable of playing 3 IF positions. Unless you count Soriano playing 2B.

[Cubswin11]

The thing that really makes me mad/I don't understand is that the team as it currently sits has no flexibility with the Infield (double switches, pinch runners/hitters, injuries, no real SS, etc.). Situations that come to mind are.

 

- Lee/Ramirez/Soto get on base late in a close game, you really can't pinch run Gathright for any of them because once you use up Gathright to pinch run you then have to use someone to go replace him on defense and then have virtually no bench for injuries/extra innings/etc. Gathright's speed is a great asset to have, but when you can't use him to pinch run/sub for half the guys on your roster how useful does he become?

 

- 2 of Theriot/Fontenot/Miles start a game between 2B/SS and for some reason 1 comes out of the game injury/pinch hit/defense/whatever we now have nobody on the team who can play 2B or SS. Should the game be extended, one of them gets hurt, Theriot/Miles/Fontenot comes up with RISP at the end of a game when a better bat is on the bench Hoffpauir/Ramirez/Lee/Johnson is a better option, you can't use any of those guys because you now have nobody to use on defense in the MI.

 

I don't think it will be too long until a MI is brought up/traded for/signed.

[biittner77]

The thing that really makes me mad/I don't understand is that the team as it currently sits has no flexibility with the Infield (double switches, pinch runners/hitters, injuries, no real SS, etc.). Situations that come to mind are.

 

- Lee/Ramirez/Soto get on base late in a close game, you really can't pinch run Gathright for any of them because once you use up Gathright to pinch run you then have to use someone to go replace him on defense and then have virtually no bench for injuries/extra innings/etc. Gathright's speed is a great asset to have, but when you can't use him to pinch run/sub for half the guys on your roster how useful does he become?

 

- 2 of Theriot/Fontenot/Miles start a game between 2B/SS and for some reason 1 comes out of the game injury/pinch hit/defense/whatever we now have nobody on the team who can play 2B or SS. Should the game be extended, one of them gets hurt, Theriot/Miles/Fontenot comes up with RISP at the end of a game when a better bat is on the bench Hoffpauir/Ramirez/Lee/Johnson is a better option, you can't use any of those guys because you now have nobody to use on defense in the MI.

 

I don't think it will be too long until a MI is brought up/traded for/signed.

 

Not being able to make as many double switches may turn out to be a good thing.

 

A situation where 2 of the MIs get hurt in the same game is pretty remote. What is much more likely is one of them has a nagging injury that's not bad enough for the DL but keeps them from being able to play.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Brewers Sign Frank Catalanotto

By Tim Dierkes [May 12 at 3:03pm CST]

According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, the Brewers signed first baseman/outfielder Frank Catalanotto to a minor league deal today. The Cat will begin in extended spring training and then go to the minors, with an eye on a big league bench role.