In the National League this year, Michael Barrett is..... The Good: 1st in HR T-3rd in RBI 5th in R T-6th in H 4th in TB T-4th in BB 4th in SLG 4th in OPS The Bad: 10th in OBP 10th in AVG His Defense as a whole Now yeah, his defense sucks, but despite his low AVG and OBP, his offensive numbers, compared to catchers in the National League, are among the Top 5 in almost every category. While we will joke around saying that some of those stats are meaningless (and they are, in some cases), teams will still look at this. Barrett DOES have value as an offensive catcher. If we could trade Barrett to get a position player who isn't a catcher who is putting up numbers that could match Barrett's, then we could stick in Blanco or Hill or whoever that can play the crap out of that position on D, and not be hurt by the loss of Barrett's bat. Now maybe this spot of my post belongs in a Transactions thread, but regardless... The way I see it the Cubs need either an everyday RF, SS, or pitching (it never hurts to have too much good pitching). Teams that have either A) Awful offensive catchers or B) No decent catchers in their farm system and could use a dose of offense from the catcher position with players we could use/somehow might have a chance to attain include: Baltimore - Hernandez on the DL, and he's hitting for a similar average with less production. Bako is their starter (BAKOOOOO). Only players I assume we'd be interested in are Tejada, Bedard, and maybe Markakis Cincinnati - David Ross is trash this year, and Javier Valentin isn't much better. Dunn is on the block (I still don't want to trade for him), and Griffey is rumored to be as well (would be awesome to have). Colorado - Iannetta and Torrealba for lack of a better word, stink offensively. They won't let go of Tulowitzki, but I recall hearing some Brad Hawpe trade rumors a while back but he'd be tough to get even if he is on the block (and he's the kind of player that would be just what the Cubs need). They also have Hirsh (who is awful this year) and Franklin Morales in the farm system (though I doubt they'd want to give them up) Tampa Bay - Navarro is probably one of the worst offenwive catchers in the game. The backup, Casanova, is doing well, but it's a 4 game sample size, and the other catcher, Josh Paul is on the 60-day DLthe Rays don't have a top catching prospect in their system. Even though he'd probably cost a pitcher or two extra, Carl Crawford would be a nice fit in RF (or move Sori to RF and put Crawford in LF). Granted, the Ray have a ton of offense already, and don't neccesarily need Barrett's bat at the catcher position, sadly. However with Brendan Harris performing well, Ben Zobrist could be had for cheap. He's not performing that well in the minors right now (.255AVG) however he is still patient (.388OBP). Could be a project, and might not have to give up Barrett Washington - Schneider isn't exactly setting the world on fire, and they have no major catchers in their farm system. I remember a hot trade target this offseason was Ryan Church, but the Nationals were asking too much for him. Maybe Barrett would be enough? Just some thoughts. Sorry for wasting time/getting off-topic. if I need to move this to a transactions thread, let me know. Now, 1... 2... 3... CRITICIZE!