Last year was a disaster, but one bright spot was C Calvin Johnson, who played his way to full-time status instead of his planned role as short-side C. Johnson put up a career year of 3.1 WAR and 42.3 RTO%. His cERA was a career-worst and surprising for a guy with 10 cAB, but we think that's more a function of having to run garbage injury-replacement SP out there on a daily basis. The bad part of his year was his arb number skyrocketing to $4.83m, but given how thin BBA is with quality C, we'll gladly pay $5m for 3.1 WAR at the position.
C Philitis Tsafento - We gave Tsafento a chance to grab the long side of a C platoon last season, and he fell flat on his face reaching for it. We still hold out hope for the former 9th overall pick, though. He's only 22, has a strong work ethic, and is a prime example of how OVR/POT ratings don't tell the whole story. While his overall ratings are 7/5/2/6/8, he enjoys a nice platoon advantage against RHP, with his ratings jumping to 8/5/2/7/8 against them. The lack of power keeps his ceiling low, but in a thin environment for C, an 8 CON, decent OBP chance, and likely high BABIP rating against RHP make him very valuable, even without considering his strong defense. He could be a prime trade candidate depending on what happens with the next player.
C Kelile Komen took us up on a non-roster invite to ST, hoping to play his way onto the roster and collect $2.8m of our ill-gotten gains. On the surface, it seems ludicrous that Komen could supplant Johnson or even Tsafento, given Komen's -0.3 WAR last year for LBC and his clearly inferior defense. We have reasons to believe Komen might just begin the year collecting that paycheck, though. Like Tsafento, he enjoys a platoon advantage, but his vastly superior power makes him enticing. We think C defense is a bit overrated. He's a captain. And, he only played 14 games last season. In 2041-2043, he put up 2.1, 1.2, and 1.8 WAR in a platoon role, respectively, and that was in a park less friendly to LHB than ours. Our post-season review indicated that one reason for our poor performance last season was failing to take full advantage of our park; i.e., we ran too many RHB out there at home. Komen is hopefully a successful part of the plan to change that.
C Ben Scott looks to get a year older in AAA waiting to get his first full opportunity. He looks to be an ideal short-side candidate, with above-average power and defense for the position. Interestingly, he has the highest POT of any C on our roster save Johnson (who has leapt to a 60 with his performance). Depending on how the season goes, it's not out of the question that Johnson could be dealt, Komen play the bulk of the games, and Scott take over as short-side C.
C Jack Woods is a classic "oh shit, we need a catcher" placeholder at AAA. 'Nuff said.
