The Huntsville Times
2038-12-30
The Huntsville Phantoms signed veteran catcher Hotha Popo to a free agent contract Thursday that will pay him $9 million a season for the next six years.
Popo, who played last season in Long Beach but spent much of his career in Vancouver, replaces Luis Barrera who opted out of the final years of his contract to test free agency. Barrera would have earned $15 million annually over the next three years had he stayed in Huntsville.
Popo signs
In signing Popo, the Phantoms figure to improve their defense behind the plate while sacrificing some offense – although given Barrera’s down season at the plate in 2038, it’s hard to say just how much they’ll lose on that front.
“Listen, Luis is an excellent catcher and we have no doubt he’ll bounce back wherever he goes,” said Phantoms General Manager Vic Caleca. “But the fact of the matter is that he didn’t want to be here anymore. And, as we’ve said before, we don not want people on our roster who don’t want to be a Huntsville Phantom. Period.”
Caleca said Popo’s skill set better matches the direction the club wants to take, anyway.
“Hotha is an upgrade behind the plate in a couple of areas,” he said. “First, league scouts grade his pitch framing, his game calling, his overall ability behind the plate as an “8” on a 10-point scale, which is excellent.
“Second, his arm grades out at a “7,” which is well above average, and means we’ll be better able to counter opponents’ running games.”
Caleca said Barrera’s comparable grades are a “7” at catching ability and a “6” arm.
“Decent, but not where we want to be,” he observed.
Barrera leaves
“Hotha is not a power hitter, while Barrera certainly is,” Caleca said. “But Hotha has a much better eye at the plate and gets on base more consistently. They both compiled WARs of 2.8 last year, so I think you can argue the two are fairly comparable.”
Plus, Caleca noted, Popo’s contract is $6 million less than Barrera’s would have been had he stayed.
Analysts said the change in direction Caleca mentioned involves more than just the addition of Popo.
“I think one of the things they contend is that emphasizing offense and power – especially left-handed power – at the expense of defense and pitching hasn’t worked very well,” said Malcolm Wilkes, Johnson League columnist for BBA Weekly. “They haven’t made the playoffs since 2031, and last year they were 74-88 – which just stinks.
“So, one of the things you’ll see is a new emphasis on defense in an effort to give their pitching staff a fighting chance. If you look, in a lot of cases, Huntsville pitchers had decent FIP scores – which measures the parts of pitching they can control – but terrible ERAs, which partly reflects the horrendous defense Huntsville played last year.”
The Phantoms’ defensive efficiency of .677 ranked them 14th out of 15 teams in the Johnson League, and their -20.8 zone rating ranked them 12th.
Huntsville targeted Popo, specifically, because of his superior ability at working with pitchers while maintaining a respectable offensive output.
Pairing that with some other changes – moving Luis González to second base from short; alternating Santiago Morales and Fernando Navarro at shortstop; and shifting Norris Rutledge to DH from first – should make a dramatic difference in Huntsville’s defensive numbers, Wilkes said.
González to 2B
Some outfield shifts – including making room for defensive whiz Manny Cleide – should also help.
"They've still got a lot of power on that team," Wilkes said. "Fernando Reyes in left, Rutledge at DH, Emílio Lugo at first - those guys can all pound the ball out of the park, but they need to pay attention to other parts of the game, too. And it all starts with Popo and rearranging that defense.They’re hoping those two things can really help galvanize the pitching staff.”
Caleca didn’t dispute Wilkes’ analysis, agreeing that Popo was a key acquisition that should fit well with the team's renewed defensive emphasis.
“We’re not arguing that any of this will vault us to the top of the division or anything remotely like that – but we do think we will be better,” he said. "And that will give us a foundation to build on."
