Dodgers Diaries

Sports Illustrated recently asked 306 big leaguers to rank the 15 toughest catchers to steal on. It's hard to argue with their perception that Yadier Molina is the best in the business. But the fact that AJ Ellis is nowhere on the list shows that opposing baserunners just haven’t been paying attention. Ellis ranks fifth in baseball at throwing out would-be stealers, behind Arizona’s Miguel Montero (with a whopping 50 percent success rate), Cincinnati's Ryan Hanigan, San Francisco's Hector Sanchez (Buster who?) and Philadelphia's Carlos Ruiz.

Joe Mauer, who placed 5th on the SI list, has thrown out just 15 percent of baserunners this year. Mike Napoli, supposedly inept at this task, has a better success rate. Yadier's older brother Jose Molina, ranked 8th, has thrown out just 3 of the 19 men who've tried to steal on him.

I don't know whether this is one of those stats that has more to do with pitchers than catchers. Certainly Ellis has been hurt by catching Ted Lilly, whose inability to hold runners on has allowed seven of nine baserunners to advance, and Kenley Jansen, who has never registered a caught-stealing in his short career (he's 0-for-2 in 2012).

What I do know is that this ranking, like the Gold Glove awards, seems to be based not on facts, but on reputation, much of which is established at the plate, rather than behind it. The funny thing is, Ellis has done just as much to acquit himself with the bat as with the glove. Then again, maybe this disrespect is what has made him so successful. Players think they can run on him, so they try it. But 39 percent of the time, they're wrong.

-- JOHN ROSENTHAL

I've got no problem with the notion of trading away talent like Trayvon Robinson to get a catching prospect with a high upside. My biggest problem with the Dodgers' trade deadline deals is that 24-year-old AA catching prospects don't have high upsides. I'm hopeful that Tim Federowicz can become the Dodger catcher of the future, but I'm dubious. Here's how old the best catchers in the league were in their first full seasons:

Joe Mauer, 22
Brian McCann 22
Yadier Molina 22
Buster Posey 23
Kurt Suzuki 24
Matt Wieters 24
Carlos Santana 25
Victor Martinez 25

The only frontline catcher in baseball who took over behind the plate after the age of 25 is Philadelphia's Carlos Ruiz, who did so at the ripe old age of 28. His primary contributions have come in the form of Mark-Lemke-esque hitting in the postseason, and primarily against the Dodgers. If the Dodgers had all the other pieces in place for a 2012 World Series run, I’d say trading for a potential Carlos Ruiz might make sense. But since every position is open to competition next year except for right and center field, I have to give this trade a thumbs-down.

-- JOHN ROSENTHAL