Martinez/Garko switcheroo?

[Darth Hafner]

Hey, I was wondering what everyone thought about a possible Ryan Garko/Victor Martinez switch defensively for next year? Everyone seems to be complaining that Vic is a terrible catcher, but must stay in Cleveland because of his bat; and Shoppach is a great catcher but can't hit. Well, my solution would be to put Martinez at 1st base and reconvert Garko to a catcher. If both Garko and Martinez get better at those respective positions in the offseason, then the Indians would have those guys in better positions defensively. I mean, Martinez hasn't commited an error yet, has he? And Garko is a natural catcher, so...Anyone think this could work?

[ACrank]

The problem is - Garko isn't a natural catcher. Garko is a natural DH who can play first and catch in an emergency - if you are old enough to remember Mike Stanley or Jim Leyritz - Garko is that type of player.

So unless the Indians trade Martinez, the solution is what they are going to do - figure out someway to divide Martinez, Shoppach, Garko and Hafner among dh, c, and 1b.

[Ytown Tribe fan]

or trade Vic for someone who can actually catch, and hit a little, like Kenji Johjima.

[wilkerson_rulz-06]

I said the same about Broussard.

Broussard should have been dealt for a catcher and not some mediocre outfielder.

[Darth Hafner]

I don't think we should get rid of Martinez, though. He is a better hitter than Garko or Shoppach, so that's why we need him. I don't know about this, I'm kinda confused right now. I guess I'll just have to wait for the offseason.

[ACrank]

I said the same about Broussard.

Broussard should have been dealt for a catcher and not some mediocre outfielder.

Actually Broussard wasn't dealt for a mediocre outfielder (but your opinion of him is improving - last time we chatted you called him a career minor leaguer)....

The last thing the Indians need to do is deal for another catcher - between Martinez and Shoppach they are in good shape while Max Ramirez develops....

Meanwhile the problem with the Indians is that there are 4 players for 3 positions - and we can see how good the team is without Hafner in the lineup - so either you fix Martinez' throwing issues or you are stuck trying to figure out what to do with him....

[Buffalo A's fan]

Garko did alot of catching when he first started playing here in Buffalo. He really wasnt that bad at it. However once they got him out of there, he started playing even better. I think hes much better off not catching. He sure was fun to watch while he was down here though.

[flea45]

i remember there was a question about this on indians.com mailbad a few weeks back, when garko first came up this year. the guy answering the questions (anthony someone...i think castrovince or something like that) said that wedge didnt want to move garko again.

on a side note... didnt vic start to improve down the stretch? im sure with a little work he could definately become an average MLB defensive catcher.

and also...you would have to be pretty mad to deal vic...he is just far too good of a hitter to do something stupid like that - especially for kenji johjima:ughh

[ChrisLDuncan]

Hey, I was wondering what everyone thought about a possible Ryan Garko/Victor Martinez switch defensively for next year? Everyone seems to be complaining that Vic is a terrible catcher, but must stay in Cleveland because of his bat; and Shoppach is a great catcher but can't hit. Well, my solution would be to put Martinez at 1st base and reconvert Garko to a catcher. If both Garko and Martinez get better at those respective positions in the offseason, then the Indians would have those guys in better positions defensively. I mean, Martinez hasn't commited an error yet, has he? And Garko is a natural catcher, so...Anyone think this could work?

Someone said that Kelly Shoppach should be the backstop because of his D, and Vic/Garko can platoon at first...but if they can get a pitcher in return for Vic I'd say do that and let Garko/Blake platoon at first.

[ACrank]

Someone said that Kelly Shoppach should be the backstop because of his D, and Vic/Garko can platoon at first...but if they can get a pitcher in return for Vic I'd say do that and let Garko/Blake platoon at first.

Martinez isn't getting traded - and he will be the primary catcher next year.