By Matt Snyder

One position we haven't yet covered in this series to this point is the man behind the plate. And when I thought about catchers, I believe I found just about the perfect duo to provide an incredibly tough choice.

Indians catcher Carlos Santana is just 25 and already one of the most important members of the up-and-coming Tribe. Giants catcher Buster Posey is only 24 and easily one of the most irreplaceable parts of the Giants. You could call them stars now or future superstars. And both have already gone through a major leg injury.

Let's break it down.

The case for Santana

The tools are there to become one of the best young run producers in the game. Santana hit just .239 last season, but he walked enough to put up a .351 on-base percentage, which is a much more important stat. He also slugged 27 homers and 35 doubles. Also note that a torn ACL ended his rookie season prematurely, so Santana is likely looking at big step forward in 2012. With the lineup around him comprised mostly of young players with good potential, expect Santana to push his runs and RBI up around triple digits (he had 79 RBI and 84 runs last season).

Would You Rather Have

Halladay or Verlander? | J. Upton or Kemp? Cano or Pedroia? | Tulowitzki or Longoria? Ad. Gonzalez or M. Cabrera | Harper or Trout? Darvish or Wilson? | Strasburg or Moore? Price or Kershaw | Lincecum or Hernandez? Hosmer (6 yrs) or Votto (2 yrs)? | CC or Cliff?

A slight plus here for Santana is that while both of these catchers has already suffered a major injury, we've already seen how Santana came back. Posey is still recovering.

The case for Posey

He opened the 2010 season in Triple-A. By the end of it, young Buster Posey was catching the final strike of the World Series and rushing into Brian Wilson's arms to celebrate. In between, Posey hit .305/.357/.505 with 18 homers, 23 doubles and 67 RBI in just 108 regular-season games. This was good enough to win the 2010 NL Rookie of the Year. Posey also hit the ball well during the postseason, putting up a .744 OPS.

Also, Santana is a pretty bad defensive catcher and while Posey isn't great, he's not bad. He works well with the staff and has thrown out 37 percent of would-be basestealers so far in his young career. Santana has thrown out 28 percent, which isn't awful, but most metrics aren't kind to him and the Indians have toyed with moving him to first base permanently. Even if we wanted to argue some of these points -- like that Posey has played first base at times, too -- there isn't much question Posey is a better defensive catcher.

Now, we said above that Posey still hasn't proven he will again be the player he was prior to the broken leg. It's possible there are no setbacks and he returns to the Posey of old, but there are no guarantees. Just ask Kendrys Morales. So far, so good, however, as all reports from Posey's camp suggest he's making good progress.

Our call

Man, flip a coin. I hate going on the injury thing, because the smart money is on a full Posey recovery. So we'll just assume he comes all the way back -- meaning both of these young catchers star for the foreseeable future. If Santana goes the way of former catcher Victor Martinez (1B or DH), his bat means that much less to the lineup, while Posey can nearly match his offensive production from behind the plate. If Santana stays behind the plate, he hurts the team defensively. If both were moved, though, Santana would be the pick because I feel like he has a slight bit more offensive upside. If Posey suffers any setbacks, Santana would be the obvious pick. So this is razor thin, but my choice is Posey in an absolute photo finish. Hey, as I've said before, I enjoy gambling.

Fan Vote:



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By Matt Snyder

What if players were only permitted to stay with the team that originally made them a professional? No trades, no Rule-5 Draft, no minor or major league free agency ... once you are a professional baseball player, you stay in that organization. This series shows how all 30 teams would look. We give you: Homegrown teams. To view the schedule/past entries of this feature, click here.

Do the Dodgers do well in drafts and international signings? The answer is a resounding yes. What they do with those players could certainly be questioned, but as far as building a foundation, few have been better in recent years. See below.

Lineup

1. Dee Gordon, SS
2. Shane Victorino, RF
3. Matt Kemp, LF
4. Paul Konerko, 1B
5. Adrian Beltre, 3B
6. Carlos Santana, C
7. Franklin Gutierrez, CF
8. Miguel Cairo, 2B

Starting Rotation

1. Clayton Kershaw
2. Edwin Jackson
3. Ted Lilly
4. Hiroki Kuroda
5. Chad Billingsley

If you don't like us using Kuroda -- some commenters have disagreed with including guys who were professional players in Japan in this series -- you can slide in James McDonald or the youngster Rubby De La Rosa.

Bullpen

Closer - Joakim Soria
Set up - Javy Guerra, Joel Hanrahan, Kenley Jansen, Takashi Saito, Jonathan Broxton, Pedro Feliciano, Cory Wade
Long - McDonald

Notable Bench Players

Russell Martin, Henry Blanco, James Loney, Blake DeWitt, Trayvon Robinson, Jerry Sands, Alex Cora

What's Good?

Spoiler Alert: This section is going to be much longer than "what's not." How about starting with the offensive firepower Victorino, Kemp, Konerko, Beltre and Santana bring in the 2-6 spots of the order? That is sick. Gordon has good potential and Gutierrez was a decent hitter before his stomach issues derailed him a few years ago. The starting rotation is good, deep, has a good lefty-righty mix and a true ace sitting at the top. The bullpen is so deep it's unimaginable. It's not as great as the Yankees' bullpen (Clippard-Robertson-Axford-Rivera) in this exercise, but this is definitely an elite unit. The bench is pretty damn good, too. Best of all, though, how about the defensive range? Gutierrez was widely considered the best center fielder in baseball before his stomach woes. Victorino is a three-time Gold Glover while he lost out to Kemp this season. I decided to shift Kemp to left because Victorino has a cannon that is an asset in right. Not that Kemp can't throw. This would be one insane defensive outfield. Beltre is the best defensive third baseman in baseball, too. That's a lot of help for an already-good pitching staff.

What's Not?

Anything would be a nitpick. Maybe that Dee Gordon might not yet be ready to lead off for this team? If that was the case, you could move up Victorino and then the bottom of the order becomes a bit weak. But, again, that's a nitpick.

Comparison to real 2011

I kind of chuckled during all the MVP arguments when people would say that Kemp played for a team that "sucks." The Dodgers finished 82-79. Yes, they were out of contention for pretty much all of the season, but they finished above .500, so they definitely don't suck. Of course, those real-life Dodgers couldn't hold a candle to this group. This is a World Series-caliber club, but the funny thing is, did you see Arizona's team? The D-Backs lineup is much better, but the Dodgers have the better defense and pitching. We'd have a nice battle for the NL West title and maybe even see a rematch in the NLCS. If only ...

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By Matt Snyder

Another season gone, another disappointment for 29 teams as one is immortalized forever. Let’s take a look back at 2011 and forward in Eye on Baseball’s R.I.P. series...

Team name: Cleveland Indians
Record: 80-82, second place in AL Central, 15 games back
Manager: Manny Acta
Best hitter: Asdrubal Cabrera -- .273/.332/.460, 25 HR, 92 RBI, 87 R, 17 SB
Best pitcher: Justin Masterson -- 12-10, 3.21 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 158 K, 216 IP

2011 SEASON RECAP

Winning 80 games, finishing second in the AL Central and seeing the growth of several promising young players would have almost certainly sounded like a great goal to begin the season, after the Indians lost 93 games in 2010. But the way it all went down meant that the season ended up feeling like a punch to the gut. On May 23, the Indians won to give them a 30-15 record and a seven-game lead in the Central. They were even tied for first as late as July 20 and climbed to within 1.5 games in mid-August, but then the Tigers got hot and the Indians just couldn't keep up.

R.I.P. series

NYY | BOS | TB | TOR | BAL DET | CLE | CWS | KC | MIN TEX | LAA | OAK | SEA PHI | ATL | WAS | NYM | FLA MIL | STL | CIN | PIT | CHC | HOU ARI | SF | LAD | COL | SD

Still, the Indians saw great things from many young players, which provides hope for the future. Carlos Santana, Jason Kipnis, Lonnie Chisenhall, Asdrubal Cabrera, Justin Masterson, Chris Perez, Joe Smith and Vinnie Pestano are absolutely a part of the solution in Cleveland.

2012 AUDIT

The Indians look to bring back a very similar ballclub to the one that finished the 2011 season. Full, healthy seasons from both Grady Sizemore and Shin-Soo Choo along with progress from many of the young players in house would help the Indians compete in the AL Central. According to most evaluation resources, the upper levels of the minors doesn't have much more help coming for the Indians -- because we saw all of the top prospects this season. Oh, and traded away the top two pitching prospects for Ubaldo Jimenez.

FREE AGENTS

Jim Thome, DH
Kosuke Fukudome, OF
Grady Sizemore, OF (club option for $8.5 million)
Fausto Carmona, SP (club option for $7 million)
Chad Durbin, RP

OFFSEASON FOCUS

• This may be unpopular, but I'd pick up Sizemore's option. He's still 29 and if his surgery last week fixed all the issues with his knee, it's entirely possible he returns to previous form -- which is an All-Star center fielder. Plus, having Sizemore around opens up a lot of options. If the Indians decide midseason to trade him, he could net a good return, assuming he's healthy. Michael Brantley could then slide over to center. But if Sizemore does return to All-Star form, they'll have a shot at locking him up as the veteran centerpiece of their young nucleus -- many of whom won't be free agents for four or five years.
• A decision has to be made at first base. Do they give Matt LaPorta one more season to see if he finally sticks? He's only 26. He also hasn't even come close to reaching the potential that made him the main piece of the CC Sabathia trade. Another option would be to move slugging catcher Carlos Santana to first for good, making Lou Marson the everyday catcher. A final option is to pursue a cheap first baseman on the free agency market (Casey Kotchman would work) or trade for one. If the Dodgers decide to trade James Loney, he'd be a nice fit. Kotchman seems like a pretty good direction, as he'd be affordable and maybe even could be had on a one-year deal. LaPorta can serve as a backup and if he all of a sudden turns the corner, there's a spot waiting for him.
• Invent a time machine, go back to late July and don't make the Ubaldo Jimenez trade. I kid, but man, Alex White and Drew Pomeranz would fit so perfectly with the direction of this team. Jimenez has been absolutely mediocre for the past season and a half. But what's done is done and the Indians have to hope he reverts back to the form he had when he started 2010 11-1 with a 0.93 ERA.
• Mostly, these Indians need to stay the course. The youthful foundation is growing up together. Kipnis and Chisenhall have joined Santana, Cabrera, Masterson and the "Bullpen Mafia" as a strong core of players all still in their 20s and only scratching the surface of how good they can be. The 2012 season will provide answers to some questions (Sizemore, Carmona, how good some of the young players can be, LaPorta, etc.) to provide a better road map as to how the 2013 season will look. All the top prospects have either been promoted or traded, so what you see at the big-league level is what you get for the next few years. If everything falls into place, the Indians contend for the next three seasons. If injuries continue to derail Choo and Sizemore while several of the young players don't pan out, it's going to be a long next three seasons. Time will tell, but they need to see what they have.

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By C. Trent Rosecrans

The Cardinals are just a game behind the Braves in the wild card, something that seemed impossible earlier this month. Has it been the play of Rafael Furcal and the upgrade at shortstop he's provided? How about Albert Pujols' five homers this month and 1.020 OPS? Or maybe the starters who have a 2.59 ERA in September?

Nope, it's a necklace given to manager Tony La Russa by classic rocker Carlos Santana at a Sept. 6 concert in St. Louis.

La Russa skipped out on his postgame press conference to attend the end of Santana's concert at the Fox Theater in St. Louis and even joined Santana on stage to play the maracas. And then after the show, Santana gave his necklace to La Russa, who hasn't taken it off yet, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes.

When Santana gave La Russa the necklace, the guitarist told the manager, "You need this more."

Goold has a picture of his necklace on his blog, along with this description: 

The necklace is on a simple, black leather loop, and the pendant is a blue, beaded rectangle. On one side -- the side pictured with this article -- there is a medal ornament that features two intertwined dragons. On the other side is a metal guitar stitched onto the pendant. A wisp of a blue feather flies out from the bottom of the pendant.

La Russa is not sure what it all means, or he isn't telling.

The Cardinals had just defeated the Brewers to move within 7.5 games of the wild card lead at that point and have since won 13 of their next 17 and enter Monday's game just a game behind the Braves. La Russa says it's nothing more than a necklace, but how does he know it wasn't a gift from a Black Magic Woman?

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By Evan Brunell

Catcher or first base?

That's the question confronting the Indians as to where Carlos Santana will play next season.

"He can do both," Indians manager Manny Acta told MLB.com. "It all depends on what we do with our first-base situation."

Santana followed up a fantastic rookie campaign (.260/.401/.467 in 192 plate appearances, cut short by inury) with a bit of a step back, but still productive at .236/.348/.446, enjoying a better second half. He's appeared in 90 games as catcher, and according to Defensive Runs Saved has been a below-average catcher. At first, though, he's also noted as a below-average in 56 games at first, but defensive numbers -- or any baseball stat, really, -- in this small a sample size can't be relied on.

The Indians' first-base situation has been thrown into flux because of Matt LaPorta stalling out in his development. LaPorta has received ample time the past two seasons to hit and this year was a put-up or shut-up situation. He's shut up, but the Indians could still give the 26-year-old another shot next year. They could also trade or sign for a catcher (the Rockies' Chris Iannetta is available) or first baseman. Either way, Santana's ability to play two positions -- especially one as valuable as catcher -- give the Indians a good amount of flexibility moving forward.

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By Evan Brunell

Carlos Santana, Indians: A day after wearing the golden sombrero, Santana ripped a 3-for-4 night with three runs batted in and adding a home run for extra measure. The outing brought his overall batting average up to .232, a far cry from where he can be. The catching phenom has been drawing walks and hitting for power just fine, but that average has been strange to see. His splits don't really point to a clear delineation, either, as his batting average since June 17 (excluding Thursday night) is .248, which is much closer to his 2010 line of .260. Given his career batting average in the minors was .290, there's more there we have yet to see in the majors.

Ivan Nova, Yankees: How are the Yankees supposed to decide between Phil Hughes and Ivan Nova now? The two are battling for a rotation spot as the Yankees take a brief turn through a six-man rotation. Hughes came through with a dazzling start and Nova has backed that up with an eye-popping outing in punching out 10 White Sox batters. That's easily a career high, as Nova's topped out at seven previously. He went 7 2/3 innings, giving up just one earned run and walk to drop his ERA to 3.81. Good luck figuring things out, skipper.

Alex Gordon, Royals: Gordon matched a career high with four hits in five trips to the plate, chipping in two runs and a double. Gordon has flourished -- years later than people thought, but he's flourished. The leadoff man is hitting .311/.382/.505 and thriving in left field. Maybe he needed to get away from third or maybe it's a happy coincidence, but having Gordon under the fold  means one less spot for the Royals to worry about in their rebuild. He's not a free agent until after 2013.

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Jon Rauch and Shawn Camp, Blue Jays: Rarely does a team throw away a victory like Toronto did on Thursday, losing 7-6 in 12 innings to the Rays. Toronto scored a run in the top eighth to even things up at 3-3 headed into extras. A Colby Rasmus double scored Yunel Escobar for a run in the top 10th, but Jon Rauch's first batter, Desmond Jennings, launched a home run to tie things up. But no worries, Jose Molina somehow ripped a triple (it would be unsurprising if it took him longer to reach third than it takes some to circle the bases on a homer) to score two. End ballgame, right? Nope. Rauch stayed in to try to close things out, but quickly gave up a double, single and RBI groundout. Enter Shawn Camp, who induced an out before coughing up the tying run in the form of a single by Robinson Chirinos. He got out of the inning, but Chirinos struck again in the bottom of the 12th with a bases-loaded single.

Zach Britton, Orioles: Britton didn't exactly excel in his second start since a brief demotion to the minor leagues sandwiched around the All-Star break to rest his arm and, no doubt, drop his service time down so he doesn't become a free agent until 2017. Britton gave up six earned runs to the Yankees in just 1/3 of an inning last time out. He gave up the same number of runs Thursday to the Royals, albeit in 5 1/3 innings. Four were earned, and no batters were fooled by his offerings, which were slapped around the diamond for 12 hits.

Carlos Guillen, Tigers: Guillen played in his 16th game after finally coming off the disabled list to make his season debut. The 35-year-old has been looked at to help save production at second base, but he hasn't quite done that with a .246/.274/.404 line after goign 0 for 4 with three strikeouts. That's not awful -- in fact, going into the game, he posted zero wins above replacement, so he's not harming Detroit, and no one expects him to live up to his $13 million deal; he's in "whatever we can get" territory. But he's still going to have plenty of 0-for-4 nights, like he did tonight.

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By C. Trent Rosecrans

The Twins just won another 1-0 game, their seventh overall 1-0 game and fifth victory in a 1-0 contest. Five of the seven games came at Target Field and the only two losses were on unearned runs.

Here's all of their 1-0 games this season:

June 29: Twins 1, Dodgers 0: Scott Baker went 7 1/3, allowing six hits and a walk, striking out 9. Rubby De La Rosa allowed just one run on six hits in seven innings for the Dodgers to get the hard-luck loss. The only run came in the first after Ben Revere led off the game for the Twins with a triple and Tsuyoshi Nishioka knocked in the game's only run with a dribbler down the first-base line.

June 18: Twins 1, Padres 0: Another great start by Baker, who allowed just four hits and a walk in eight innings, striking out 10. Padres starter Tim Stauffer went seven innings allowing six hits, one of them a Danny Valencia homer in the seventh inning.

June 16: Twins 1, White Sox 0: Right fielder Michael Cuddyer homered off of Mark Buehrle in the second for the only run of the game and one of three hits Buehrle surrendered in seven innings. Nick Blackburn gave up seven hits (all singles) in eight innings, walking one.

June 7: Indians 1, Twins 0: In Cleveland, Indians starter Carlos Carrasco held the Twins to just three hits in 8 1/3 innings, while Chris Perez came in for the final two outs. Minnesota starter Francisco Liriano went 5 innings, giving up three hits and an unearned run. Cleveland scored in the fourth when left fielder Delmon Young's throw allowed Carlos Santana to advance to third on his leadoff double, followed by an RBI groundout by Shelley Duncan.

May 28: Twins 1, Angels 0: Anthony Swarzak took a no-hitter into the eighth inning and Valencia's RBI single in the 10th gave Minnesota the victory. The Angels' Jered Weaver allowed just two hits in 9 innings, but Hisanori Takahashi gave up a single in the 10th inning and Jason Repko came in, Takahashi allowing three straight singles to decide the game.

May 3: Twins 1, White Sox 0: Liriano no-hit the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field and Jason Kubel homered in the seventh for the lone run. Edwin Jackson gave up six hits in eight innings for the White Sox.

April 9: A's 1, Twins 0: With two outs in the sixth, Blackburn gave up a single to Kurt Suzuki who moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a throwing error by shortstop Alexi Casilla for the game's only run. Minnesota used five relievers, while Gio Gonzalez allowed four hits in six innings for Oakland.

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By Evan Brunell

Jamie Garcia, Cardinals -- Jaime Garcia was once a solid prospect turned afterthought after Tommy John surgery in 2009. But he impressed greatly as a rookie season, posting a 2.70 ERA in 28 starts. No one was quite sure he was for real, but he most certainly is, following up his worst start of the year with an eight-inning gem against the Cubs, allowing four hits and just one run and posting eight strikeouts with a walk. A dominating performance that lowered his ERA to 3.05, it's clear Garcia is a legitimate ace.

Carlos Quentin, White Sox -- Q had a big day as DH, walking three times and blasting a 3-run home run to pace Chicago to victory 6-4 over the Tigers. That ended a nine-game losing streak against Detroit. Quentin's blast was his 14th of the year, pacing him for 38 bombs on the season. He may not hit for average (.260) but he can sure bring the power.

Elvis Andrus, Rangers -- The Rangers had a lot of star performers, with Josh Hamilton and Alexi Ogando worthy of this list. Andrus was just as impressive with a 4-for-5 performance out of the two-hole with two runs and three RBI, with a double attached. Andrus came up through the minors more known for his defense, but is his stick isn't all that bad. It's never going to be his forte, but he's at .277/.318/.350 after the performance. He's not as patient last season, but now has a higher average and a touch more power to speak for being less patient, which actually makes him less valuable.

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Carlos Santana, Indians -- Santana has been disappointing so far this season, as the catcher was supposed to be a legitimate middle-of-the-order bat, especially after slashing .260/.401/.467 in 192 at-bats before his 2010 season ended when Ryan Kalish ran into him at home plate. (Where was all this outrage about running into catchers then?) Anyhoo, Santana was eventually dropped from cleanup to lower in the order after his struggles got too out of hand. He had seven hits in 17 at-bats with three doubles, prompting his move back to cleanup against the Rangers. He promptly went 0-for-4 with 3 strikeouts to drag his overall line down to .228/.367/.386. Think they drop him down again Saturday?

Zach Britton, Orioles -- Britton tosses his second straight poor outing, spiking his ERA to a still-impressive 3.33 by allowing five earned runs to the Blue Jays, with an additional two earned. He made it through five innings with 81 pitches and gave up a J.P. Arencibia grand slam in the fifth to cap his night. It's possible htiters are starting to get a book on Britton and it's working, but it's only two starts. He'l draw the Athletics on Wednesday against the below pitcher.

Josh Outman, Athletics -- Outman and Clay Buchholz both tried to beat each other for worst outings, and the lefty gets the nod for a 2 2/3 inning effort, giving up four earned runs plus one unearned in his third 2011 start. Outman had zero control even though that's not evidenced by his one walk -- he tossed 67 pitches with only 36 crossing the plate. Outman has also struggled in Triple-A as well, but is in his first full season back from Tommy John surgery that knocked him out for 1 1/2 seasons. He doesn't have the stuff for the majors right now, but the A's are desperate for arms.

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