According to Tim Dierkes at MLBTR, the Royals have released Miguel Olivo and others. Olivo is possibly the best of the worst. He is almost decent from a horrible crop of available catchers. He hit .249 this past year and struck out 129 times in 390 ABs. On the plus side, he did hit 23 home runs and drove in 65 runs in 114 games. He is 31 years old.
I am clearly not thrilled by him. But I guess he is serviceable until a solid catcher comes up (Thole) or becomes available on the market. The key is, don't spend any significant amount of money on such a weak position. Really, why spend millions more or give extra years to get a .250 hitter instead of a .240 hitter. All the catchers avaiable this off season are below average.
We will hear his name, I am just not sure what direction the Mets are leaning. Schneider seems like history. Torrealba does not seem possible given the bad blood in the past, and everyone else is old, horrible, or both. We will see how this plays out.
Comments