Colorado Rockies have decision at catcher to make this offseason

Rockies Mailbag: Walt Weiss update, offseason moves, September call-ups and more | Denver Post

Patrick Saunders provides a lot of good information in a quick mailbag posted on Tuesday. There’s plenty of good stuff in there but there are a few key points of interest:

• Apparently there wasn’t a lot of interest for Jorge De La Rosa at the trade deadline. Despite performing admirably since his return to the rotation in June (3.56 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 43/35 K/BB in 78¹⁄₃ innings; the Rockies are 6-7 in his starts), De La Rosa is still a 35-year-old lefty who doesn’t really strike people out anymore.
• General Manager Jeff Bridich elected to hold onto reliever Boone Logan at the deadline despite receiving offers. A playoff run wasn’t out of the question at this point, remote as the chance was. Hindsight is 20/20 on this one.
• Catcher Wars III is brewing. Asked about holes the team needs to address in the offseason, Saunders eventually got to this point:

Catcher is also a question mark. Veteran Nick Hundley’s contract is up. Rookie Tony Wolters has been terrific, but there are questions about how he will perform if he were carrying the burden of being the everyday catcher.

Tom Murphy, currently at Triple-A Albuquerque, has promise, but I’m no longer 100 percent certain he is the catcher of the future. We’ll see.

I understand that there might be folks in the Rockies front office who are skeptical of Tony Wolters’ ability to keep his fine play (.272/.352/.426, 3.0 defensive runs above average in just 185 plate appearances) going under the burden of a full-time role. But if that’s the case, now is the time to find that out. The Rockies are out of the race. Hundley is not under contract next year. By giving Wolters the bulk of the appearances (at least against right handed pitching) the team can see if it’s possible to rely on him in a similar role next year or if they need to sign a veteran catcher (please, just don’t bring Hundley back).

I’d also like to hear Saunders elaborate on why he doesn’t feel Murphy (who, including his two homer game yesterday, has brought his season line up to .322/.352/.648 for a .423 wOBA in AAABQ) is likely to be the Rockies “catcher of the future.”

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