But in the Ballpark in Arlington, offense outweighs defense. A catcher with the abilty to hit home runs, and provide you with offense throughout the lineup is going to be a lot more valuable than a catcher who has great defense, but questionable or even average offense.

And besides, once again, Walbeck says Salty's game-calling skills are up to par. So the arguement that he cannot handle a pitching staff really isn't very strong. In fact, I might go so far as to say he can handle a staff just as well, if not better than Laird already. He calls a good game, and presents a good target, and you can't ask for much more from a catcher as far as handling the pitching staff goes.

If our pitching staff is ever going to be good enough to take us anywhere, it won't matter how good a defensive catcher we have anyway, because good pitchers will win even if there's a schlub behind the dish (see also: San Diego Padres) and Salty's no schlub. But if you have to have a premier offensive catcher to "mask" the shortcomings of your pitching staff, you probably don't have much of a pitching staff.