Thanks to the miracle of TiVo, I was able to rewind and transcribe Tom Grieve and Josh Lewin discussing the Blue Jays' catching situation, when Gregg Zaun came to the plate in the first inning tonight:
Josh: "Former Ranger Gregg Zaun...outstanding numbers for Zaunie this year. Matter of fact, Tom, he's hit safely in 36 of his 37 starts, leading you to wonder why can't they start him more often."
Tom: "You know, I look at the stats and say the exact same thing. He's, looking at the stats, he's a better offensive player than Benji Molina. They must like Benji Molina defensively over Zaun, otherwise he'd be playing more. His on base percentage is 38%, Molina's is 33%."
. . .
Tom: "Zaun has almost as many home runs -- 7 to 8 -- in 100 less at bats. I never looked at Gregg as a bad defensive catcher, but evidently they love Benji Molina behind the plate. Either that, or they're trying to justify the contract they gave him in the offseason."
Gregg Zaun on the year: .308/.381/.527
Benji Molina on the year: .287/.330/.430
Gerald Laird on the year: .330/.363/.547
Rod Barajas on the year: .265/.302/.419
Zaun is hitting about as well as Laird. Molina is hitting better than Barajas. Laird is generally considered a very good defensive catcher.
And Zaun has about 1 1/2 times as many plate appearances as Laird has.
But while Tom and Josh can't understand why Zaun isn't getting more of Molina's playing time, any time the situation with Laird and Barajas come up, they just marvel at how great the Rangers have it with two "starting quality catchers."
This just highlights the hypocrisy of the situation. And yes, I understand that Tom and Josh work for the Rangers, and their hands are tied about what they can say...
But it speaks volumes when they look at what is happening in Toronto, and can't understand why Zaun isn't getting more playing time, when the exact same thing is going on in Texas.
I keep waiting for someone in the D/FW media to start ripping Buck. Given how disappointing the team has been in 3 of the 4 seasons Buck has been here, given the bizarre decisions he makes on playing time, it boggles the mind that he gets a pass, that no one in the press seems willing to say the slightest thing bad about him, to ask why, for example, Rod Barajas keeps playing ahead of Gerald Laird.