Reese Kaplan -- Having One of the Best or the Very Best?

Back in the days of our youth the positions of shortstop and catcher were primarily considered based upon defensive skills. For the guys who don the tools of ignorance, it's pretty clear that a team's pitching improves when the backstop knows how to call the game and is equally adept at cutting down would-be base stealers. For years the model didn't change much as most catchers throughout baseball history were more renowned for what they did with their heads and their arms than what they did with their bats.

In a way, Johnny Bench really broke the mold in that his defensive skills were right up there with a specialist like Jerry Grote of the Mets, but he had middle-of-the-order batting skills to accompany the run prevention side of his game. It came as no surprise when he retired a might early by today's standards and he was rightfully ushered right into the Hall of Fame.

Right now 42 players whose primary position was catcher are in Cooperstown, though you really need to discount some of them whose fame came more from managerial or administrative front office work than what they did playing the game itself. Still, it's a large number of very talented men who sometimes played both sides of the game with equal aplomb.

Of course, Mets fans are absolutely familiar with the one-side catcher with a Hall of Fame specimen named Mike Piazza. As stellar as his batting average, home run power and run production was, he was never praised for what he did holding baserunners nor how he called the game. He was a hitter who happened to catch, just as Charlie O'Brien was a catcher who happened to hit.

In a way, all of the current furor over the long term potential of Francisco Alvarez has a Piazza-like familiarity to it. Back in the day there was no DH option for the big bat/weak glove catcher to employ as a way to get into the game day after day, but often the DH was the last bastion of someone blocked by a superior player or no longer considered viable to handle the field regularly. It is rare that a young player is handed DH duties until it appears his bat is so superior to his glove that no other option exists.

Getting back to Alvarez, all we're hearing about now is how he needs to put more effort into honing his defensive game if he's going to be a long term answer for the Mets behind the plate. No one is questioning his bat as he regularly hit tape measure shots out of the park. It's whether or not the Mets are willing to absorb at best an average defensive player (with a big polishing of his catching skills) in order to embrace his big bat.

Interestingly, the Mets made another run at a catcher in one Kevin Parada whose defensive abilities are a tad better. That's not to discount his bat. In his final year in college he hit .361 with 26 home runs, 88 RBIs and 11 stolen bases in roughly a half season's worth of at-bats. It's no wonder he's regularly appearing in the top 5 prospect lists evaluators put together about the future Mets stars.

Now over on the left coast the Padres are having their own catcher dream come true in the form of a stellar youngster named Ethan Salas who is just 16 years old but already being deemed a 10-year All Star by scouts for both his defensive and offensive chops. The comparisons to Johnny Bench are already beaten to death, but that defensive game is what a catcher really needs to be the best possible asset to his team. 

The Padres paid up $5.6 million in international money to sign him and people are wondering if he makes the majors by age 18 or 19. Yes, he's reported to be that good.

Now here's the question that arises for Mets fans. 

 Would it make sense to overpay in trade assets to San Diego to get the next Johnny Bench onto the Mets? If so, the obvious chips would be one or both of Francisco Alvarez and Kevin Parada if the position is being groomed for Salas. Alvarez could stick around as a DH candidate as could Parada, but the Padres would need to replace what they're losing and a package of both of them would certainly pique their interest.

The question becomes how much of a gamble is this type of deal? What happens if Salas does not measure up offensively as predicted as pitching improves with each level? What if Alvarez becomes an offense-first catcher whose defensive game is borderline at best? Didn't Mike Piazza make a career of that profile? What if Kevin Parada outdoes all three of them? 

 The risks are huge for the Mets, but much less so for the Padres. Steve Cohen has never been averse to doing what it takes to make a splash and this one would be more like the cause of a tidal wave.

For every Jeff McNeil who comes seemingly out of nowhere to become a star quality player there is a Jarred Kelenic who can hit the long ball but cannot do much else. Prospects are just that -- gambling chips that may or may not beat the house or beat you down. Giving away two stellar prospects to get one back is not something the Mets have done in the past, but these Cohen Mets are not Wilpon Mets.

Would you make this kind of trade? Personally, I would not as catchers often get injured and having two instead of one reduces the odds of being left in a lurch. If both are healthy and productive one could serve as a DH or a future trade chip. If you landed Salas and he got hurt or fizzled out you'd be taking fan and media barbs about the too early dismissal of players like Nolan Ryan, Amos Otis and others of that ilk. 

Salas would indeed have to emerge as the next Bench otherwise the deal seems way too expensive for a teenager not yet out of high school.