Blue Jays Catchers: Ranked by WAR

The catcher of the future, Travis d’Arnaud, is gone. While in the grand scheme of things (ie making the playoffs), I support the trade. However, I’m left wondering–when will the Jays have a true all-star caliber catcher?

Throughout the clubs history, the Jays have held onto a few good but not great catchers. I’m talking about the Ernie Whitt’s, and in shorter stints, the Darrin Fletcher’s and Gregg Zaun’s of the world.

Below is a ranking of Jay catchers seasonal WAR, with a minimum of 80 games behind the plate. WAR is a tricky stat for any position, but more-so for catchers, as the defensive component for backstops (especially in a historical setting) is questionable.

Rk	Player	WAR/pos	Year	Age
1	Gregg Zaun	3.3	2005	34
2	Ernie Whitt	3.2	1983	31
3	Pat Borders	2.8	1990	27
4	Ernie Whitt	2.7	1988	36
5	Ernie Whitt	2.5	1986	34
6	Ernie Whitt	2.4	1989	37
7	Ernie Whitt	2.4	1987	35
8	Ernie Whitt	2.3	1985	33
9	Gregg Zaun	2.2	2007	36
10	Greg Myers	2.2	2003	37
11	Gregg Zaun	2.1	2004	33
12	Darrin Fletcher	2.1	2000	33
13	Darrin Fletcher	1.8	1999	32
14	Ernie Whitt	1.6	1984	32
15	John Buck	1.5	2010	29
16	Rod Barajas	1.5	2008	32
17	Charlie O’Brien	1.5	1996	36
18	Buck Martinez	1.5	1983	34
19	Buck Martinez	1.5	1982	33
20	J.P. Arencibia	1.4	2012	26
21	Alan Ashby	1.4	1978	26
22	Bengie Molina	1.3	2006	31
23	J.P. Arencibia	1	2011	25
24	Darrin Fletcher	0.8	1998	31
25	Ernie Whitt	0.8	1982	30
Rk	Player	WAR/pos	Year	Age
26	Greg Myers	0.7	1991	25
27	Rod Barajas	0.6	2009	33
28	Benito Santiago	0.6	1997	32
29	Buck Martinez	0.6	1984	35
30	Pat Borders	0.5	1992	29
31	Rick Cerone	0.5	1979	25
32	Greg Myers	0.4	1990	24
33	Alan Ashby	0.2	1977	25
34	Ernie Whitt	-0.1	1980	28
35	Darrin Fletcher	-0.2	2001	34
36	Pat Borders	-0.3	1993	30
37	Rick Cerone	-0.3	1978	24
38	Pat Borders	-0.4	1994	31
39	Bob Davis	-0.4	1980	28

The first thing that jumps out to me from this list–the age of the top 10. The Jays have a weak history of productive catchers under the age of 30; catchers under the age of 25 are almost non-existent.

Everyone in the top 10, except a single season from Pat Borders, is 30+ in age.

The Jays have been good, not great, as a club for the past 15 years. Losing production from behind the plate for the forseeable future will hurt. But this pain can be off-set by a playoff banner reading ‘2013’ hanging from the Rogers Centre rafters.

Coming up on Friday: A small study of Top 100 prospect catchers and their historical WAR.

Sources: Baseball-Reference Play Index, Image via FRANK GUNN/ASSOCIATED PRESS