Tigers new backup catcher is Brayan Pena

[kalinecountry]

Tigers find their backup catcher. They announce a 1-yr deal with ex-Royal Brayan Pena.

Tigers announced Brayan Pena 1-year deal. Backup catcher replaces Laird (who signed with Braves).

Tigers have agreed to terms on a one-year contract with C Brayan Pena. Club designated LHP Matt Hoffman for assignment.

Matt Hoffman DFA'ed to make room on 40-man. Tigers had been trying to trade him in recent days. What a difference a year makes.

Tigers agree to terms with switch-hitting catcher Brayan Pena on a one-year contract. He will be Alex Avila's backup in 2013.

http://www.freep.com/article/201212...-city-royals?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Detroit Tigers
Tigers sign catcher Brayan Pena to back up Alex Avila.
from the freep

http://www.mlive.com/tigers/index.ssf/2012/12/detroit_tigers_sign_catcher_br.html
Detroit Tigers sign catcher Brayan Pena to one-year contract to back up Alex Avila.
from Mlive

With Brayan Pena, Tigers get one of those "four-A" players. He's outgrown Triple A (.308), but doesn't hit consistently in majors. 5'9" 230 lbs. might be slower than Avila on the bases.

http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20121210&content_id=40594940&vkey=pr_det&c_id=det
Tigers agree to terms with catcher Brayan Pena.
Catcher Agrees to One-Year Contract with Detroit.
Press Release from the Tigers official site

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/...s-sign-Brayan-Pena-one-year-add-depth-catcher
Tigers sign Brayan Pena for one year, add depth at catcher.
from the detnews

http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/news/...40595624&vkey=news_det&c_id=det#disqus_thread
Tigers add veteran Pena as backup catcher.
from the Tigers official site

http://www.blessyouboys.com/2012/12...-backup-catcher-brayan-pena-royals-free-agent
Tigers agree to one-year deal with veteran backup catcher Brayan Pena.
from blessyouboystigersblog

http://walkoffwoodward.com/?p=6344
Brayan Pena, Tigers Agree With Each Other.
from walkoffwoodwardtigersblog

http://www.detroittigertales.com/2012/12/tigers-sign-catcher-brayan-pena.html
Tigers Sign Catcher Brayan Pena.
from DetroitTigerTales



According to Mike Fast's research at Baseball Prospectus, Pena also seems to have a skill for framing pitches. Between 2007-2011, he saved the Royals his team an estimated 19 runs with pitch framing which is pretty impressive for a catcher with limited playing time. No data are available for 2012, but it is apparently a repeatable skill.

 

[spockmaster]

Pena fucking BLOWS. why the fuck did we sign him when Shoppach is still available? fucking stupid as hell.

 

[Mitchrapp]

Pena fucking BLOWS. why the fuck did we sign him when Shoppach is still available? fucking stupid as hell.

BU C. Granted with Avila you never know buts he's a backup. We had the same reservations when we signed Laird.

 

[spockmaster]

Pena isnt even good as a backup catcher. The ROYALS let him go.

The guy we needed at backup was Kelly Shoppach, someone who we know plays good defense and hits lefties, someone who can platoon with Avila to make sure he stays healthy and to make sure we have a catcher that can hit lefties. Signing Pena is stupid. Whoopee DD, hes a switch hitter! Too bad he sucks.

 

[kalinecountry]

I agree Spock, this is a terrible surprise signing.

 

[Mitchrapp]

Maybe he wants Avila to have confidence that his job will never be in jeopardy. Lol.

 

[turok]

Dunno much about Pena, at least defensively, but he looks like a clone of the SH Mike Rabelo as the Tigers' backup catcher, and by looking @ his batting stats on BBR, it indicates that he has no power, no speed, no patience @ the plate, doesn't draw many BBs. Brayan doesn't K quite as often as Rabelo had in '07.

Tigers probably will be looking for another backup catcher, maybe long before the trade deadline, Pena ain't very likely gonna be satisfactory or even adequate. They will probably bring up Holaday and maybe DFA Pena while they search for a replacement. I also question Avila's durability behind the plate for an entire season, even when he has a halfway-decent backup, like he had last season with Laird.

Edit: from reading a post on MLive regarding Pena's signing, apparently Brayan saved the planet from a praying mantis invasion late last season: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/bi...-from-praying-mantis-invasion?urn=mlb,wp17725

 

[kalinecountry]

Pena isnt even good as a backup catcher. The ROYALS let him go.

The guy we needed at backup was Kelly Shoppach, someone who we know plays good defense and hits lefties, someone who can platoon with Avila to make sure he stays healthy and to make sure we have a catcher that can hit lefties. Signing Pena is stupid. Whoopee DD, hes a switch hitter! Too bad he sucks.

Joel, did you see that Jason Beck answered both of us?
I don't remember, but we probably did, or at least you and I agreed back then with Laird's signing.

 

[spockmaster]

we both did, then i went on and explained that i thought we needed a good defensive backup who can hit lefties and almost-platoon because avila cant hit em and has been injured a lot.

didnt get a response back again.

 

[kingofdetroit57]

It's kind of nice to be sitting here bitching about a 1yr deal to a back-up catcher, isn't it? It shows you how far this team has come in the last decade. I could honestly care less about this position or deal. If for some reason we need a more permanent solution, I've got confidence that we'll go swing a trade for a starter caliber guy. Until then, this guy will probably start once a week along with the rest of the Leyland Sunday funnies.

 

[byco42]

There's also the consideration of what happens when Avila gets injured. Now Pena is the starter and he "couldn't hit water if he fell out of a fuckin' boat," to quote Tommy Lasorda.

 

[kalinecountry]

we both did, then i went on and explained that i thought we needed a good defensive backup who can hit lefties and almost-platoon because avila cant hit em and has been injured a lot.

didnt get a response back again.

I asked him if he could ask either DD or Leyland if Shoppach was thought of,

he says DD will be answering Twitter questions tomorrow morning.

 

[Mitchrapp]

There's also the consideration of what happens when Avila gets injured. Now Pena is the starter and he "couldn't hit water if he fell out of a fuckin' boat," to quote Tommy Lasorda.

Then you go get a guy. So he's a Raburn 2011 or an Inge who can catch. We've had weak bats before.

 

[turok]

It's kind of nice to be sitting here bitching about a 1yr deal to a back-up catcher, isn't it? It shows you how far this team has come in the last decade. I could honestly care less about this position or deal. If for some reason we need a more permanent solution, I've got confidence that we'll go swing a trade for a starter caliber guy. Until then, this guy will probably start once a week along with the rest of the Leyland Sunday funnies.

The problem is that Avila seems to begin to tire soon after the ASB. He is almost a platoon candidate b/c of his questionable stamina. Otherwise I would be fine with a backup catcher with a weak bat, and not that the season that Alex put up in '11 offensively is not possible, but more likely it is improbable. He might be able to post a slash line of ~.260/.360/.430 with an .800 OPS and hit ~15 homers next season, IF he gets enough rest while getting into great playing shape during the off-season, and maybe if he doesn't exceed 110 or so games as the Tigers' starting catcher. He was a newlywed last season, maybe now that he is "settled down" he can concentrate more on himself. Too bad that VMart is no longer able to catch in the event that Avila was to become injured and go on the DL...keeping my fingers crossed that he stays relatively healthy all next season while/since he plays a position that is the most physically demanding of all on the field.

"Avila's swing relies so much on his legs. And with his lower body suffering — he's battled tendinitis in his legs for quite some time — so did his performance."

"That said, while he's been checked out by trainers probably as much as any Tigers, it's been deemed that surgery isn't yet necessary."

"When you've never played with discomfort, and all of a sudden you're playing with discomfort, it takes you time to learn to play with discomfort," said Leyland, a former minor league catcher himself. "And he'll learn that. You're a catcher, when everything's going right, you're knees are getting sore."

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20121205/SPORTS0104/212050338#ixzz2Eh13UCK3
​

 

[jdeb]

This guy can hit in the clutch is about all I can see. Other than that, another doughnut eating catcher that makes guys laugh theirs ass's off on the bench during the game. I hear he is a very gifted farter.

 

[kalinecountry]

This guy can hit in the clutch is about all I can see. Other than that, another doughnut eating catcher that makes guys laugh theirs ass's off on the bench during the game. I hear he is a very gifted farter.

lol.

 

[kalinecountry]

I asked him if he could ask either DD or Leyland if Shoppach was thought of,

he says DD will be answering Twitter questions tomorrow morning.

Detroit Tigers‏@tigers
He takes over tomorrow! Submit your questions for David Dombrowski using #AskDave and tune in tomorrow at 11am to see if he answered yours!

 

[mjsb2]

It's kind of nice to be sitting here bitching about a 1yr deal to a back-up catcher, isn't it? It shows you how far this team has come in the last decade. I could honestly care less about this position or deal. If for some reason we need a more permanent solution, I've got confidence that we'll go swing a trade for a starter caliber guy. Until then, this guy will probably start once a week along with the rest of the Leyland Sunday funnies.

Having a strong bench is incredibly valuable.

 

[turok]

This guy can hit in the clutch is about all I can see. Other than that, another doughnut eating catcher that makes guys laugh theirs ass's off on the bench during the game. I hear he is a very gifted farter.

So maybe Pena should have been signed by the Red Sox, since the city of Boston is renown for being chock-full of beans. He might have even been able to fart out the song "Sweet Caroline" before the bottom of the 8th inning @ Fenway...if he ate enough plates of 'em before gametime.

At any rate...maybe when/if Rogo learns of Pena's "talent" it will give him some fresh ideas for new posts on his TigerSnark blog.

 

[Rebbiv]

You designate Matt Hoffman for this stiff?

Treanor
Shoppach
Ronny Paulino
Torrealba
Chris Snyder

Were all available and at least have one positive to their stats.

Maybe we should sign Austin Kearns as the platoon with Dirks and designate Casey Crosby.