The New York Mets plan on going into the 2013 season with John Buck as their everyday catcher as they wait for top catching prospect Travis d'Arnaud. Anthony Recker, an earlier waiver claim, is expected to serve as the team's backup. I have decided to take this time to compare Recker and Kottaras, and come to a conclusion on who is the best choice for the Mets to go into the 2013 season with.
Starting out, Recker will make league minimum while Kottaras agreed to a $1 million contract avoiding arbitration. Kottaras has been a MLB fixture for the past three seasons as a backup catchers. Last season, Kottaras hit just .211, 9, 31 for the Brewers and Athletics in 85 games. Certainly that production was better than the Mets got from either Josh Thole or Mike Nickeas last season. Recker was 7-41 (.167), 1, 4 for the Athletics and Cubs last season. Both players are 29, with Recker spending the majority of his professional career in the minors. Kottaras has been in the majors since 2008 with Boston and has hit .220 for his career with 24 HR and 84 RBI in 249 MLB games. Recker is 10-66 in 27 MLB games in 2011 and 2012.
Before I try to make the case for Kottaras, I have to mention Recker has put up some decent numbers in AAA over the past couple seasons. Over the past four seasons, Recker has hit .277 with 47 HR playing at the AAA level. It is difficult to tell how that will translate to the big league level. If the Mets stick with Recker, few will complain. Especially if the Mets would like to save money, and we all know it is their go to move now a days. But Kottaras, a left hand batter, will give the Mets more proven production, especially if d'Arnaud goes not come up as quickly as expected. I will finish by making one point, if the Mets have been this stingy with money this offseason ($1 million for a MLB player is not a lot of money), then I reconsider my argument.