Phils sign catcher Fasano

by dajafi on Dec 1, 2005 4:17 PM EST in News

A member in good standing of what Christina Kahrl sometimes calls the International Brotherhood of Backup Catchers, Sal Fasano inked a one-year, $425,000 deal with the Phillies today.

Catcher Sal Fasano has agreed to a contract with the Phillies, Assistant General Manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. announced this afternoon.

He signed a one-year deal for $425,000 plus performance bonuses.

"Fasano has always been a quality receiver with a lot of energy," said Amaro. "He will be a good complement to Mike Lieberthal. He's a winning player which is the kind of character we are trying to bring to our big club."

Fasano, a free agent, played the majority of the 2005 season with the Baltimore Orioles after beginning the season at triple-A Ottawa. A career back-up catcher, he appeared in more major league games with the Orioles last year (64) than he had in any season since a career-best 74 in 1998. He also hit a career-best 11 home runs last year in just 160 at-bats.

The "character" stuff does as little for me as ever, but the power numbers are pretty appealing. For his career, Fasano is averaging about a homer every 20 at-bats, so it's not like his 2005 power was an obvious fluke.

I was a Todd Pratt fan, but I can see the logic of this move, particularly given that Pratt is a few years older and likely will earn twice as much. What this means for prospect Carlos Ruiz, currently performing well in winter ball, is less clear.

Update [2005-12-4 1:23:19 by dajafi]: Beerleaguer offers a strong view on just what the Fasano signing means for Ruiz, and sees good things ahead for the farmhand catcher nicknamed "Chooch." Well worth a look.

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The "winning player" comment

He played most of his career with the Royals, the antithesis of a winning organization. He appeared in the post-season for one game (no at-bats) -- game 5 of the ALDS in 2000, when his team, the A's, lost the game and thus the series to the Yankees.

Why does the team have to feed us platitudes like this? Why not just say that they've signed a quality backup catcher who will help the pitching staff and spell Lieby every once in a while? Why throw us that he's a "winning player" when, even if there were some definition of what one was (there isn't), Fasano would be as far from that as I am from being called a major league shortstop.

by David S. Cohen on Dec 1, 2005 4:31 PM EST reply actions

...and the rest of the comments.

Amen.
Ditto "energy." It's a toss-up which term has less meaning. Makes me wonder about the direction of causation here: are they reading Gammons' columns, or are they trying to get into them? Probably both.

Interestingly, Fasano obviously isn't a "hard-nosed, blue collar type of player who will fit right in in Philly," because if he were, there's no conceivable way they would have passed up the chance to tell us so.

Oh well. If he's going to be sipping pinot grigio and saying "who made this couscous? I've got to know who made this couscous...", at least he'll exhibit energy and winning.

by The Navigator on Dec 1, 2005 6:16 PM EST up reply actions

career platoon splits

Fasano's career numbers vs RHP: .221/.302/.385/.687
Fasano's career numbers vs LHP: .225/.302/.468/.770

(per Yahoo!)

In other words, this is the guy you bring off the bench as a late-inning power threat against the other team's LOOGY. Of course, Manuel never PH'd with Pratt last season, and the sad result was way too much Endy and Tomas. Hopefully he'll learn from that particular mistake.

by dajafi on Dec 1, 2005 4:33 PM EST reply actions

Catchers don't pinch hit

I just don't see Manuel using a catcher to pinch hit. It just goes against one of the accepted principles of baseball, and Manuel isn't one to challenge those. Maybe he'll learn from this past year, but I doubt it.

by David S. Cohen on Dec 1, 2005 4:35 PM EST up reply actions

I just don't see the point

I mean, for the money they gave him, he's a fine replacement for Pratt. But with Carlos Ruiz waiting in the wings, it didn't seem to be a necessary signing. Not to mention that it takes up another spot on the 40-man too. If they plan to use him as the power PH, then great. But like David said, I highly doubt that's how he'll be utilized. This is a better move than the Nunez signing, I'll admit, but color me unimpressed with Gillick's moves thus far (other than the Thome trade, of course.)

by Alex Falzone on Dec 1, 2005 4:47 PM EST reply actions

Just what was wrong with Pratt anyway?

I was a Pratt fan too - and for intangibles fans, he was always said to be better than Lieby at working with pitchers. So why are we dumping him? Do I understand that we could have had him back for one year at $800K? I mean, it's nice to save $400K, but how much does that really matter? That's chump change.

I just don't know anything about Fasano, is the problem. If he's really a good bet to give us more or less equal production to Pratt, with only a 1-year commitment, at half the price and a younger age, and there won't be any significant dropoff behind the plate, then it's clearly a good deal. If dajafi says it, it's good enough for me. It just makes me wonder, is all - I assume Pratt wasn't demanding a multi-year deal or anything...

by The Navigator on Dec 1, 2005 6:23 PM EST reply actions

bright lights, beef jerky

I believe Pratt is rumored to be coming to New York. Given that Posada is getting up there in age and doesn't have the greatest defensive rep, it's probably similar to backing up Lieberthal, but for, I dunno, twice as much money?

I'll miss Tank. One of my favorite Phillies the last few years, and also one of Wade's better trade pickups--he's certainly outplayed Gary Bennett since mid-2001. Hopefully he'll come back to the organization as a coach at some point.

by dajafi on Dec 1, 2005 6:28 PM EST up reply actions