Chris Iannetta traded to the Los Angeles Angels for Tyler Chatwood

What an upgrade for the Angels. Jerry DiPoto listed catcher as one of his top priorities this offseason, and he also emphasized on-base percentage. Chris Iannetta is indeed a catcher, and his .370 OBP last season will definitely help out a team that trots Vernon Wells (.248 OBP) out there in left. The Angels will not rectify their horrible misdoing when they traded Mike Napoli for virtually nothing. However, they will no longer deploy one of the worst hitters in baseball at catcher, as the team used to have some strange affinity for the punchless Jeff Mathis. Iannetta’s 108 wRC+ in 2011 shows that he can actually make a positive impact on offense, and this was definitely a step in the right direction for the Angels.

The Rockies, on the other hand, received the young Tyler Chatwood (22 in 2012) in this deal. He still has a lot of developing to do, but he obviously has a lot of potential; Chatwood came into the 2011 season as the second best prospect  on the Angels according to Baseball America.

The problem is that Chatwood was nothing near a quality pitcher in 2011, and he was worth 0.5 WAR over 142 innings. His K/9 was just 4.69, while his BB/9 was an atrocious 4.50. However, it was clear that the Angels were forced to rush him into the Bigs thanks to Scott Kazmir‘s struggles and Joel Pineiro‘s injury. He still has a chance to be a quality starter with his fastball and plus curve, but Chatwood is also a prime candidate to underachieve. It also seems like he might not even get a spot in the Rockies rotation with fellow prospects Alex White and Drew Pomeranz slated in the back end. Chatwood will probably be in the bullpen, but that might not exactly be a bad thing for his development. In fact, he might end up being that star set-up man instead of a No. 3 starter. This trade hinges on Chatwood, and it looks like DiPoto believes that this is a risk worth taking; trading a pitching prospect for a solid, 28-year-old catcher.

Since Chatwood isn’t a known quantity by any means, it is more important to focus on Chris Iannetta. People are pointing to his home/away splits as evidence that Iannetta will flop with the Angels, and that approach is understandable considering he has spent all of his career hitting in Coors. However, some people are going as far as to compare wRC+ in home and away games, and that makes absolutely no sense. wRC+ is a park-adjusted total, so comparing home and away splits is quite useless in this regard. Iannetta’s overall production will drop off in a pitcher-friendly park with the Angels, but his wRC+ should be around 98.

While a wRC+ of 98 is slightly below average, it’s still a huge upgrade over Jeff Mathis, who owns a career wRC+ of 45 (!).  That’s a tremendous upgrade, and Mathis is also worse than Iannetta defensively. The former Rockies backstop is one of the better defensive catchers in the game, and he saved seven runs on defense last season according to DRS.

Some point out that Iannetta benefited from hitting in front of the pitcher in the National League and will likely suffer as a result in the AL. However, his patience is genuine, as he has offered at just 18.6% of the pitches he’s seen in his career that are outside of the zone. His Zone% of 46.7% last season was about average, so pitchers aren’t pitching around Iannetta as much as some might like to claim.

Neither Chatwood nor Iannetta were lucky or unlucky last season, so this trade will rest on the development of Chatwood. I am guessing that the Angels believe they have enough talent in the rotation already and needed a massive upgrade at catcher. Iannetta will cost them just $3.55 million and should be worth about 2 WAR. That’s a nice contract to own, and he’s about a 3 WAR upgrade over Mathis and will deservingly receive more playing time in his new outfit. The Rockies have now signed Ramon Hernandez to be their new catcher, and I will review that move shortly. The jury is still out on this trade, but I like it for both teams. The Rockies still have a solid starting catcher and just received a talented prospect, while the Angels just notched three wins in 2012 with this deal. The disparity between Mathis’s offensive production and Iannetta’s is comical, and Iannetta is also the far superior player defensively.