Tampa Bay Rays spinning their wheels at catcher

The Tampa Bay Rays made catching a priority this offseason, but thus far, they are just spinning their wheels at the position.

While the Tampa Bay Rays offseason shopping list changes from year to year, there is one constant. The Rays need catchers. Every year, they look to improve behind the plate. And almost every year, they struggle to get even mediocre production from their catchers, leading to the same ongoing quest, in hopes that this time, it will be different.

But it will not be different in 2021. The Rays have brought back Mike Zunino as their catcher, likely handing him the starting role once again. They also signed another catcher, Joe Odom, but he is likely nothing more than minor league depth for the organization.

This marks the third season that Zunino will be a member of the Rays. The first two have not exactly crowned the backstop in glory, as he has posted a .161/.233/.323 batting line in his 373 plate appearances, hitting 13 homers and 14 doubles. Even by Rays catching standards, that is a miserable performance with the bat.

His defense has not been great either. Although he is respected for his ability to call a game and has a strong arm, his pitch framing metrics have not been great. He is also considered to have saved just two runs combined in the past two seasons, with his defensive metrics falling off between 2019 and 2020.

Yes, there are not many options available in free agency. And yes, the Rays are not going to be spending much money on any free agent, even at a position that is an ongoing weakness such as catcher. But the definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results.

Even with Zunino’s return, the Rays are going to be on the lookout for that long term solution behind the plate. Trades are likely to happen, especially given their budgetary plight this offseason. Maybe, in one of those deals, they can find a catcher that will actually produce major league caliber results.

And maybe pigs will fly. Until that happens, the Tampa Bay Rays will continue to spin their wheels at catcher, cycling through more players like Mike Zunino in hopes of catching lightning in a bottle.