Kottarus for 1.1 million... OUCH!!!!!

They could have done as well waiting and getting someone else for less IMO..

I hope, I'm wrong here... But, I'm not getting a warn fuzzy gooey feeling over this signing and what it bodes for the 2013..

A steady diet of Norris and Kotty could be grim....

Norris had better really start hitting the ball well to make up for his lacking "D"... He maybe too young for this....

One million is peanuts for a decent backup catcher (who may platoon a fair amount), particularly in the context of a $65 million payroll.

I actually think this is a decent signing.

Cat: 1.1 milillion is a lot more than the MLB minimum.... There may be a bunch of better ones out there looking for a gig like the A's have...

I agree with you, Kotty may see a lot more action than we would hope for... That "magbe" might atract someone who wants to turn his career around....

Who knows??? He might show up anyways

And a big dinger every 15 at bats.

All the back up catcher types that you have been mentioning all off season would want way more than the 1.1 million the A's are paying Kottaras.

I'm not too concerned about paying a back-up catcher $1.1 Million. But like you, I am absolutely terrified that the guy he's going to be backing up is apparently going to be Derek Norris. Norris is not even remotely ready to be a big league catcher. And furthermore, since Norris and Kottaras are the only catchers on the A's 40-man roster, I think the glaring lack of organizational depth at that position is going to be a HUGE weakness for the 2013 A's. To me, a platoon of Kottaras and someone like Shoppach (with Norris back in AAA) is by far the best option for the team. But Billy appears to really be sold on Derek Norris. I just hope his "faith" in the guy doesn't cloud his objectivity as much as it has with a certain 3rd string 1st baseman....................

Now that the back-up catcher has been signed, I think it's time for Billy to focus on acquiring a starting catcher - because Derek Norris isn't nearly ready for that gig.

Flame: Kotty's MLB HR rate is at every 24.5 ABs... Was last year an anomaly???? Hope not!!!

DN: Think Shoppach is available for less than last years 1.13 Sal.... Maybe, I'm wrong ... We will see.... 22.5 AB per HR - in 3 times the MLB ABs....

Let's say, it boils down to a 1.5 Shoppach (healthy?) or a 1.1 Kotty... Who would you choose????

I would choose Kotty, but only because he already is familiar with the staff. I don't know anything about Shoppach, until you mentioned it.

Do you or anyone else on here agree with me that the A's need both Kottaras and Shoppach (or a reasonable facsimile), with Norris spending the year in AAA?

Who would you go after? There isn't a whole lot of choices or abundance of choices to choose from...I would invite a a handful of them to a catcher's symposium this Spring maybe someone will catch a job.

Norris clearly wasn't ready last year. Clearly. Made me miss Suzuki.

You bring up a very valid point about available choices. And certainly some could legitimately argue that a "reasonable facsimile" to Shoppach would actually be Derek Norris. But I definitely think that non-roster invites to Spring Training should be offered to several possible catching candidates for 2 reasons: 1) Norris desperately needs more "seasoning" in AAA, and 2) a severe lack of organizational depth at catcher (only 2 are on the 40-man currently).

I completely agree. And I firmly believe a platoon of Kottaras and Shoppach is far more desirable than any platoon that includes Norris at this point in time. Norris might still be the A's "catcher of the future" (though I have serious doubts about that), but this "future" clearly should not include starting in Oakland in 2013. He's just not ready for that job.

C'mon guys, there must be a few catchers in our farm system...we can't entice any catchers from other teams without them wanting our pitchers in return, and I say stop giving them away Billy, and do not resign Harding unless it is for trading bait. Last coupe of years he has given up a lot of "gopher" balls, or he has an ailing muscle pull in his ribs half way through the year. Similar to Anderson last year.

Okay, we need the services of our resident A's system statistician and I mean for our farm systems...please find us a prospect then. I know we drafted one last season, I just can't remember the names...and which team they ended up on...Midland? Stockton? Vancouver?

I think you're missing the point. Obviously there are plenty of catchers in the A's Farm System. But just like Derek Norris, NONE of them are Major-League ready. That's why I am so emphatic that Billy needs to acquire another veteran to platoon with Kottaras in 2013, while Norris gets some much needed seasoning in AAA.

Ten: We are on the same page.... Think, Norris caught the eye of the A's and others with his "O" skills and numbers from MiLB... His speed is intriguing as were his HR totals... Just wish, his arm was not so much in doubt going forward with him...

We must now hope, he is ready for MLB at 24 YO...

Hopefully, the A's bring in some invitees for ST... Waiting - but, forlorn...

Kotty is not revving my my motor at this point...

You never know, that is how we got Norris from Washington's farm system...geez, straight up with Suzuki because supposedly "he was ready" for the big leagues! Well that's exactly why we need some invitees form our farm systems this ST. We might have one more ready and mo' better than Norris was. God! I hated to see Suzuki go + he was a fan favorite. He just wanted to be Gio's battery mate again! By the way, who else did we get? Meshak?

Flame: What we got - was some team to on his large salary while we were in a pennant race..

SuZu was having a horrible year up to that point... As you pointed out, he may not have been happy... He sure bounced back once he got to Washington... Was that just a 2nd half playing to the mean pop or him being happy in another place??? I don't know...

Bet Lewlew Wolffy was happy to not pay his wages...

Sorry, if I misunderstood the linkage in your post... But, Norris came from the huge - that may still turn out to be a good one - Gio trade (not the SuZu one) He replaced SuZu as the starter - when SuZu left ... That trade included Milone and the other stud arm Mr. P. - who has turned out not to be one so far... Time will tell with him... Control issues... Cole is looking decent as well...

The SuZu trade sent cash to the Nats and we got back catcher prospect David Freitas a hitting 23 YO at the time ... He has a history of hitting well..... Not a mid range power hitter so far..... A big kid 6-3 235 listed