Vinnie Catracala, 3B/OF - Seattle Mariners

[OutfieldGrass]

I will be taking little known prospect Vinnie Catricala, who was drafted in the 10th round of the 2009 draft by the Seattle Mariners. Listing his position as 3B might be a stretch but he still has time to prove he can play at the hot corner. His bat needs no refining though as he hit .347/.420/.632 with 11 homeruns and 45 RBI while also stealing 9 bases at Double-A Jackson.

A buddy of mine who works for the Generals says Vinnie is a great guy, on and off the field, and was absolutely dominant at the plate. He feels he can stay at 3B but a few of the scouts I have spoken to seem to think his position will be LF and could possibly be trade bait down the road.

I am here to say I think Catricala can hack it at the plate in Seattle and will eventually be our first consistent LF in years.

[RickD]

Will be interesting to see how he develops!

[OutfieldGrass]

We could really use his power in Seattle at some point. I've heard he is pretty atrocious with the glove though so he might be relegates to DH. Big time bat though.

[yankeebiscuitfan]

So no chance for Alex Liddi in the long term?

[OutfieldGrass]

So no chance for Alex Liddi in the long term?

I would love to see Liddi make it as a starter but I just don't see it. Great kid and works hard but I see him as a possible bat off the bench at 1B/3B with a decent amount of power. Nothing wrong with that though.

Catracala will definitely not stay at 3B and its quite possible he is used as trade bait. Can't wait to see what he can do in Tacoma though. Absolutely tore up Double-A Jackson so I don't see him going back. Great thing is I can catch a few Rainiers games.

[RickD]

Spent last season in Triple-A Tacoma where he struggled. He hit .229/.292/.348 in 122 games and was selected to play in the Arizona Fall League. He bounced back there, hitting .279/.329/.412 with five extra base hits in 19 games.

[pooh555]

I didn't realize that Catracala was a real prospect. I saw him in Tacoma and he seemed like he hit pretty well, but then again I remember the days of AJ Zapp in Tacoma as well

http://www.baseball-reference.com/mi...d=zapp--001and

That man knew how to hit home-runs every time I went to a game, and let me tell you, the level of pitcher friendliness at Cheney approaches Safeco.

[RickD]

I don't know if he will make the majors. Well we will see if Tacoma was a fluke or not for him!