There is no questioning Miguel Olivo’s power. Last season, he hit 23 homers and drove in 65 runs in just 114 games for the Kansas City Royals. Since 2006, he’s hit 67 homers, ranking fourth among all big-league catchers.
But now that Olivo has agreed to a contract with the Rockies, the question is whether or not he can provide the passion and leadership of the man he replaces, Yorvit Torrealba.
“We certainly think so,” general manager Dan O’Dowd said Monday after the team announced a one-year agreement with a club option for 2011. “They both bring a lot of energy to the field.”
Chris Iannetta is expected to be the Rockies’ starting catcher, but O’Dowd said the job will be open when spring training starts.
Oliva, 31, has never been considered a great defensive catcher, nor a great game-caller. However, he did throw out 18 of 74 attempted base stealers (24.3 percent) last season, the third-best percentage among qualifying American League catchers.
“We love Miguel’s throwing arm,” O’Dowd said. “And we’ve done a lot of digging (regarding) his defense and we think he’s improved over the last few years. I’m not sure I buy into the idea he’s not good defensively. He’s a very good athlete and we are expecting a lot out of him.”
O’Dowd said Olivo’s Latin roots should be a plus for the Rockies.
“In a perfect world, we definitely would like to have a Latin-born catcher to complement Chris and work with the Latin pitchers on our staff,” O’Dowd said.
Last month, it appeared likely that the Rockies would bring back Torrealba, but the sides were unable to bridge the financial gap. Although the Rockies agreed to give Torrealba $6 million over two years, negotiations stalled over contract specifics. The Rockies wanted Torrealba to have a lower base salary with a $750,000 buyout while Torrealba preferred higher base salaries and $250,000 buyout.
“We would have loved to bring Yorvit back, but we decided it was time to go in another direction and Miguel is a very good option for us,” O’Dowd said.
