Here are my initial reactions to this acquisition:
-This is a low-risk pick-up. If he manages to break through (like McGehee did) awesome....if not its not going to haunt them several years down the road.
-Having another catcher on the Brewers roster gives me hope that we are another step closer towards Jason Kendall not catching 130+ games in 2010.
-Hasn't proven himself as a big leaguer. He got 107 at bats in Boston this year and had a line of .237/.308/.387 78 OPS+.
-He's not that old....but he isn't that young either (26)....he probably doesn't have too many chances to prove himself in the bigs.
-Looking at his minor-league numbers it looks like he has some pop in his bat (hit 22 homers in Pawtucket in '08) but his overall minor league numbers have 4A/Journeyman written all over them.
-(While the data is incomplete).......he didn't seem to stand out defensively in the minors (only caught 24% of attempted base stealers)
-Regardless of what happens, Kottaras has done pretty good for a Player To Be Named Later (He was traded for David Wells back in '06).
-According to where you look, Kottaras DOB is either 5/10/83 or 5/16/83...regardless of which day is accurate....amongst the Brewers 40-man roster hes the closest to my age (he's either 6 days or 12 days younger depending on actual birth date)
-It should be interesting how this catcher situation falls out. I would be shocked if he was the regular starting catcher but he has a decent chance to catch on as a back-up. In terms of expectations and talent.....Kottaras and Rivera are both players that are good enough to come off the bench but not good enough to be the #1 catcher. Its likely to come down to who has the better spring Kottaras or Rivera.
-138 Days Until Opening Day
