Dusty Brown — R/R, 6′ 0″, 180 lb
Like Jaramillo, Brown is 28 years old. He was the Red Sox’ 35th round pick in the 2000 draft, and has spent every season since in their organization. He got into a total of 13 major league games over the 2009 and 2010 seasons, going 4-for-15 (.267) with a homer and 3 RBI. In
71 games for AAA Pawtucket in 2010, Brown hit .218 with 7 homers and 29 RBI. He also struck out 66 times. When the Red Sox removed him from their roster after the 2010 season, he signed a minor league contract with the Pirates. Brown also played some winter ball — in 34 games with Los Estrellas de Oriente in the Dominican League, he hit .198 with 2 homers and 10 RBI. He’s been at major league camp for spring training, though it’s unlikely that he would make the major league team. The plan seems to be to have Brown back up Jaramillo at Indianapolis, if that’s where Jaramillo goes, or else share the main AAA catching duties with Toregas.
Wyatt Toregas — R/R, 6′ 6″, 235 lb
Toregas was the Cleveland Indians’ 24th round pick in the 2004 draft. He has spent all of his career in their organization, reaching the major league team for 19 games in 2009. He hit .176 with 6 RBI in that brief stint. In 2010, Toregas lost out to newly acquired Lou Marson in his bid to return to the major league team, and instead Toregas was shuffled between the Indians’ NY-Penn League team, AA Akron, and AAA Columbus, and he got very little playing time at any of those levels. Of course he blasted a .368 average in 7 low-A games, but hit .203 in Akron and .200 in Columbus. Toregas has also been at the Pirates’ major league camp as a non-roster invitee. Like Brown, this 28-year-old’s fate depends on what happens to Doumit and Jaramillo. If Doumit stays and Jaramillo goes to Indianapolis, then Toregas and Brown will compete for a back-up role. If Jaramillo is with the Pirates, then Toregas and Brown could share the job in Indy.
Kris Watts — Bats: Left / Throws: Right, 6′ 1″, 209 lb
Then there’s Watts, who seems to always be relegated to a back-up role, no matter what. In 2009, he caught a little more than half of the Hillcats’ games, but became the back-up again when Eric Fryer arrived, despite being named to the Carolina League All-Star team. In 2010, he was promoted to Altoona, but caught just 53 games, as Hector Gimenez was given the priority behind the plate. His hitting has been solid, going .285 and .291 in the two seasons in Lynchburg. With Altoona, Watts hit .266 with 4 homers and 19 RBI in 56 games. July and August were his best months, with a .282 average in July, and an amazing .343 with 8 RBI in August. Watts has a big split — he hit .147 against right-handed pitchers and .295 against lefties. His defensive abilities are ok but not great. Watts is the one who is most likely to get squeezed in all these catching machinations. There may not be a spot for him in Indianapolis, but then Tony Sanchez and Eric Fryer are going to have things covered in Altoona.
