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2007 Insiders continue to call Ausmus a winner who improves a pitching staff, but it`s hard to believe he could retain many adherents after a season as bad as 2006. According to VORP, Ausmus had the 16th-worst offensive season of any player since 1960, but that`s trivia. Last year the average catcher had an OBP of .330 and slugged .417. Say the Astros had A.J. Pierzynski, who had an OBP of .330 and a slugging percentage of .436. By our calculation, Ausmus created 38 runs of offense last year while using up 351 outs, while Pierzinski would have created 68 runs while using up the same number of outs. Those additional 30 runs are worth roughly three wins in the standings. Knowing that, how much credit do you want to give Ausmus for the Astros staff? Did he improve them by one percent? Five? Ten? It stretches belief that Ausmus deserves credit for a twentieth or even a tenth of the success of Roger Clemens or Andy Pettitte, and there is no objective evidence that changing catchers would result in any penalty. For all of Ausmus`s wizardry, the Astros haven`t established a young pitcher since 2001. The Astros have been needlessly costing themselves wins in a competitive division; it`s time to get over it. 2006 There are few players in the history of baseball who have been as consistently bad and consistently on the field as Ausmus. His offensive production has been a significant problem for every team he`s ever been on. Sherri Nichols long ago coined the `Nichols Law of Catcher Defense,` which states that a catcher`s defensive reputation will be inversely proportional to his offensive contribution. This is certainly true in Ausmus` case, as is the unstated corollary that one`s clubhouse rep will also behave in said fashion. Though Ausmus`s Gold Glove is worthy of its luster, it can`t begin to make up for the runs forgone. Apparently ravenous for players likely to post an OPS within 40 points of 625, the Astros have re-upped Ausmus for two more out-encrusted years. 2005 The ongoing organizational commitment to Ausmus costs the Astros a little more each season, as he slips from average to replacement level. He's been a .220 EqA hitter since 2000, and his once-vaunted arm gets a little bit worse each year: He allowed the most steals and highest success rate of his career in 2004. With John Buck out of the way and a $3 million salary in '05, he'll be the starter again, but Ausmus may be the worst regular in baseball. 2003 Like an old-time medicine man, Ausmus peddles the elixirs of veteran leadership and game-calling skills to an Astros organization all too willing to buy. He’s an excellent defensive backstop, but his bat has descended to the depths of The Matheny Zone. Last year’s flailing included tying Ernie Lombardi’s NL record by grounding into 30 double plays, but at least The Schnozz had the excuse of being the slowest player of all time. Ausmus didn’t need his Dartmouth education to find the wisdom to exercise his $5.5 million player option for 2003. 2002 Ausmus kills the running game, but there hasn’t been a lot of evidence to support the claim that he’s saving his team runs by how he calls a game. While there’s speculation that his lousy season was the product of a first-half eye problem, he was an offensive zero all year except for August, denying the Astros even the little bit of OBP he’d been good for in the recent past. Like Joe Girardi, Ausmus will be around forever, but he's done as a useful offensive player. Consider him a hidden cost of having Jeff Bagwell. 2001 Brad Ausmus has never been on the disabled list in 13 professional seasons and started a career-high 140 games in 2000. Combining his durability with good defense, good baserunning, and an adequate bat yields a solid total package. Ausmus is at the age and position where his offense could nose-dive, but I expect more of a slow burn that dovetails neatly with the emergence of the organizational catching prospects. He's been traded to the Astros, making Jeff Bagwell happy. 2000 Randy Smith’s obsession with ex-Padres and ex-Astros has become a real obstacle to the Tigers’ getting the talent they really need. That said, Ausmus was a nice pickup, especially when Robert Fick went down for most of the year. Only Ivan Rodriguez and Charles Johnson are clearly better defensively in the AL, and Ausmus has learned to battle pitchers enough that he’s not the automatic out he once was. Which is more frightening: that the Tigers were using Ausmus to lead off in September, or that, with a team-high .365 OBP, he was actually the right choice? 1999 His days as a starter may be running out. Meluskey is ready for the job, even though Ausmus is a fine defensive catcher and not an enormous liability batting 8th. He could definitely help teams lacking major league catchers (the Cubs or Devil Rays) in a starting role, but as an Astro, he better be preparing to hire a flak for the inevitable smear campaign. “Can we trust that our children will be safe with Tony Eusebio behind the plate? This April, vote Brad Ausmus!” 1998 Ausmus provided everything the Astros wanted from him: he killed off a National League-leading 49% of attempted base thieves, and kicked in a bit of offense from the seventh and eighth slots. Don’t hold your breath waiting for him to reach his 1995 peak again. 1997 Ausmus showed flashes of ability after the Tigers acquired him, but don’t expect his 1995 production again. He would make a fine backup, but that’s not the kind of endorsement you want of your starting catcher. Handles the defensive side of the game well, and will probably suck up 300 at bats in 1997 to tide the Tigers over until they can find someone who can play the position. 1996 I'm still not convinced, but I'm more willing to be. He's 27 this year, and a year even similar to 1995 would go a long way towards a division title for the Pads. His improved offense hasn't led to backbiting about his glove, making him a rare counterargument against NLoCD.
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