Adam Donachie, catcher

Is a major-league backup job in his future?

No. Donachie is a light-hitting catcher with a reputation as a good defensive catcher, a reputation that is not backed up by personal observation. He didn’t throw well at all, and didn’t seem to be a particularly good handler of pitchers. He has to have a reputation as a good defensive catcher, because the way he hits he’d have been released years ago if he didn’t.

I discovered something interesting while I was looking at Baseball America Online. They had a series of links that led to a Jim Callis chat from just before the 2002 draft. In that chat, Callis stated that Donachie was one of the top four catchers available, with Jeff Clement, Chris Snyder, and Tyler Parker (who?) — missing the boat on Brian McCann. Callis said that the top four hitters available were Clement, Jeremy Hermida, Jeff Baker, and Scott Moore. They ranked higher than Prince Fielder and B.J. Upton (as hitters).