[andyhdz]

Originally Posted by RedSoxJack

I have had a long internal debate on the answer to this question, and finally want to bring it to the forum.

In my franchise which I have been playing since OOTP 16, I have been lucky enough to develop some stellar catchers. One is already in the HOF, another's career is near it's end but he'll be a HOFer as well, and the third is going into his second arbitration year but is already looking like a HOF candidate as well. He puts up stellar numbers (career .307/.380/.553, 132 wRC+, 5.7 WAR/season) and he is a solid defender (1.152 EFF, 97/100 catcher ability, though he has a weak arm).

This is a guy who will make the HOF if he stays healthy and keeps production up for long enough. At only 26, he could be a cornerstone for my franchise. Trouble is, he, along with many other 5-star catchers, has only started as many as 129 games in a season, and averages 126. Never had a long-term injury. While he is far and away the best catcher in the league, I have trouble paying someone $35M+ a year to play on 78% of the games.

I ended up trading away both of my previous HOF catchers that I developed, and I once even signed the #1 catcher to 4 year/$210M contract only to have severe buyers remorse and trade him at the deadline of his first year.

What do you do with your star catchers? Do you keep them, trade them, let them walk? Are they worth the investment or is it more worthy to just get a stud defensive catcher to hit at the bottom of the order?

Note: I am still playing OOTP 22, meaning the new defensive changes to the game don't apply (yet).

Catcher's degrade a lot faster so any over their 30s I'm very leery of. I think this game gets it right