Todd Zeile – 1990 Fleer
March 22, 2011
Catcher? Oh, Yeah….
Well, here’s a question to ponder.
Would Todd Zeile have been an All-Star player if he stayed at catcher?
Now, don’t invoke Sharia Law and stone me right now…but just think critically about this.
When he came up, he was the Cardinals #1 prospect. But the Cards also had Tom Pagnozzi as a catching prospect. And Joe Torre wanted Pagnozzi to catch, and so he moved Zeile to third.
Was that a smart move?
Zeile wasn’t a great defensive catcher. But unlike Brandon Inge, he was a catcher in college. And while Pagnozzi was a good (but not great) defensive catcher, he didn’t hit much. Of course, you want defense at catcher, but Zeile was worse at third than he was at catcher, according to the metrics.
What would have happened if Torre kept Zeile at catcher for longer than he did? It was obvious that Zeile would have to move at some point, but not right away for Tom Pagnozzi. It’s like moving Mike Piazza for Alex Trevino; you just don’t do it.
Think about it…and when you’re done, think about Zeile’s wife.
Smed's Baseball Card Blog 
March 22, 2011 at 3:44 am
I think the logic was that it was supposed to be a precursor to Zeile somehow hitting 30 to 40 HRs in a season. Of course, this was in the Joe Torre era where the entire team collectively struggled to hit 30 to 40 HRs.
Pagnozzi somehow made an All-Star team and got three Gold Gloves. This was before you had to hit 30 to 40 HRs in a season to get a Gold Glove, of course. Just ask Ryan Howard.
March 30, 2011 at 5:19 pm
[…] was the reason, I guess, that Todd Zeile moved to third. Pagnozzi was a heck of a defensive catcher in his prime, with a 1.0 and 1.8 WAR […]