The Blue Jays enter camp with eight out of nine positions settled. There's plenty of jockeying for position in the rotation and the bullpen, but the Jays boast one of the more set lineups in Arizona or Florida. The only really interesting battle among position players this year is among the backstops.

Last week, a missive on the club's official website announced that any plans for Josh Phelps to catch have been scrapped, due to injury concerns. I still think the idea is worth pursuing, even a year or two down the road, provided that Phelps is healthy and willing. Chances to field the best hitting catcher in the game don't come along too often.

With Phelps removed from consideration, here are the catching candidates for 2003:

Ken Huckaby: Took over regular catching duties when Darrin Fletcher retired, and kept his average over .300 for a while, but it was an empty .300, and when the average crashed, there wasn't much left. Collected just 9 walks and 3 homers in almost 300 trips, and one of those was thanks to some in-the-park butchery by Orioles RF Gary Mathews. Huckaby's a solid defender and a good story, a career minor leaguer who finally broke through at 31.

I'd like to see him compile some more service time, but it's tough to justify that it should it come in Toronto. Huckaby's chance to stick is based on how much importance the organization places on his defense and his position as Roy Halladay's personal catcher. After all, look how successful Greg Maddux has been with his personal catcher Henry Blanco, and before that Paul Bako… and Eddie Perez… and Charlie O'Brien… that may tell us all we need to know about the true value of the personal catcher.

Tom Wilson: Not regarded as a strong defensive catcher, but offers some pop and some patience. Played a little first base last year, which I suppose makes him the most versatile player of the lot, but it's kind of like Wilson having gills: it might make for an interesting line on a baseball card, but it doesn't really add any tangible value to him as a player. Wilson's greatest asset is his ability to hit lefties. He pasted them for a .918 OPS last season, albeit in only 83 at-bats. He was one of the few Jays to enjoy success against southpaws, and for that reason, I think he'll stick. The caveat to this is that he really shouldn't be allowed to bat against the majority of the population too often.

Greg Myers: The first prodigal son of the Ricciardi ERA, Myers returns to the club as the highest paid, most experienced, and only left-handed catcher on the team. I think his position is fairly secure, and while his offensive numbers don't leap off the page, if you look at what he's done against right-handers over the past three years, you get:

That's not too far off what Jason Varitek did last year, and he was one of the better hitting catchers in the league. Of course, it would be a surprise if Myers, at 37, could sustain such production condensing all those at-bats into one season after years of part-time play. Then again he may not have to because of…

Kevin Cash: The wild card in the equation. Draws absolute raves for his defense. Cash put up solid numbers at his minor league stops until reaching Syracuse, when his average dipped, then was overmatched in his brief September trial. He does combine Ricciardi's favourite tag-team of offensive skills, Walk 'N' Pop. Despite a .220 average, more than half of Cash's AAA hits went for extra bases. At 25, he's unlikely to get much better as a hitter, but he should improve the second time around at AAA. If he does, he may well reach Toronto around the same time Phelps did last year. If the Jays get lucky, Cash could be a guy who posts an .800 OPS. Given his defense and the current state of American League catchers, that amounts to an All-Star.

Personally, I'd go with a platoon of Myers and Wilson. Huckaby's defense is nice, but it's also very replaceable, and his hitting just can't justify a roster spot, no matter how well he plays with others.

Combining what Myers has done over the last three seasons versus righties and Wilson's numbers versus lefties, you get a fairly impressive composite season:

AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	AVG	OBP	SLG
461	58	113	18	0	21	72	64	.245	.337	.421

I don't think they'll be quite that good, but they should hold things together nicely until Cash arrives.

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