Transactions: Matt Pagnozzi—Spring Training Invite

The Indians made a very minor move yesterday, signing catcher Matt Pagnozzi to a minor league contract with an invite to big league camp. Columbus has been a home for veteran catchers since Santana and Marson graduated to the bigs, with Paul Phillips, Luke Carlin, and Michael Hernandez all seeing significant action behind the Clippers' plate last year. Hernandez will be back after signing a minor league contract, and I believe Carlin will be in the mix as well.

The 2010 Baseball Prospectus annual described Pagnozzi as a capable catch and throw guy, and you don't need the smarty pantses at BP to figure out he can't hit. In 625 minor league games, his batting line is just .220/.296/.306 and he's struck out nearly four times as often as he's walked. He entered professional baseball as a 2003 8th round selection by the St. Louis Cardinals who were familiar with the Pagnozzi line—Matt's uncle, Tom, played 12 seasons in St. Louis as a catcher, winning three gold gloves. Pagnozzi the younger has appeared in 33 major league games over three seasons, playing for the Cards, Pirates, and Rockies. He's an organizational soldier for the Indians farm.

The only catching prospect in the Indians system is Chun-Hsiu Chen, who scouts apparently think has no chance to stay behind the plate (Goldstein tweeted something to this effect the other week). Santana and Marson are a more than capable big league duo, so the Indians will be fine barring major injuries.