Quote Originally Posted by War Machine Dawg View Post
The Astros have Jason Castro. No way you don't put him behind the plate. Big difference. The idea that Gattis wasn't a catcher is laughable to me, considering he's been a catcher his whole life and made it to The Show catching. Yet somehow a pinhead in a suit decides a guy can't play that position? It's insanity. The pitching staff loved Gattis back there. That should count for something.
You're right about Castro. Even still, Castro hasn't played 70 games this year and yet Gattis still hasn't caught even 1 inning for them. He was a catcher throughout the minors because the Braves hoped he could develop there enough to play it in the majors, not because he was a catcher. Every scouting report for him coming through the minors said that he was anywhere from a butcher behind the plate to not horrific but not good enough to stick there in the majors. He did look decent enough there in a short span in Atlanta, but 1) he's already not that close from 30, which is not a good age for a catcher, and 2) the Braves and pretty much everyone else have agreed that he isn't good enough to stick at catcher long-term in the majors.

You may disagree, and I'm even slightly skeptical of that after seeing him, but it is a pretty large consensus. So regardless of your feelings on him as a catcher, the Braves didn't feel he was a legitimate option there, so the trade makes sense from that standpoint.