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2008 Pierzynski's the catcher people love to hate, but also exactly the sort of guy Sox fans can relate to. Sure, he's obnoxious, combative, and vowel-challenged, but those things go over just fine in Bridgeport. Although he's been a useful enough hitter in his Chicago career, his two-year, $12.5 million extension which kicks in after this season was a contract too far for the Sox. A platoon wouldn't help Pierzynski appreciably at the plate beyond keeping him fresh; he's a spray hitter with line-drive power who kills you with double-play grounders. His receiving skills are also losing something to Father Time, which is another argument for the effective veteran caddy the Sox don't have. 2007 Pierzynski is best known for his Zelig-like propensity to find himself in situations where he just doesn`t belong, such as on the receiving end of Michael Barrett`s right hook, or on Joe Cowley`s MVP ballot. He`s perhaps more remarkable, though, for an extremely unusual statistical profile. Most players who put the ball in play as often as Pierzynski tend to be Juan Pierre types who run pretty well. Pierzynski, on the other hand, runs like Juan Berenguer . . . after a big meal. He remains a valuable asset to the White Sox, but may need to work deeper into the count as he ages, as his profile is not very well hedged against any decline in bat speed. 2006 How many other players would have bothered to run on that dropped third strike? Eliminate the 30 percent who are too lazy, the 40 percent who are too bashful, and the 29 percent who are too mature to try a stunt like that, and you`re left with? A.J. Pierzysnki, Orlando Hudson, and Milton Bradley by our count. Pierzynski`s career perfectly illustrates the point that clubhouse chemistry is a distillation of winning, and not the other way around. Performance-wise, he`s a risk, but he seldom strikes out so he should get that batting average up a few points. His contract extension ($3 million for five years) drew some criticism, but league average catchers don`t grow on trees. 2005 Two unfair but true rules of baseball: 1) What you do in April gets scrutinized a lot more than what you do in June or July; 2) hard-nosed players who produced are called gamers—hard-nose players who don't are thrown under the bus. After a brutal April in which he hit .246/.267/.250, one teammate said: "He's the cancer in here. The pitchers aren't happy with him. If they can trade him, that would be fine with me." Pierzynski played at his career norms the rest of the season, but when an arbitration decision came due at season's end, the Giants decided they didn't need his personality anymore. You could forgive the Giants for not wanting to pay the $5 million or so it would have cost to retain him. Pierzynski's a better player than half the starting catchers in baseball, and he's a great short-term fix for the White Sox's continual catching problems. Meanwhile the Giants will pay $10.5 million over three years to a more genial and helpless Mike Matheny. 2003 One of the game’s great carmine kiesters, A. J. Pierzynski is never going to win a popularity contest around the league, but he doesn’t need to. Nobody liked Clint Courtney either, but 50 years later, everybody still talks about him. Pierzynski is a good catcher—his percentages throwing out runners aren’t amazing, but the Twins control the running game as well as anybody—and as a guy who can make contact and drive the ball, he’s a pest at the bottom of the order. As the man who holds the job until/if/when Joe Mauer is ready, he’s the best placeholder in the game. 2002 He was presented with an opportunity, and he seized it. Pierzynski is essentially the same ballplayer as Shea Hillenbrand in Boston. He will hit for a reasonable average, show some line-drive power, but draw only three walks a month, so he will have to hit .300 or close to it to help the team and keep his job. Depending on the skew of the new management regime, even that might not be enough. Pierzynski had a nice 2001 season, though, and it moved him into the column of MLB-approved catchers. Ask the next guy how much money that's worth. 2001 A.J. Pierzynski has the Greg Myers skill set: he’s a left-handed-hitting line-drive machine with a strong arm. He’d make a nice caddy for LeCroy if LeCroy wins the job and a nice platoon mate for Ardoin if LeCroy doesn’t. If the Twins keep Moeller, Pierzyski could get 400 plate appearances. The Twins are divided into a group of left-handed hitters who get on base, left-handed hitters who hit for good averages, and Ron Coomer. Pierzynski just adds another body to group two. 2000 He’s a young catcher with a reputation for good glove work. Pierzynski would make an ideal caddy for LeCroy if the Twins trade Javier Valentin. He will end up catching somewhere in the major leagues someday. 1999 Big guy, but he hits like Joel Skinner. Pierzynski could be the Twins' starting catcher on Opening Day, but he's just keeping the seat warm for Matt LeCroy. If it was me, I'd push Chad Moeller to the majors, get a veteran caddy for him, keep Pierzynski at Triple-A to back up LeCroy, and plan for LeCroy to be my catcher in 2000. 1998 Pierzynski continues to show improvement. The consensus is that Javier Valentin is the Twins’ catcher of the future, but Pierzynski is a year younger and ready to step up if Valentin falters. 1997 A good catching prospect with the misfortune of being in an organization with a better one (Jose Valentin). He’s a good prospect in his own right, having shown good power at an early age.
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