Juan Centeno Joins the Brewers on Waiver Claim

With Matt Pagnozzi opting for free agency instead of an outright assignment to AAA, the Brewers were left thin in their minor league catching corps. To rectify that issue, the Brewers claimed Juan Centeno from the New York Mets on Friday.

Centeno is a 24-year-old with just 14 games of Major League experience. He was drafted in the 32^nd round of the 2007 MLB draft and has been in the Mets organization for the seen years since.

In eight minor league seasons Centeno has a hitting line of .277/.329/.336 and has fairly consistent and unspectacular OPS in the .600-.725 range for the three seasons between AA and AAA. He has thrown out 37% of potential base stealers in his eight minor league seasons, and that number doesn’t seem to have fallen off as he’s moved up in levels.

Barring a slew of injuries I can’t image Centeno ever actually appearing on Milwaukee’s major league roster, but depth, especially at the catcher position, is always desirable.

He’s got a couple minor league options available, but I can’t see any way that he replaces Martin Maldonado as the Brewers backup catcher. Centeno joins Luis Jimenez as the Brewers second waiver claim of the post season.

These moves by Doug Melvin have little-to-no risk and occasionally they pay off, at least in the short term (think Derek Turnbow).