Boom, Bust or Bobby Bonilla: Yorvit Torrealba

"Boom, Bust, or Bobby Bonilla" takes a look at MLB's Free Agents and the teams who need them in 2008.

A couple of years ago at the Oscars Chris Rock took Hollywood to task for trying to shoehorn non-movie stars into movie star roles when the biggest names weren't available.

"You want Tom Cruise and all you can get is Jude Law? Wait. You want Russell Crowe and all you can get is Colin Farrell? Wait."

Sean Penn got upset with the implication about Law but most people pretty much agreed. If you want a star, its better to wait for one than to make a movie with a lead that no one cares about. Baseball is different, though. Even if you can't get the prize pig you still have to come up with an entry at the fair.

It's becoming clear that Jorge Posada, baseball's porcine equivalent, isn't going to be anywhere but the Bronx next season which means that all the other teams who need catchers are going to have to come up with Plan B. That brings us to Yorvit Torrealba. The 29-year old catcher of the Rockies is going to have a lot of suitors because of all the teams that want a Posada-type but are unable to land one.

Torrealba's said that he won't sign before hitting the open market tomorrow. Given the paltry other options behind the plate that doesn't seem too outlandish. The Mets were interested in Posada but seem more likely to bring back Paul Lo Duca now that he's staying with the Yankees. The Brewers, Blue Jays, Marlins and Devil Rays are rumored suitors for Torrealba's hand with the Rockies interested in keeping their catcher in town.

What's the winner of the Torrealba derby going to get? He's good enough to be your number one catcher but not good enough to cost you a draft pick for signing him. He's been hailed as a strong defensive catcher but had a poor year throwing out base stealers. He threw out 17 percent of runners and made seven errors which makes his biggest strength a less than sure thing.

That's probably an anomaly and Torrealba won't do anything to embarrass himself or his team next season. Just don't expect a Posada-like blockbuster and everything will be just fine.