Ryan Doumit, still a catcher

So, that post Saturday night about Ryan Doumit deciding he's not going to catch any more? Never mind ...

Clarification from @BrianDozier. His comments Saturday were not meant to be about Ryan Doumit deciding not to catch in the future.
— Mike Berardino (@MikeBerardino) January 27, 2014

Per @BrianDozier: "Ryan (Doumit) is still catching as far as I know. I was referring to last season with him not catching the last month."
— Mike Berardino (@MikeBerardino) January 27, 2014

"It had nothing to do with him being shut down for good ... or not catching anymore for his career," @BrianDozier tells me re: Doumit.
— Mike Berardino (@MikeBerardino) January 27, 2014

In retrospect, I should have been a bit more guarded about buying into about the initial tweet. I bit, probably for the same reasons Bernadino did: Doumit said after his August concussion that he had had many concussions, and whether it was his idea or the Twins, he was held out of catching chores in September at least in part to protect him from a repeat concussion before the offseason.

It was credible that he could have decided during the offseason that catching isn't worth the risk. Credible, but not true.

Atlanta's plans with him may not involved a lot of catching anyway. Evan Gattis, who hit 21 homers in less than 400 plate appearances last year (and played almost as much left field as catcher), is supposed to be the No.1 catcher now that Brian McCann is a Yankee. Gerald Laird, who is probably the best backup catcher around, is the No. 2, and Doumit is to take the old Gattis role of third-string catcher, backup outfielder and pinch hitter. The Braves found 380-some plate appearances for Gattis; they can find time for Doumit.

Ryan Doumit, non-catcher

Interesting tweet Saturday evening from the Pioneer Press's Mike Bernadino:

Brian Dozier  casually mentioned today that Ryan Doumit is "not catching anymore" after "talking it over with his family." Aug. concussion.
— Mike Berardino (@MikeBerardino) January 26, 2014

I assume this will not negate the December trade. It was no secret that Doumit had a concussion last August, and no secret that he and the Twins had agreed that he wouldn't catch in September.

The Braves may have traded for him assuming that he would catch for them, but it's difficult to see that they can claim that the Twins hid an injury.

Notes, quotes and comment

The news Monday that Joe Mauer will no longer catch was, deservedly, the big deal in Twins Territory — arguably a more significant announcement than the retention of Ron Gardenhire as manager. But there were other news items worthy of attention.

* The Twins signed former shortstop Jason Bartlett to a minor league contract and suggested he would have the opportunity to reclaim the shortstop position he vacated when traded after the 2007 season.

Really? Bartlett? Seriously? I don't buy it.

General manager Terry Ryan said Monday that incumbent shortstop Pedro Florimon is not a lock to keep the job. And he shouldn't be; Florimon fielded well, but he didn't hit. The Twins should be open to alternatives.

Bartlett isn't a realistic one. He's 34; he hasn't played since May of 2012, when the Padres cut him loose; his numbers were in decline before the knee injury he blames for his release; the Twins haven't even bothered to scout his workouts.

The Twins aren't risking anything on this minor league deal. I don't think there's any gain in it either.

The Atlanta Braves plan to desert Turner Field after just
20 years in the former Olympic Stadium.

* The Atlanta Braves announced plans to move from Turner Field once their lease is expired to a new stadium to be built in suburban Cobb County.

This is odd on a number of levels. Turner Field is just 17 years old, for one thing; for another, the Braves are bucking the overall movement of teams closer to the city center. A piece of civic infrastructure that cost hundreds of millions to construct is now to be discarded as if it were a fast-food outlet.

I've never been to Atlanta, so my knowledge of Turner Field (and its predecessor, the cookie-cutter Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium) is second hand. Turner, of course, was originally the Olympic Stadium for the 1996 games, designed to be retrofitted for baseball. I assume that it is miles ahead of the old concrete doughnut as a place to watch baseball but a step or two short of the likes of the baseball cathedrals in Pittsburgh, San Francisco and (yes) Minneapolis.

But this isn't about aesthetics. It's about a complex and unsavory melange of greed, demographics (racial and socioeconomic), dysfunctional urban planning, absentee ownership, corporate miscues and, worthy of additional emphasis, greed.