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An injured ego instead of an injured body part forced the Chicago Cubs to make a roster move last Wednesday that has major implications for the team’s future.

Backup catcher Miguel Montero punched his ticket out of town with his tone-deaf rant berating pitcher Jake Arrieta for not holding runners on base. The Arrieta/Montero duo allowed the Washington Nationals to run wild for seven stolen bases in their 6–1 triumph over the Cubs on Tuesday evening.

While his words may have justified the Cubs actions, Montero’s absence leaves behind a void at the backup catcher position that the Cubs must figure out how to fill both in the short and in the long term. This will test the team’s depth for the rest of the season and beyond.

For now, the Cubs handed the backup catcher position controls to 23-year-old prospect Victor Caratini. The Cubs called him up from Triple-A Iowa on Wednesday, and he has now appeared in four MLB games.

The Cubs current starting catcher, Willson Contreras, seems like a pretty safe bet to retain his starting catching position with the Cubs for years to come. The 25-year-old Venezuelan catcher remains under team control until 2023 and will likely get better with age through the life of his contract. He projects as a plus player both offensively and defensively, and leads all MLB catchers this season with 10.2 defensive runs saved above average (DRS).

If the Cubs view Contreras as the long-term solution at the starting catcher position, who will become his understudy? Will Kyle Schwarber get more opportunities to catch, is Victor Caratini the long-term answer, or will the Cubs find reinforcements at this position from a source outside of the organization?

Kyle Schwarber

It really f****** pisses Kyle Schwarber off when people say he can’t catch.

Since he uttered these infamous words in early June 2015, Schwarber has had very few opportunities to prove his merit as a catcher. Since his MLB debut on June 15, 2015, he has caught in just 24 games. A major knee injury at the beginning of last season contributed to this low number, as the Cubs have only let him catch five innings this season probably as a precautionary measure.

Nonetheless, the scouting reports on Schwarber’s catching during his college days at Indiana University and in the Cubs minor league system were less than stellar. Schwarber hasn’t exactly silenced his critics with his play behind the plate at the MLB level either.

In a limited sample size, Schwarber has posted a -2 defensive runs saved value and has caught 18 percent of base stealers (MLB average is 28 percent) across the two seasons when the Cubs gave him an opportunity to catch. In 2015, he posted a -0.8 DRS which was 72nd best out of 74 catchers with at least 100 innings of work that season (WARNING: A bit of a small sample size for Schwarber).

His pitch framing and game calling remain very raw, and he gave up two passed balls and eight wild pitches in just 136 innings in 2015. In his defense, Schwarber did catch 34 percent of would-be base stealers in 72 games during his minor league career. So, maybe there is potential there with his arm although he hasn’t proven that it will translate cleanly to the MLB level.

As most people know by now, Schwarber’s ideal MLB niche would be as a designated hitter on an American League squad. However, if the Cubs plan to keep around, they must either commit to his development behind the plate (and the growing pains that come with it), or permanently relegate him to a corner outfield position like they’ve done for most of his MLB career thus far.

Even through his struggles, Schwarber’s calling card has always been his power. As long as he can become a serviceable catcher, placing him there every so often to relieve Contreras would be a good strategy for the Cubs.

Victor Caratini

The 23-year-old Puerto Rican’s initiation at the MLB level hasn’t gone according to plan thus far, although we are dealing with a super small sample size.

In four games and six plate appearances, he is still searching for his first MLB hit. On Friday, he received his first MLB start and committed one error and allowed two base stealers as the Cubs catcher that night.

Caratini has spent four seasons in the Cubs minor league system after the organization traded utility man Emilio Bonifacio and reliever James Russell to the Atlanta Braves to acquire him in 2014. This season with the Triple-A Iowa Cubs, Caratini posted a sizzling .343/.384/.539 slash line with eight home runs and 54 RBIs to go along with a healthy 14.8 percent strikeout rate. Coupled with his impressive showing at spring training earlier this year (.379 batting average and a 1.175 OPS), the Cubs felt like Montero’s excommunication provided an opportunity for Caratini to play at the MLB level.

Caratini was a bit of a journeyman defensively during his minor league career. He spent time at both corners of the infield, although catching was his primary focus. If he does stick around with the Cubs, he will likely have to play catcher to receive playing time since Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant block him at his other two positions.

If this happens, he must improve defensively as a catcher. Although he nabbed 28 percent of base stealers at Triple-A Iowa this season, most experts regard him as a below-average defensive catcher.

A passable receiver with average raw arm strength, Caratini’s defensive shortcomings lie with his ball blocking and immobility. But he’s an excellent hitter from both sides of the plate (but especially from the right side) and projects for an above average bat without the game power to profile at first base. Scouts consider Caratini a species of player more commonly found in the American League, one who can DH, play some first base and occasionally put on his catcher’s gear. He could make for an interesting trade chip in July.

-Per FanGraphs writer Eric Longenhagen

Like Schwarber, Caratini’s value lies in his offense and he remains a major project defensively. It’ll be interesting to see if the Cubs give him an opportunity to develop his skills at this position or outright abandon his future at catcher in favor of developing him at another position (probably outfield). In another scenario, the Cubs could use him as a trade piece to acquire starting pitching prior to the deadline.

If Caratini can carry over his hot hitting to the MLB level, that may be enough to convince Cubs executives that having him as Contreras’ backup would benefit the organization.

Help From Beyond the Organization?

MLB.com writer Jon Paul Morosi reports that the Cubs are interested in acquiring resurgent Detroit Tigers catcher Alex Avila prior to the 2017 trade deadline on July 31.

The 30-year-old has resurrected his career this season, posting a career-best .315/.431/.586/1.017 slash line after averaging a .216/.331/.354/.686 slash line over his previous four seasons.

He’s caught in 35 games this season, accumulating a sparkling 38 percent caught stealing rate but has only posted a 0.5 DRS at this position.

The problem with Avila from the Cubs perspective is that he is 30 years old and his current contract expires after this season. The Cubs probably don’t want to give up assets to acquire him as a rental piece when there are much more pressing issues to address on this team (starting pitching). Offering him an inflated free-agent contract based on one good season seems irresponsible as well since the Cubs will have so many other high-priority players that they’ll need to find money for in the coming years.

Avila likely will not be the Cubs answer to the backup catcher problem. The team has committed to the process of nurturing their young catchers, and signing or trading for an older player diverts from this plan.

What to Do?

The big question the Cubs must ponder as they consider a long-term solution at the backup catcher position is how much they are willing to sacrifice defensively for players with huge offensive upsides. When it comes down to it, we are talking about a backup catcher who will make spot starts defensively at this position throughout the season. You want these guys to be serviceable defensively, but they don’t have to be Yadier Molina behind the plate to bring value to the team.

That’s why having Caratini as a backup catcher and playing Schwarber in the outfield while using him as an emergency third catcher is a best-case scenario for this team. The Cubs are in the unique position of having three, hyper-talented young catchers on the roster, and shouldn’t press their luck by committing to other unproven players outside the organization to take their places.

Unless the Cubs can acquire an MLB-proven, younger catcher that makes sense in the context of where this organization is trying to head, Caratini and Schwarber look like the duo the Cubs will rely on moving forward to catch behind Contreras.

Paul Steeno spent 11 years pretending he was good at running. After hanging up the track spikes and officially becoming an elite hobby jogger, he decided to do something that he was actually good at: like writing about the Cubs. He is also a perpetually frustrated Chicago Bulls fan. This one time he got super lucky and ran 3:52 in the 1500 meter run.