A free-agent candidate to fill the Angels’ vacancy at catcher clicked off a conference call in December, and within minutes team officials knew they’d found their man.
It did not matter to them that information about the catcher’s defensive skills presented a negative case. It did not matter to them that his offensive production had slipped steadily for two consecutive seasons.
What mattered most, Jonathan Lucroy possessed in abundance. Once considered an elite receiver behind the plate, he had experience and knowledge of the game, two things the Angels lacked on their 40-man roster at the time.