Did I Hear Doumit Was Working Out at First Base?

I have an addiction.  The Pittsburgh Pirates radio broadcast has a hold on me.  The Pirate broadcast is the kool aid.  I am the sucker drinking it.  They have a cobra-clutch-like deathlock on my soul.  It doesn’t matter who is covering the game, I listen.

At one point last night around the fifth or sixth inning, Pirates announcer Greg Brown said something that sounded like this:

"I am curious how the Pirates will respond when asked about Ryan Doumit working out extensively at first base today. He spent a lot of time over there at first…"

Now I am insanely curious, did anyone else hear this?

Doumit is an above average hitter for a catcher.  As a first baseman, well come on.  I am confused.  Granted, getting out from behind the plate would certainly reduce the amount of times he takes a foul ball off the fingers, drops the third strike, and fails to get a good pop to second base .  I would have to believe that in a year or two, Doumit might not hit well enough to hold down a spot like first base.  Others will argue that he doesn’t pull enough power right now to hold down that position on a major league club.

But something is up.  Perhaps an offer is out there for the suddenly long ball hitting Garrett Jones?    The Pirates have a power-hitting catcher in Ryan Doumit who is under their control through the 2013 season.  Surely, that interests teams throughout the league as the trade deadline starts heating up very soon.

So why would Doumit be taking infield yesterday at first base?  What do you think?  Just keeping him loose I guess right Neal?

Jason Jaramillo seems like he could be an average catcher.  Neil Walker is capable and I bet  Walker would be thrilled to jump behind the dish again.  It could take a while for it to come back for him, but he has certainly been a fast learner at new positions, going back to catcher would be like an old guy having sex after a couple years.  It all comes back.

Also, don’t forget Luke Carlin (best Carlin picture ever) and Erik Kratz(.807OPS last season) are also playing well at AAA Indy.  Both Carlin and Kratz are advanced in age, but could be serviceable and each have some pop for the position.  So it certainly seems like the Pirates have more than enough catchers to keep the chest protector warm if the Pirates believe  Tony Sanchez is their Catcher of the Future.

So why keep Doumit around?