Mariners' fuzzy catching picture may take time to clear up

At a position where the Mariners can't afford uncertainty, nothing is for sure with their catching at this point in the offseason.

Rob Johnson has undergone surgeries on each of his hips, plus his left wrist, and the Mariners will treat him lightly the first few weeks of spring training.

Adam Moore, while impressive throughout his minor league career and the six games he played for the Mariners in September, needs regular playing time to continue his development. It could happen in Seattle or back at Class AAA Tacoma, but the bottom line is that he can't sit on the bench.

All that is in addition to Kenji Johjima's decision to forgo the final two years of his Mariners contract and go back to Japan.

That's why the Mariners have catching on their shopping list this offseason, and while they would love to land a star in his prime who can receive/block/throw/lead/hit, the last we looked nobody's going to pry Yadier Molina from the Cardinals anytime soon.

What should the Mariners do?

First, they hope Johnson continues what seems to be good progress from his surgeries.

"My understanding is that he'll be ready to go opening day," manager Don Wakamatsu said. "Not Day 1 when he comes in (at spring training), but all the medical reports look good and indicate that he's ahead of schedule. But we're going to be extremely cautious with him the first two weeks of spring training."

And even if Johnson is ready for the opener April 5 at Oakland, the Mariners wouldn't mind pairing him with an experienced catcher. There are a few that stand out on the free-agent list -- Jason Kendall, both Benji and Jose Molina, Gregg Zaun, Miguel Olivo and Pudge Rodriguez.

"Will we be looking for somebody else?" Wakamatsu asked. "A lot of it is a big puzzle right now."

The Mariners' greater priority is to find a left fielder, third baseman and first baseman, and while defense is important at all those positions, a big bat is a necessity. Because of that, catching could fall behind those needs from a salary standpoint.

"If we sign a big free agent, we may have to look at other areas where we go young," Wakamatsu said. "It might be the catching. But I don't have the pie. I don't really know what ownerhship is looking to spend."

The most often-mentioned free-agent catcher linked to the Mariners this offseason is 38-year-old Mike Redmond, who has been Joe Mauer's backup with the Twins. He's a Seattle native, a Gonzaga University graduate, an 11-year veteran and would bring a cohesive presence to the clubhouse and leadership on the field. He made $950,000 this year with the Twins.

"He's an awesome person and a great guy to have in the clubhouse," said R.A. Dickey, a former Mariner who pitched most of last season with the Twins. "One, he has experience. Two, he's got a really good perspective on things. He really relates well with a lot of different types of players. He has a great sense of humor, he's a good people person and he's very down to earth.

"He doesn't make waves and he accepts his role. He's been behind Joe Mauer for few years now. He doesn't have an ego, or at least he doesn't let his ego get in the way, because I guess all of us have an ego. He's hungry to teach. He's almost like a manager and I think he wants to do that someday. He's a Crash Davis type, but he's a heck of a player, too."