Hernandez was brought here for his glove, but he's not useless with the bat. We aren't talking Geronimo Gil here -- for one thing, Hernandez might actually be as good as his rep behind the plate, and for another, he can hit his weight.
The concerns with Hernandez mostly center on his durability the last two seasons, when he caught 108 and 97 games. He showed some good power, especially considering his home park, in both seasons, but last year his BB rate took a dive.
Numbers from the last four years:
AB AVG OBP SLG HR BB/K
2002 OAK 403 .233 .313 .335 7 43/64
2003 OAK 483 .273 .331 .458 21 33/79
2004 SDP 384 .276 .341 .477 18 35/45
2005 SDP 369 .290 .322 .450 12 18/40
That's the line, though this time I want you to include AB in your projection: AB, AVG/OBP/SLG, HR, BB/K. Since it's sort of a thin line, I'm going to include a yes or no question with it: Will Ramon Hernandez make a significant difference in the quality of our pitching staff?