January 11th, 2024 at 9:35 am 
by Ron Cervenka For those old enough to remember, back in the 80’s, the Avis Rent-A-Car company had a popular ad campaign slogan of “We Try Harder.” It was, of course, in response to (then) J.D. Power and Associates managing director of Travel, Hospitality and Marketing Michael Taylor’s (then) rental car company rankings and a show of professional respect by Avis to the (then) number one Hertz.
A lot has changed in the rental car industry since the 80’s. Per Forbes, Hertz now comes in at number four, with Avis fifth (keep on trying):
On Wednesday afternoon, MLB.com released their 2024 projected catcher rankings, with 28-year-old Dodgers catcher Will Smith coming in at Avis’ once “We Try Harder” number two position:
To be honest, coming in at number two (for the second consecutive year) is absolutely outstanding when you consider the tremendous catching talent and depth out there today.
(Norm Hall)
In addition to his remarkable defense, the extremely popular Louisville, KY native and Dodgers first-round draft pick in 2016 out of the University of Louisville is among the Dodgers best hitters, with a five-year MLB career slash line of .261/.357/.483/.848, 91 career home runs, and 306 career RBIs. His 19 home runs in 2023 ranked sixth on the team and his 76 RBIs fifth. He also threw out 19 would-be base stealers in 2023, for an excellent 21%.
On the other side of the coin, the brutally harsh truth is that with the on-going development of 26-year-old Dodgers catching prospects Hunter Feduccia and 22-year-old Diego Cartaya, there is a pretty good chance that 34-year-old/nine-year MLB veteran Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes, who is under a $3.5 million contract with the Dodgers for 2024 (with a $3.5 million team option for 2025), won’t see much playing time in 2024 – if any.
Play Ball!
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Smith suffered concussion, broken rib, and other assorted bumps and bruises during 2023 season, but still performed at All Star level. Dalton Rushing has, for now, moved ahead of Cartaya as a catching prospect and the best all around catching prospect in the system may be 20 year old Thayron Liranzo. With Busch now gone and no other LH hitting OF prospect close to being ready for the show, I will not be surprised to see Rushing learn to play the OF corners.