20. Juan Centeno, C 
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 170
DOB: 11/16/1989 (Age: 24)
Bats/Throws: Left/Right
Hit: 40/60 Power: 30/35 Arm: 65/65 Field: 70/70 Speed: 35/35
Centeno, our defensive wizard of a catcher, is a guy who clocks the best release time to second base out of all the catchers in our organization. Even though his arm isn’t a complete rocket, he has great baseball instincts and really plays the hell out of the catcher position. The problem, however, is that he provides very little offensively. He has two career home runs in over 1,000 minor league plate appearances, so it’s evident that he’ll be lucky to hit one home run a year. He chokes up on the bat and has a pretty small strike zone, however, so I don’t think it’s impossible that he could become polished enough to hold an average around .290 in the MLB.
Centeno played 77 games in 2013 across Double-A, Triple-A, and the MLB team. He went 3-for-10 in his limited time with the Mets. Centeno called some solid games across both Double-A and Triple-A levels, and posted a .301/.339/.373 over 236 at-bats. He enjoyed a little more success in Triple-A.
Outlook: Defensively, Centeno will find himself a job in the major leagues. He’ll definitely be a back-up somewhere — and that could be with the Mets. He could even find himself a starting position with a lower-end team that values defense that much, especially if he can hold his average steady. I always enjoy watching players with a high baseball IQ play the game, and Centeno is certainly no different. The Mets will likely re-sign Anthony Recker and start Travis d’Arnaud at catcher next year, so I figure he’ll stick it out in Triple-A until he’s needed.
(Photo Credit: Gordon Donovan)
MMN Top 40 Prospects
20. Juan Centeno
I disagree that Centeno provides very little offensively. He provides very little power. There´s a difference. His career minor league BA is .274 and OBP .326, which is OK but not great, but he hit .300 this year with a .339 OBP in his age 23 season at AA and AAA. All in all, that´s not bad for a very good defensive player at a key position.
I’m slightly worried about how his average will hold up in the MLB, but I can see your point.
If he can keep the numbers in the MLB around his numbers in the minors, then you’re right for sure. I’m just hesistant to believe.
I understand the uncertainty completely, and I agree. The vast majority of players are far from sure things, and could either crash and burn or rise to the MLB challenge. As with most players we´ll just have to wait and see. But to me Centeno has a good chance of being a decent backup catcher, especially as he hits lefty.