What kind of players do GMs covet most? You might be surprised

Imagine you’re a Major League general manager, tasked with the challenge of putting together a team from scratch. What position would you prioritize over all others?

A No. 1 starter? How about a stud shortstop? Perhaps a slugging center fielder?

We posed that question to a number of decision-makers earlier this spring, and none of those three accounted for the most common answer.

“I think if you have a catcher that can hit and play defense, that’s gold, because you’re so far ahead of everyone else roster-building-wise,” said Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer. “Everyone else is running out a guy hitting 8 or 9. If you have Will Smith, William Contreras, Willson [Contreras] when he was with us, Adley Rutschman -- that offense/defense catcher is a big deal.”

Most executives cited the importance of building up the middle of the field, and although shortstop and center field received multiple mentions, the importance of a premier backstop in the eyes of club architects was clear.Catcher touches everything, and it’s such a difficult position,” Rays president of baseball operations Erik Neander said. “Just a lockdown anchor there; the organizations that have one, it can be so franchise-changing.”

“[A catcher] can impact a game in so many ways,” Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said. “An impact catcher that can give you an edge on both sides of the ball, that’s a great way to start team building because you’re going to have such an advantage both defensively and offensively.”

The responses got us thinking: if the best catchers in the game are seemingly in such high demand, why do so few of the elite backstops test the free-agent market?

“Catching is incredibly hard to find,” Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix said.