"The Rangers knew they had a commodity. The only way they were going to part with him was if some team grossly overpaid," says San Diego general manager Kevin Towers. "I don't blame (them). I'd do the same if I were in that position."

After failing to trade for Laird, San Diego signed free agent Mike Piazza, who says, "People say I can't throw that well, but I'm pretty good on offense. There has to be tradeoffs."

What's catching up with baseball is a catching shortage. Catchers with a balance of defense and offense are rare and even more difficult to develop. Teams usually give up one for the other for a simple reason: There are no other options.

"Saying there is a shortage of catchers is putting it mildly," Chicago White Sox GM Ken Williams says.

Florida is using Josh Willingham at catcher to get a strong bat in the lineup, even though he's still learning on defense. Cleveland's Ryan Garko is listed at catcher, but he's better offensively than defensively. He has moved to first base.

Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins is a rare commodity as one of the most promising young catchers in the major leagues. Mauer has the most potential to be the best overall catcher and an annual All-Star, assuming he stays healthy.

Mauer, 22, is a left-handed batter with good knowledge of the strike zone and an ability to hit to all fields and make adjustments, unusual traits for young batters. He batted .294 last season with nine homers and 55 RBI in 131 games; the Twins believe his power numbers will get better as he matures. He has a strong arm and excellent agility with good leadership skills.

Atlanta is the most loaded at the position, with Brian McCann, 22, in the majors and a blue chip at every level in the minors, including Jarrod Saltalamacchia, arguably the best catching prospect.

But Allan Simpson, editor of Baseball America, says of the four top catchers eligible for the amateur draft in June, no one is a lock to be a first-round pick: "There's no one out there with the total package."

That's not news for general managers. They say the limited supply of catching ability goes back to youth baseball, where coaches use their best athletes as pitchers, shortstops and center fielders. Players don't want to put in the work to learn the unglamorous squatting in the dirt behind the plate.

"If there are 10 or 12 catchers among the top 200 high school and college prospects, that's a lot," Colorado general manager Dan O'Dowd says.

"There is a 'Help Wanted' sign all over Major League Baseball," Williams says. "If high school and college players, particularly if they are left-handed, have some grit and determination, they should go behind the plate."

Latino catchers on the rise

Rich Hofman, Alex Rodriguez's high school coach in Miami, now at Westminster Academy in Fort Lauderdale, agrees the catching problem starts at the youth levels. He says high school players aren't as work-oriented and there's a lack of fundamentals instruction. In an age of traveling baseball teams, the emphasis is "showcasing kids and winning games. There is no development."

He says when kids get an opportunity to catch, some take the attitude, "I'll do it if I have to."

Hofman thinks the future of catching is in converting players from other positions. He says it is a stereotype to think of a catcher as a big, slow kid who can't hit. But moving a strong-arm shortstop behind the plate makes sense, "especially if the middle infielder can give you offense."

Jim O'Neill, Mauer's high school baseball coach at Cretin-Derham in St. Paul, hasn't seen a drop-off in the number of high school catchers in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, but he thinks that's because of Mauer's rise to success.

"A lot of kids want to catch because of Joe Mauer," O'Neill says. "Realistically, they know they aren't going to be a professional catcher, but they like the position and they want to learn about it."

Changing of the catcher On the way up: Brian McCann, 22, Atlanta Braves, .278 average, 5 homers, 23 RBI: Advanced for his age. Victor Martinez, 27, Cleveland Indians, .305-20-80: Offensive danger; needs better throwing to become complete package. Joe Mauer, 22, Minnesota Twins, .294-9-55: Lefty .300 hitter with power; All-Star seasons to come. Yadier Molina, 23, St. Louis Cardinals, .252-8-49: Best defense of the three Molina brothers; offense improving. Dioner Navarro, 22, Los Angeles Dodgers, .273-3-14: Strong defense; potential for 20-25 homers. On the downside of career: Mike Lieberthal, 34, Philadelphia Phillies, .263-12-47: Knee problems set in; production levels off. Javy Lopez, 35, Baltimore Orioles, .278-15-49: Has moved to 1B-DH. Mike Piazza, 37, San Diego Padres, .251-19-62: Can he rebound on West Coast? Jorge Posada, 34, New York Yankees, .262-19-71: Always better offensively, his top production is behind him. Ivan Rodriguez, 34, Detroit Tigers. .276-14-50: Future Hall of Famer. -By Mel Antonen

Houston catcher Raul Chavez, from Valencia, Venezuela, believes catcher is a trendy position among young players in Latin America. Eleven of the projected 30 starting catchers this season are Latino. Chavez, 32, says it is important to have Latino catchers on rosters.

"Because I think it shows (they) are smart and aggressive," he says. "This is an important position because you control the game. You have to be on top of everything and be sure to help out pitchers."

Chavez, a career .215 hitter, signed with Houston as a shortstop. But Bob Watson, then the Astros' general manager, told him early in his career that he should try catching. Chavez figured that would be his ticket to the majors, so he agreed.

Conversion to position not easy

Terry Steinbach, former All-Star catcher with Oakland, was a converted third baseman.

The Chicago Cubs' Michael Barrett is a current convertee. Barrett was a first-round pick by Montreal in 1995 as a shortstop. Instead of wanting to be a catcher, he "wanted to get to the majors and be like Cal Ripken Jr. while kids today want to be like Derek Jeter or Alex Rodriguez."

But buried on the depth chart among the Expos' infielders, Barrett switched to catcher and became the regular in 2001. He won the Silver Slugger award last season as the National League's best offensive catcher (.276, 16 homers, 61 RBI).

"The most difficult part of the transition is the endurance factor. A catcher is always squatting," Barrett says.

"It's physical because your legs give out by May or June and mental because a catcher has to learn to play when he doesn't feel good."

Conversions aren't for everyone. Barrett worked on catching with Cubs infield prospect Casey McGehee after he was drafted in 2003. A year later, McGehee turned in his shin guards.

"It's a completely different set of skills, and it wasn't for me," McGehee says. "You get beat up blocking balls. You throw differently. Your thumbs are sore, and your at-bats are secondary to what's going on. Even if you're on deck to bat, you have to be talking to the pitchers first about the previous inning or the next inning."

McGehee nailed the job description of a big-league catcher. Catchers have to strap on a few pounds of equipment, squat in the dirt 150 times a day, play through pain, be strong enough to lose eight pounds a game, be a psychologist, learn a pitching staff and forget about their own offense.

"You have to learn game plans for 12 or 13 pitchers on the staff," says Laird, who will back up Rod Barajas for the Rangers. "Adam Eaton and Kevin Millwood (will each) have a different approach to the same batters than Francisco Cordero."

Johnny Estrada, traded from Atlanta to Arizona, says there's so much to learn about his new pitching staff, "I might not feel comfortable until mid-April."

Must start learning in youth

Given the choice, managers will take a defensive catcher over a strong bat any day.

Milwaukee's catching is split by Damian Miller (.273 last year) and Chad Moeller (.206 in 2005). Miller learned the importance of defense in the minors from coach Phil Roof, a defensive-minded catcher in the 1960s and 1970s who played 15 seasons with a .215 career average.

Most catchers play the position today because they volunteered on their first youth teams. That's what happened to San Francisco catcher Mike Matheny, 35, growing up in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, east of Columbus. When Matheny was 10, he put on the gear and had his coach hit fungoes at him, teaching him how to block balls. He didn't like it.

"I was crying," Matheny says. "It also taught me the ball wasn't going to hurt much worse, but I wouldn't recommend that practice to anyone."

Not only was a work ethic drilled into Matheny, so also was a life-long love for catching. He can't imagine playing another position, and he can't stop calling games no matter if he's on the field or not.

"I was trying to set up hitters watching the World Series on TV," Matheny says, "so I didn't get to enjoy it. But when I called pitches, I enjoyed it. It's kind of hard to explain."