With just under 3 weeks until pitchers and catchers report, the Boston Red Sox still have one glaring need. They need a starting catcher. As of yesterday, the only news about the Jason Varitek situation was that there was no news. So what does that mean for the Boston Red Sox.
As Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald points out, if the Red Sox don’t sign the Captain, they could either go with two of the following three catchers in Josh Bard, George Kottaras and Dusty Brown. Or they could make a trade for a younger catcher. As we know the names the Red Sox have been linked to in the past are Taylor Teagarden and Jarrod Saltalamacchia of the Texas Rangers and Miguel Montero of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Of course to make one of those trades, the Red Sox are going to have to give up a top quality pitching prospect. The question to me is it worth it to trade somebody like Clay Buchholz, Michael Bowden or Daniel Bard. Or should the Red Sox try and get a deal done with Varitek.
Here’s what Silverman has to say about the three catchers who be available via trade:
In Montero, it would undoubtedly be his catching and pitch-calling skills. Randy Johnson in particular is said to have been high on Montero as a catcher, and other Arizona veterans enjoyed throwing to him.
Offense is not a problem for Saltalamacchia, who has the potential to become a force with his bat. He is still developing catching-wise but, as the youngest of the three, time is on his side. Few would project him to become the type of defensively accomplished catcher that Montero is, but his offense – high on-base, slugging, average capability – could be of a special caliber.
Teagarden offers the most complete package, blending better catching skills than Saltalamacchia and better offense than Montero. That is likely why he would command a more expensive return in prospects, the same reason why his name is heard less frequently than Saltalamacchia or Montero.
While I’m no baseball expert, I really think the Red Sox would be better served with Tek behind the plate. Something in my gut tells me that the Red Sox pitching staff just wouldn’t be the same without him. Yes I know eventually at some point things are going to have to change but as I said last night, I really think this team can go really far this year with Varitek behind the plate.
If I had to choose between one of those 3, I probably take Saltalamacchia. I like the fact that he’s a switch-hitter and the youngest of the bunch at 24 (Teagarden is 25 and Montero is 26).
However, I do like the numbers that Teagarden put in a brief amount of time in the big leagues last year. In just 16 games, he hit .319 with 6 home runs, 17 RBIs, .396 OBP and .809 SLG.
You have to figure that in the next week or so, we should know what the Red Sox catching situation will be.
In other Red Sox news, Daniel Barbarisi of the Providence Journal takes a look at the revamped 2009 Red Sox bullpen.
Former Red Sox infielder Bill Werber died at the age of 100.
Gordon Edes of Yahoo! Sports takes a look at the 2009 Red Sox.
The Red Sox introduced a luxury limo package to the games for just $2,500.
Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe sees the Red Sox opening day payroll at $135 million.
Gary Marbry of WEEI.com has nugget-style reviews of Clay Buchholz and Jed Lowrie.
The Red Sox and Lee County have trimmed down the list of potential sites for the new spring training complex to nine.
Please take a moment to vote in the poll in the sidebar above the calendar about the Red Sox catching situation.
