RED SOX MAY BE FORCED TO TRADE FOR CATCHER

JARROD SALTALAMACCHIA

With the signing of Brian McCann by the Yankees this past weekend Jarrod Saltalamacchia finds himself the number one 'free agent' catcher left available.

Where does this leave a Boston Red Sox team that refuses to budge from a two year deal for 'Salty' ?

It leaves them looking for a catcher. And with each passing moment it looks like they may have to downgrade from Saltalamacchia's performance last season.

There are only two other 'free agent' catchers the Red Sox could sign and both would be less than what they had last year.

A.J.Pierzynski will be 36 by the start of next season but he has played in at least 125 games every year since 2002. He hit 44 home runs the past two seasons and threw out 33 percent of runners who attempted to steal last season. Some say Pierzynski has a bad personality and can be a distraction in the clubhouse.

Dioner Navarro had a good season last year but he's considered a poor defensive catcher and not very durable.

Beyond these two the only other option is to obtain a catcher by trade.

The Red Sox have a abundance of pitching but it's hard to speculate who they might trade for. Unlike 'free agents' GM's are not advertising who they have on the trade market.
One name that is out there is Ryan Hanigan who may be on his way out of Cincinnati now that the Reds have signed Brayan Pena. If he becomes available he has a career .359 OBP and is considered an 'elite' defensive catcher.

Ben Cherington was coy about his plans yesterday,"I guess that leaves us still talking. We have interest in a handful of free agents. We've also talked to teams about trades. And we think we're in a pretty strong position long-term with the young catching we have here in the organization and so we have,we're in a position to be a little choosy,a little selective. If we could do something there,we'd love to. So we'll see what happens."

The final option of course is to re-sign Saltalamacchia.

But the Red Sox don't seem willing to sign a contract that doesn't fit the overall philosophy of two years. The Sox would have to at least go for three years to sign 'Salty'. The price tag should be about $ 30 million.

CEO Larry Lucchino said yesterday,"One of the lessons I learned a long time ago was that you can't fall in love with your veterans. You can't do that. That's not the way to run the railroad. We are not going to be a stand-pat team. That's just not the way we run the railroad here. That's probably a losing proposition every year. Every year has to have its own personality,composition as well as personality."

It's Ben Cherington's move.