As you well know, the Red Sox have picked up their 3-5 week catcher replacement in Javy Lopez. The Red Sox are sending 26 year-old outfielder Adam Stern to the Orioles in return.
Multiple reports mention that the Devil Rays could claim Stern as revenge for the Red Sox illegally talking to Julio Lugo’s agent. Ah, the drama. If the D-Rays try it the Red Sox can just send Stern as a player to be named later this winter.
Lopez makes $8.5MM in the last year of his deal. He’s another data point for not signing catchers over age 30 to multi-year deals. Didn’t work well for Jason Kendall, Mike Lieberthal, and many others. Jason Varitek declined drastically with the bat this season. No catcher on the market this winter will get a long-term deal, anyway.
