The Red Sox have had extensive internal discussions about John Buck and are expected to pursue him aggressively in case Victor Martinez signs elsewhere, according to Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com. Boston’s front office expects the Tigers to make a “major push” for Martinez.
The Red Sox have Jarrod Saltalamacchia, but will likely add a second catcher since Martinez and Jason Varitek are free agents. Buck, who would not cost a pick to sign, batted .281/.314/.489 with 20 homers for the Blue Jays last year after the Royals non-tendered him. The 30-year-old threw out 28% of would be base stealers and made the All-Star team for the first time in his career.
The Blue Jays will have Jose Molina and J.P. Arencibia in uniform next year, but they haven't ruled out bringing back Buck or Miguel Olivo (who became Blue Jays property in a surprising trade last week). Toronto will obtain a supplementary first round pick if Buck declines arbitration to sign elsewhere.
Two years in a row the Red Sox grab Blue Jay cast-offs? 🙂
In all seriousness, Buck is definitely a good guy, and was very popular in his short time in Toronto. Personality-wise, he’d be a good fit in Boston. He has ridiculous power, though he’s quite the streaky hitter, so he takes some patience.
As much as I would love to see Vmart in a Tiger uni I have a bad feeling we are the team who would offer a 4 or 5 year deal. And if we don’t get Magglio back this season than Vmart doesn’t help our offense that much more since they put up roughly the same numbers (.300 avg, 20 homers, 100 rbi).
Although Vmart is obviously the more proven and better all around hitter…Buck is a great cheaper option and he is better at throwing out runners. If they lose Vmart, they get a pick for him and then sign Buck without surrendering one. That would be a good situation for them.
Who gives a Buck?
Buck that man! He has the AL East experience! I give a flying Buck!
Bucking A’ Man
Not Alexis Rios. That’s for sure.
???
I wouldn’t mind seeing him coming in as a backup in hopes V-Mart resigns. Could be interesting how the catching spot plays out for the Sox. Maybe even if V-Mart was to resign move him to first and start Buck behind the plate with Youk at 3rd? Many different directions Theo can go.
Don’t the Sox want Salty as their starter? If Vmart resigns, then Buck won’t be comin to Boston.
We don’t know that for sure.
I think the Sox would love Salty to be their starting catcher, but are not willing to take the chance that it would work out until they see more of him.
V-Mart is at best average offensively for a first baseman and below average defensively, add to that the move to third for Youk and the defense is worse all around while also lessening the offensive production overall. If the Sox are serious about Buck it pretty much means V-Mart is off the radar, the only reason to bring him back is to catch, any other position he is average at best.
Alright, I’ll agree with you on that, that V-Mart is below average defensively but at some point in the near future Youk will be playing third. I’m not so sure he’s going to be a downgrade at third so the defense will probably be fine. Whether it’s Martinez at first or somebody else.
You are right that Youk will likely be playing third at some point, and while he may be more than adequate at third his defense is certainly more of an asset at first so moving him to third will drop the defensive potential from him as well as at first with V-Mart, I really think that there are only 2-3 players that are worth moving Youk to third for and none of them are named V-Mart. You could make the case that if you can’t trade for Fielder or Gonzalez and lose out on Beltre that V-Mart could play first for a year until you get a shot at Gonzalez and fielder in Free agency, but you wont get V-Mart for just 1 year so what do you do with him after that? He would make a lousy DH in my opinion and would undoubtedly be paid more than even a good DH.
In my opinion the ideal thing would be to trade for either Fielder or Gonzalez, after that would be bringing Beltre back and if you can’t do either of those I think you look for someone to bring in as a stop gap until the trade deadline or next off season. If people are a little iffy on Pena maybe they could try the same thing with him that they did with Beltre this year, bring him in for one season which lets him rebuild his stock, fills the one year gap to the big free agent first baseman, and has potential upside for the Sox for next season.
I’d prefer someone who wouldn’t take away as much time from Salty.
I like Buck he had some good power numbers last year in Toronto. Hitting at Fenway regularly he would probably put up good numbers. I still would like the Sox to resign V-Mart he has been nothing but awesome since he came to Boston and he stated during the season that he wanted to stay. Theo and Co do not seem to value him as much as they should.
Buck would be a nice fill in until Salty finds his footing in the bigs. Only thing I’m wondering is what type of contract they’ll give him. I’m guessing 2-3 years, 15ish mil.
I have been hoping they would go after Buck. Agreed that a 2-3 year deal should be fine hopefully Salty will progress but he’s already 25 and still have a lot left to prove.
Yea, he does have a lot to prove, but who’s to say one year they put Salty as starter and Buck as back up, that could be the situation next season. I like Salty, but he’s gotta get himself together before he starts in Boston
Buck has already said he doesnt want to be a back up or he would resign in Toronto!
He would start this year for sure. At that point, if Salty looks like to could be the starter, Buck would be highly tradeable.
I’m not quite sure Theo Epstein would appreciate Buck’s 21:104 BB/K ratio last season… He’s just a younger version of Rod Barajas, a catcher with nice pop, horrible plate discipline and so-so receiving skills.
I think that’s perfectly fine for a bottom hitter.
Besides, not many catchers are great hitters and able to play defense well. If Buck had good OBP, he would probably be an elite catcher.
bang on
Let’s try for mike Napoli and Russel Martin before we sign buck. It will be sad to see vmart in a new uni. I loved watching him in a sox uni.
The reason they would really want Buck is because his defense is better than both of theirs and he brings decent offense. Sure his OBP sucks but he would make a great #9 hitter on that team.
Disagree…Russell Martin is fine at catcher and would be an upgrade over Victor defensively (obviously). Buck doesn’t fit the Red Sox style with all the K’s and no patience. The guy had a good year last year, but let’s not forget he was very mediocre over his career and basically wasn’t good enough to stick in KC. Even in a supposed great year he had over 100 ks and under 20 walks…I just don’t see him as a Theo player. Martin represents a guy who would fit perfect in Boston imo, and was an elite catcher. He’s still fairly young and I think a change of scenery, especially Fenway, would do him good. They don’t need pop out of the bottom of the order, they would be much better served with a guy like Martin.
Allard Baird loves him some John Buck
It would be nice to have a catcher who can throw a runner out…
I think Buck is the front-line for the Rangers in 2011 with Treanor (Misty-Mays husband for those of you who may only have watched the ALCS and WS) as the backup.
That’s it, spend spend spend on a guy who has had another career year at age 30.
Buck had a career year, he hit 37 points higher than his next best year, more homers than any other year. His OBP and K/S ratio are horrible. He threw out 28% of baserunners-average number. Sounds like a suckers play to me. I dont know why the Sox should be so hot to get him.
Sounds like everyone finally realizes how bad Vmart is defensively. Sign him as a firstman-MAYBE. I would look for other options.
Salty hasn’t proven anything with any club yet. He’s 25, that’s the good news. Maybe he can get it together with the Sox.
So what do the Sox do about catching? Not Vmart. Maybe 1 year for Buck, but he will get at least 2-3 years from someone. I haven’t heard Variteks name much, maybe that’s a sign. I say resign Varitek and put Salty in there to see if he can handle it. Might be a good combo.