10:50pm: Heyman adds, via Twitter, that the Orioles are not in the mix for Saltalamacchia.
10:05pm: The Diamondbacks, Rays and Royals are all discussing Saltalamacchia, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. It’s unclear if Kansas City’s interest has picked up at all between McCullough’s report and this latest update, though the Rays and certainly the D-Backs would seem to have a bigger need behind the dish. Like MacPherson yesterday, Heyman hears that the Red Sox aren’t in the mix.
4:14pm: The Royals have some interest in Saltalamacchia, but their interest is said to be very preliminary, according to Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star (on Twitter). As McCullough notes, GM Dayton Moore was the Braves’ director of player development when Atlanta drafted Saltalamacchia.
APRIL 28, 3:12pm: The Angels are not currently involved in trade talks while the Mariners are weighing internally whether to pursue him, Jon Morosi of FOX Sports reports (Twitter links).
APRIL 27: The Marlins have already had contact with five teams regarding Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reports on Twitter. GM Dan Jennings says that he expects to find a deal for the just-designated backstop.
Among the potential landing spots are the Red Sox, Indians, Mariners, and Diamondbacks, one source tells ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick (Twitter link). According to other reports, however, Boston is “unlikely” to be interested in adding the 29-year-old, as Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal tweets, even if it were able to add him for just the league minimum.
Saltalamacchia thrived in Boston, slashing a combined .243/.307/.455 during his four seasons there. Since earning a large free agent payday to join the Marlins last year, Saltalamacchia owns a fairly disapointing .209/.310/.351 line at the plate. That output, while still not bad for a catcher, was not enough to outweigh his lightly-regarded defensive work.
Nevertheless, Salty remains an interesting option for teams looking for a backup or injury replacement (as the above list would indicate). The switch hitter has been much more productive historically against right-handed pitching (.775 career OPS) and makes for a natural platoon mate for any right-handed swinging backstop.
Anyone know the five teams?
Arizona is one.
Oh, no.
They want a defensive catcher that can handle a pitching staff, and have one.
Did you read the article?
I didn’t see them
Red Sox, Indians, Mariners, and Diamondbacks. The 5th team appears to be a mystery.
That’s the team that just misses out on all the Free Agents.
Looks to be the Royals.
These four were listed on the early post… Among the potential landing spots are the Red Sox, Indians, Mariners, and Diamondbacks.
Red Sox, Indians, Mariners, and Diamondbacks. Curious as to who the mystery team is. Only time will tell.
Probably the Rangers since they have an obvious need there with Chirinos being a bit light in terms of hitting and the next best catcher behind him being Carlos Corporan.
Corporan hits about as well as Salty, if not better. He’s also younger and a better defender. No reason to go after Salty.
Maybe, unless JD thinks he can get Salty for cheap and that he can return to being decent.
The Phillies could use a improvement over Cameron Rupp as a backup and hope they can capture his better years.
Mini scouting report on Salty? How’s his defense? I’d rather have him than Recker.
His defence is unspectacular, to say the least.
That coupled with his embarrassing.089 avg it’s a wonder why any team is interested in this bum. Thrived in Boston ? Hitting .243 ? They just don’t make ’em like Fisk, Bench, Mumson anymore. Pathetic !
That .762 OPS in Boston is above average. Plenty of doubles and homers when he was here.
then sign the bum ! He’s a spare.
Yep, it’s pretty pathetic that all MLB catchers aren’t made like three of the greatest catchers of all time . . . pathetic!
Scary part, is remembering all those bounced throws to 2b and then the remainder way off to the far side of 2b, where pedey would have to lunge just to stop them from going off to CF. Well.. He’s still like that, as Marlin’s fans (of which I am also) will tell you and watch their games also, along with Boston’s. He really has no value at all, it he doesn’t hit SOME.
IMO? Leon serves a better purpose for the time being as he has a decent glove. Boston is better off avoiding any kind of a reunion, cause that bat has been gone since May of 2014.
Check his stats.
When d’Arnaud comes back, there hopefully won’t be a need for Recker.
He draws walks and hits a few homers, defense has never been good. Classy move by the Marlins to release him while he was celebrating the birth of a child.
The Indians need a catcher until Gomes comes back – in 3-5 weeks. Can’t see them talking on his contract till the end of 2016. Then again, they love switch hitters, put no value on defense at all, and can’t get enough DH’s.
DBacks I can’t see, Red Sox I don’t understand, but the Mariners might be possible.
I would love to see the Indians put Salty at DH. I’m a Tigers fan.
There are reasons the Diamondbacks would make sense. But then, they already passed on the opportunity to upgrade their catching at a similar cost when it presented itself in the offseason, and did so repeatedly. Changing direction and going after Salt now would be an odd choice.
Ya the Diamondbacks are happy to have Pacheco and Gosewich fake their ways on a big league roster for a while, as well as have Trumbo fake being an outfielder and Tomas riding the pine. Top flight roster construction.
The BoSox could deal Allen Craig for Salty I would think. Though Craig’s contract may be worse than Salty’s.
Dont really see how Salty is an upgrade over Hanigan. I also think Craig has more value at the moment.
Yeah, I guess a guy batting .088 isn’t an upgrade on one batting .168!
Batting average through fifteen games does not a reliable sample size make.
True, Hanigan’s .198 and .218 over the last TWO YEARS is a much better indicator that the Red Sox traded Middlebrooks for nothing!
The purpose of hitting is to avoid outs. Ryan Hanigan avoids outs well. Batting average tells us little as to how effective a hitter is. You’re a Red Sox fan, you should have already read Bill James.
If you want to quote any stat, give me anything except batting average. Hanigan gets on base (for a catcher) and is a good defensive catcher. Remember, catchers mostly can’t hit much anyway.
Rays could be a team, especially if the price is right or they wait until he is released.
nope we like rene rivera, wilson is doing a good job as backup and we have justin o conner in the minors
And Curt Casali. Casali would be called up before O’Conner. They even have the recently signed JPA.
The Rays appreciate the value of pitch framing as much as any team in baseball. They’re one of the least likely teams to be interested in Salty. Miami needs a team like the Diamondbacks who think grit wins games.
So… How about another former-Ranger-coming-home?
Lol, jk.
.243/.307 is thriving?? Really?? Guess compared to the last 2 years, sure…
You’re leaving out the last part of the triple-slash. It’s a good line for a catcher.
Wonder if the mariners would take a crack at him. Need a better backstop than Sucre.
boston
Yikes! there are actually teams out there where Jarrod Saltalamacchia is an upgrade!?
I’m glad that the Yankees have a good backup in John Ryan Murphy.
Good thing we got depth beyond him too with which to trade from. But catching has always been an area of depth for them in recent history.
For 1-2 MM a year he’s worth taking a chance on. Miami is going to have to eat most of his contract and get nothing in return eitherway
Salty or Ianetta? ugh sad this is the question.
Catcher who has been bad for 17 games or a catcher who has been bad for 123 games? That’s hard to answer.
Iannetta is bad? A catcher with a career 354 OBP? He’s a way better hitter than most catchers.
I can’t see anyone giving up much for Salty. Austin Romine passed waivers unclaimed and he is a much better defender. Salty had his contract year and thats all she wrote for his bat. At least before that he used to hit for a couple of months to start the season, now he is not doing that. Super nice guy though, good clubhouse presence so someone will give him a job even if they won’t pay much for him
BTW the new front page is scary scary bad. Hope that’s just a temporary thing.
Man I didn’t realize just how awful a hitter Tuffy Gosewisch is – career 207/229/263 hitter. I’ve watched a handful of games and he looks okay behind the plate, but this guy is not a starting catcher. Can’t quite figure out why the Diamondbacks wouldn’t want to upgrade there, but maybe they want that 1-1 in next year’s draft.
Salty would be good in Tampa to fill in for Jaso while he’s on the dh. He always did well at the Trop. Could be a good, cheap, rent.
Salty would probably go to cleveland maybe but thats just my opinion