With the Major League Baseball trade deadline of July 31 rapidly approaching, fans and journalists alike are wondering what Theo Epstein and crew have up their sleeves.
Most are assuming that a move will be made to clear up the imminent traffic jam when John Smoltz returns to the majors next week against the Nationals. But maybe having too much pitching isn't much of a problem at all.
Others were saying that the lineup needed another big bat, but that's been quieted by David Ortiz's four homers and .342 average so far in the month of June.
And with a 40-25 record and a three-game lead over the Yankees
heading into Thursday's action, it's hard to find much fault — at any
position — with what the Sox are doing.
So what do you get for the team that has everything?
A future.
And in pursuit of a better baseballing future in the Hub, the Red
Sox need a new catcher to step in — not necessarily now, but in 2010
or 2011 — for captain Jason Varitek.
Let's get this straight, it doesn't have to happen now. After inking
a one-year deal in January for $5 million with a club option for 2010,
Varitek has blown his naysayers out of the water. The 37-year-old
slumped to a .220 average in 2008 with just 13 home runs and 43 RBIs in
131 games, but he's already hammered 10 dingers and driven in 25 in
just 43 games so far in '09. And you can't even quantify Tek's
defensive impact on the young Sox pitching staff.
In other words, the captain needs to stick around. But if Theo keeps
him around in 2010, he'll be 38, and that's pushing it, especially for
a backstop.
So with one eye on a title in 2009 and another eye on the future, how can the Red Sox address the catching situation?
Well, before Tek re-signed this winter, ESPN's Jayson Stark (and others) suggested that the Sox had "talked to the Rangers about Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Taylor Teagarden, to the Diamondbacks about Miguel Montero, and to the Mets about Brian Schneider. They also had kicked around a number of other names as fallbacks."
Schneider is 32 and is sitting on the Mets' DL, so he doesn't seem
to fit the bill as the catcher of the future. Teagarden (25) and
Montero (25) are closer, though neither youngster has impressed to this
point in '09.
Saltalamacchia (24) may have the biggest target on his back, despite hitting just .216 so far in June. The Globe's Tony Massarotti
said back on June 1 that "the absolute best-case scenario would involve
the Sox acquiring a younger and/or offensive-minded catcher ([like Victor] Martinez,
Jarrod Saltalamacchia) who could help them address needs in the both
the short term (offensively) and the long (behind the plate)."
A deal with the Indians for Martinez has been bandied about
as well, and as a catcher who can also play first base, he'd provide
some versatility. Maybe he could catch two or three games a week (while
sharing time with Kevin Youkilis at first and Ortiz at DH), Tek could catch two or three and George Kottaras could continue to catch knuckleballer Tim Wakefield.
The problem with V-Mart is that while he's arguably one of the top
three hitting catchers in the majors, he's already 30 years of age and
is less effective than Varitek behind the dish.
The perfect answer to the Red Sox' catching future would be Minnesota Twins' 26-year-old superstar Joe Mauer.
He's soon to be named to his third All-Star Game, he's a bear behind
the plate (he won his first Gold Glove in 2008) and … oh, can he hit.
He went 4-for-4 on Tuesday
to temporarily raise his batting average to a robust .429 and has
already tied his career high of 13 homers in just 43 games (he missed
all of April with a sore lower back).
Mauer's current contract with the Twins runs through the end of 2010
and will pay him $10.5 million this season and $12.5 million the next.
Projections of $20 million-plus per season and a long-term deal moving
forward aren't likely to scare off the Sox.
But those figures won't scare off the Yankees, either. And with Jorge Posada seemingly nearing the end of the line in the Bronx, the Evil Empire will similarly be looking to cement its catching future.
So maybe now's the time for the Sox to make a deal. Then they could
look into re-signing Mauer for the longer term in the offseason.
Especially if he hits .400.
How sweet would the 6-foot-5, 225-pounder look in a Red Sox uni for the next, oh, 12 seasons? Very.
But it's not likely to happen. "I have never really thought of playing somewhere else," the St. Paul native told MLB.com in March.
