There’s been a lot of sexy names thrown around by fans and pundits alike for who will be the Red Sox’s starting backstop in 2009. Names like Miguel Montero, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Russell Martin have at one point or another been a focal point of discussion. Joe Mauer recently joined the list amid news the Red Sox were “salivating” over Mauer once he hits free agency in 2011.
What if the solution has been staring us in the face all along?
What if the answer is Jason Varitek and George Kottaras?
Let’s start with Kottaras… bear with me for a second — I’m not intimating that Kottaras be anointed The Savior™or even the starting backstop for 2009, but the more I think about it, the more I can wrap my head around a Jason Varitek/Kottaras tandem for 2009 and 2010, with Kottaras either stepping in full time in 2010/11 or remaining in a backup role as the Sox acquire a yet to be determined catcher. (Or Luis Exposito, a guy I have my eye on, develops.)
Kottaras, 25, made his major league debut this past year after finally developing that home run power people had spoke of. Only hitting no more than nine home runs per level prior to 2008, he busted out for 22 in Pawtucket and increased his plate disclipline as well despite maintaining a .243 average, similar to 2007’s .241.
Plate patience had always been a part of Kottaras’ game, but that disappeared once the Red Sox acquired him in 2006 from the San Diego Padres for David Wells. Now having progressed enough where he is a solid all-around catcher, at least to be a backup, he could very well be Tim Wakefield’s caddy in 2009.
Kottaras has extensive experience catching knuckleballers, most notably catching Charlie Zink throughout his travails in a Red Sox uniform. He’s not very adept at throwing out runners, but that’s not much of a concern when catching a knuckleballer.
Bringing back Jason Varitek on a two-year pact is not the end of the world. He could continue to regress offensively, he could put up similar numbers or improve slightly. We don’t know the answer to that, but we do know how valuable he is as a leader of the pitching staff and as a pitch-caller.
There’s inherent value in that, even if not obvious. I’ve parroted this line before and I’ll parrot it again: there is more to the game than offense, which is the easiest and most quantifiable aspect. It doesn’t mean that a player should be judged solely on offense.
If Kottaras can serve as Wakefield’s personal catcher and give Varitek frequent days off in 2009, I would venture a guess that we’d have a very solid catching situation. In 2010, based on the performance of both players in 2009, the setup could either be the same, see Kottaras increase his playing time or see the Sox go in a different direction (signing Bengie Molina?)… in this situation, the Sox aren’t locked into anything.
Remember, Varitek didn’t entrench himself as a star until he was 29, the year he broke his arm diving for a foul popup which brought cult-hero Doug Mirabelli (Dougie’s Going Deep Tonight!) to Beantown for Justin Duchscherer. He struggled in his age 30 season and then realized his potential from 2003-5.
When you look at his career numbers, you realize that asid from those three golden years, he’s never been an offensive force. And he’s been a starter for 13 seasons. We don’t need an offensive force at catcher. We need someone who is dedicated to calling the game, someone who improves the pitchers, someone who pitchers inherently trust, someone who gives his all to the game. I see no better solution than Jason Varitek.
Don’t get me wrong, if we can acquire a Montero or Saltalamacchia, that would be great. They’re certainly better bets for the long-term than either Varitek or Kottaras, but if the price is too prohibitive, I fail to see how a Varitek/Kottaras combination would have a negative impact on the ballclub.
Kottaras’ “MLB player comparison” is Gregg Zaun, a longtime backup catcher who got a chance these last few years to log a lot of at-bats for the Toronto Blue Jays. Being compared to Gregg Zaun is not a slight — Zaun is a very good catcher and if he had been in the right spot at the right time, could have over a decade of being a fulltime starter. Having a career similar to Gregg Zaun would be wonderful for both the Sox and Kottaras. (Incidentally, I’m a big supporter of bringing in Gregg Zaun as either the starting catcher, backup catcher or platoon catcher, but that’s for another day.)
The month of January is where all the dominoes are going to start falling for the Red Sox and free agents. If we go into spring training with Varitek and Kottaras as our backstops, I’m happy with that. Some people won’t be, but I fail to see how this situation could be construed as a negative.
Tell us what you think of a Varitek/Kottaras combo in the comments. If trading for a catcher isn’t feasible for 2009, who would be your catchers?
Loading ...
Varitek/Kottaras is not enough.
The major hole in our lineup the catcher. The one true need we have is a good catcher, and if we don’t procure one of those, our offseason will have been a failure. We don’t NEED Tex, and we don’t absolutely NEED a 5th starter, but we NEED a catcher, no ifs ands or buts.
Not to mention the price Boras apparently wants us to pay for Varitek’s services. For that kind of money, Boras and Varitek can both go to hell.
Completely agree with Sam K.
I like Kottaras as a backup, but I think re-signing Tek will be a huge mistake. Cash has been nothing but the personal caddy of Wake, so I think Kottaras can be an improvement over him. He has experience with the knucle-ball, and has a better bat than Cash.
But re-signing Tek is another story. He is awful. He is in the decline from before this season and he is only gonna get worse. And, with Boras as his agent, he is not going to be cheap either. Guys like Montero, Shoppach or Saltalamacchia are going to be expensive, but we will be paying for quality and for a NEED. There is nothing wrong in paying high, when you have quality in return, and when you are filling a hole. Teixeira was a luxury, but acquiring a high-quality catcher is a necessity. There is no bigger need on the team, and there is no better place to invest the resources.
With the Rays and the new Yankees, I don’t think we can survive with an automatic out in the lineup. So, there is no excuse to be cheap here.
Not sure that ‘Tek has a place back but if he does this combo be acceptable. I just think the Kottaras has always been more MLB comparable to Greg Myers in my estimation both offensively and defensively. Look at his swing along, and you can see Myers.
Not to mention re-signing Tek means losing the picks we can have when he signs somewhere else. That picks alone worth more than Tek. So, sticking with Varitek is a big mistake in many levels.
I don’t mind Tek back for another 2 years with one caveat, as soon as Joe Mauer becomes available whether through trade or free agency the Red Sox get him, no ifs ands or buts. No getting outbid last minute, no trying to posture only to see it blow up, just get him. If we set ourselves up for Mauer in 2 years and then fail like with Teixeira it will have even longer lasting implications. Also signing Zaun and then getting the picks for Tek would be nice, but again only if the Sox don’t let themselves be outbid for Mauer.
By the way, I had no idea that we traded Duchscherer for Mirabelli, that was a terrible trade in retrospect. I never understood Mirabelli’s fame, he didn’t do a single thing well, seemed like a total meathead, and he was a chicken parm sub away from exploding. Top that off with being included in 2 of the worst trades in the last 10 years, Duchscherer and when they re-acquired Doug from the Padres (giving up Bard who could be solving our catching questions right now and Cla Meredith) and Doug has done a lot of damage in the long-term
Man, I can’t believe how many V-Tek haters post here. I agree, at the plate he was sometimes painful to watch last year. BUT, for the love of all holy people, do you remember what happened to our team ERA in August ‘06 when ‘Tek went down? Until his painfully slow bat hurts the team more than his ability to call a game, he should play.
Come on ‘Tek, re-sign already.
or maybe the team ERA went down because everyone was already packing it in. I understand Variteks value and I like him, but the game-calling is really overrated. If he was so good, why hasn’t he figured out that Papelbon has a splitter
If Varitek returns, it’s more troubling than the .230/.300/.330 line he puts up, or the $12m we’d be paying him. It means that we didn’t even attempt to find any other solution for a glaring problem with the club.
Varitek for 5m or fewer $$ for a year would be a basically acceptable deal. The contract that he is likely to sign with the Sox is 2 or 3 years for over $10m/per, making it one of the dumbest contracts I can reasonably consider.
We don’t need the catcher for the next 11 years here, like we got in that ridiculous Slocumb deal. We need a guy who can catch a ball behind the plate and hit at a league-average pace. Or, a guy who can actually throw people out at second while OPSing in the 6s.
I just want to see some creativity, not settling for what is easiest.
Wow, I guess I didn’t know that ‘Tek could demand that type of money. You’re absolutely right that 12M per year is too much. I was thinking 7 or 8 would be acceptable.
I’m thinking worst-case scenario. After some of the contracts thrown around lately, and after Lowell somehow got $13m a year, I figure anything is possible. He turned down arbitration at $10m a year, so that can’t be a good sign.
I want Tek back behind the plate. He was and is the captain and if you ever get to meet him he is a wonderful man. Who else can manage the pitching so well behind the plate? Certainly not Cash.. as a die hard Red Sox Nation member I always feel more confident in a game when Varitek was behind the plate.
Cash is a Yankee now, so there’s no point in discussing him further.
I feel more comfortable when we have players who can actually handle their position. A sub-.650 OPS is not going to help us compete in the hardest division in baseball history.
Lets not forget Dusty Brown put up an .850 ops in first season in triple-a (compared to .804 for Kotteras) and is actually considered a good defensive catcher. He has improved with the bat just about every step-up he has taken and is only a year older then Kotteras. Not saying I want to hand the position over to him but in a lot of ways he offers much more then Kotteras does.
Back to Evan’s main point. Kottaras or Brown have both matured into excellent hitters, with Kottaras more powerful and Brown more consistent, so far. Importantly, both can catch the knuckler, Wake and Zinc.
There is more. In platooning in 2008 they guided the PawSox to the postseason, caught Colon, Masterson, Buccholz, Bowden, etc., and guided Charlie Zinc to the “Best Pitcher in the IL” award, and Charlie and Pauley to 28W. They are, each of them, good catchers and more than competent backups. We could use their bats off the bench.
Tek/Kottaras or Brown would be fine. Shoppach’s 22HR & Kottaras’ 22HR would be better. Shoppach did pretty well by Cliff Lee in his break out 2008, is from the Sox system, and is the most ready to catch full time for this team.
I am NOT sold on Salty’d defense, nor Teagarden, a super-hyped Boras client; and Montero’s offense seems about the same as Kottaras,and are any of them really ready to take over from Tek? If not Tek, IMO Shoppach is by far our best alternative to start. Shoppach/Kottaras = .250/35HR. Big upgrade.
Brown would be an interesting get. I dunno, I think that way too many people are discounting the other parts of the game other than offense.
We’d already have Montero if we were willing to give up Bowden and eat Byrnes’ last year of his contract, but that’s obviously not happening.
We should be prepared to go into 2009 with Varitek and make any adjustments mid or post-2009.
I wouldn’t mind seeing Shoppach either, though he K’s alot. Kottaras works as a solid backup.
I don’t want to hate Varitek, and that’s why I don’t want to see him hurting the team for another season. I want to have good memories of him. Anything but Varitek. In fact, I preffer to see a platoon of Brown/Kottaras.
Saltalamacchia’s defense is certainly not great at this point, but some scouts say is up to par. The guy has only 23 years old (extremelly young for a catcher), and with some regular time behind the plate he is bound to improve. I like him a lot. The kid has been rushed and mishandled by Atlanta and Texas, but with more experience, I think this kid could be a truly special player. And that’s why I think would be a mistake losing the oportunity to get him. I’m ready to gamble on him.
I like Shoppach too. His defense look solid, and he seems to have 20-25 HR potential, so he is certainly a very good option too.
Back on the Dusty Brown point…Kelly Shopach put up an .859 ops (compared to .850 for Dusty Brown) in his age 25 season in Pawtucket. Both are good defensively, strike out 25-30% of the time, have 20-25 homerun power (Shoppach likely has a little more pop or at least longer track record as he advanced quicker with the bat where as Dusty is a late bloomer offensively). I like Shoppach quite a bit but would be hesitant to give up too much for him for these reasons. Not saying that next year Brown could post an .865 ops like Shoppach did in 2008 but if he could be close to .800 then I’d rather keep Bowden/Bard types.
Sean and I, for once, agree.
I certainly don’t hate Varitek. I’m just not emotional enough about the guy — and I’d have to be weeping bleeding screaming emotional — to pay himn the kind of money he’s asking for right now.
I’d much prefer signing Gregg Zaun to a cheap, short-term deal and picking up the draft pick for Varitek signing somewhere else than bring back Jason for the money he’s looking for. Heck, Varitek would have to be CHEAPER than Zaun for me to consider bringing him back the right move.
At this point in the offseason, I don’t know what other options the Sox have at catcher. I still like the idea of trading for the Diamondbacks’ Miguel Montero, but if it’s going to take more than just Bowden — and potentially require taking on Eric Byrnes’ contract — that doesn’t seem worthwhile to me. Similarly, I don’t know if the Sox can get any of the Texas catchers without giving up more pitching than they can afford to.
Unless Josh Byrnes comes around and is suddenly willing to trade Montero straight-up for Bowden, my preference would be to say good-bye to Tek — send a massive screw you to Boras in the process — and bring in Zaun as a short-term solution behind the plate.
If the Sox do end up trading Bowden for Montero, I think a three-year gamble on Ben Sheets would prove worthwhile. He’s no more of an injury risk than AJ Burnett, is better than Burnett when healthy, and would cost far less than the $82.5 million the Yankees gave him.
I agree with Daniel about Ben Sheets. In fact, I think we should sign him regardless of what we do about catching. We have a hole in the rotation and Buchholz and Bowden don’t seem quite ready yet.
But it’s obvious there is a synergy between pitching and catching, because if we get Sheets, we can exchange one of the pitching prospects for a catcher, without losing pitching depth. like I said before, that’s my favorite course of action. Our team + Salty and Sheets = very good.
Compare Salty’s number at his age with JJ Hardy or Craig Biggio, according to Baseball Reference:
Saltalamacchia: .261 BA .327 OBP .399 SLG
J.J Hardy: .246 BA .319 OBP .388 SLG
Craig Biggio: .247 BA .319 OBP .390 SLG
So, I think there is good reasons to be excited about Salty.
*This are numbers through 2 years
only reason to be excited if he’ll be a catcher in 5 years. Hardy and Biggio were/are middle infielders, if Saltalamacchia can’t catch, he would probably move to first where those numbers are downright awful
If we’re going to trade for a Texas catcher, I’d prefer Teagarden to Salty. Salty has more upside at the plate, but Teagarden has the bat to be a starting catcher in the majors, and is a better bet to stick at the position. When it comes to catching prospects — considering the dearth of good ones — I’d take safety over upside.
That said, I’d still prefer Montero to either Texas catcher, and am not at all averse to the idea of getting Zaun and a draft pick.
As for Sheets, it’s a lot more problematic to sign him if we bring back Varitek because both are Type A free agents. If the Sox bring Tek back, they won’t gain a draft pick, and they’ll also lose one to the Brewers if they sign Sheets. However, if they traded for a catcher or signed Zaun, they’d gain a draft pick from the team Tek eventually signs with, and thus still have a first-round pick even if they sign Sheets.
I’m actually not averse to potentially trading Buchholz for Teagarden or Montero if the Sox then sign Sheets and possibly Zaun to mentor him as well.
agree completely, well stated
All great points Daniel and, as usual, you hit the nails on the head. I know this is a circular argument against trading pitching for catching, but would someone please tell me who represents our pitching surplus???
In the Rotation I count 4 @ Fenway: Beckett, Daisuke, Lester, Wake, and 4 @ Pawtucket: Buchholz, Bowden, Pauley, Zinc. That totals 8 after using 12 last year. There is no surplus to trade.
Tazawa and Hagadone are not ready.
In the Pen I count Papelbon, RRammi, Masterson, Oki, MDC, Lopez with the 7th slot a competition among Aardsma, Hansack, Gronk, Littleton, Jones, Bard maybe Traber, McBeth, Gonzales. The Pen looks fine, but it would be unbeatable with Brian Fuentes & RRammi in the 8th.
We will only gain a surplus if we sign MORE pitching, and the only pitching we should sign would be superior pitchers (Sheets?), as Buchholz and Bowden are likely to be. Tek, Zaun, or Shoppach (for non-SP) + Kottaras or Brown would work for me.
Very clever, Daniel. The Sox have shown us, in recent years, how critical it is not to overlook the impact on draft picks when making your other moves.
I agree with Gerry as well. We have enough pitchers for our needs right now, but really we have no surplus unless we add a pitcher. Ben Sheets, literally, is our means to a catcher, because he fills the last spot in our rotation and at the same time gives us the surplus we need to trade one of our young pitchers.
As I’ve said before, we had one real need when this offseason began, and we still have one real need now. Ben Sheets is potentially a great addition anyway, but he’s even better when you look at him as the means to obtaining Varitek’s replacement. And probably we spend very little more money to have Sheets plus a young catcher than we would spend to keep Varitek with Bucholz in the rotation.
As I have stated in the #5 post, I’m also counting in a good draft pick for Tek. I’m completely in favor of signing Ben Sheets, and that’s another reason to let Varitek go.
I like Salty more than Teagarden. I admit Teagarden is less risky, because he is more mature defensively. But he has less upside, and looks more injury prone. Besides, I believe Saltalamacchia will stay behind the plate. Even if his defense is raw at this point, he has shown improvement, and I think he will be better with regular playing time. The guy is very young, and catching needs experience.
Good point, Sam. Examples
Tek + Kottaras + Masterson in the rotation = $10 – $14M.
Shoppach/Zaun + Kottaras + Sheets in rotation = $$12 – $15M.
Shoppach/Zaun + Kottaras + Masterson = $3 – $6M.
Question: Are you confident that Montero, Salty or TG are ready to start if Tek walks? Without Tek we need experience.
Both Zaun and Shoppach have moved from backup to starter. Because Shoppach is from our system, has a big bat to help offset the loss of Teixeira’s bat and possible injuries to our big hitters, he is my first choice. I can see Shoppach + Kottaras hit 30 – 35HR, as they combined for 44 last year platooning.
My guess is that Montero is definitely ready to start. He’s handled nearly half the catching duties for the Diamondbacks the last two seasons and been an effective enough platoon partner to deserve a look as a starter.
Teagarden is a bit more of a question mark. He’s ready defensively and will at least outhit the 2008 version of Varitek, but he was hurt for a decent chunk of last season, and although he hit well in a brief stint in the majors, he hasn’t really proven anything above the Double-A level.
As for Salty…his bat is either ready or on the cusp of being ready, but his defense may never come around. If we choose to go with Salty, we have to be prepared for the possibility of some rough times behind the plate, and — a year or two down the road — possibly even the need to move him to another position (most likely first-base). That’s why Salty is the riskiest of the three.
With that said, if the Sox go this route, I’d like to see them bring in a veteran backup, whether it’s Varitek in a part-time role, Zaun, or a cheap trade pickup like Brian Schneider.