The Diamondbacks are expected to agree to terms with catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports on Twitter. Saltalamacchia must first clear release waivers, which will occur today, before he can reach formal agreement.
Saltalamacchia, 30, was released by the Marlins in the early going this year despite still having two years and about $14MM left on his contract. Miami will be left with those obligations since the club was unable to find a taker for some of his salary.
Of course, that means that the veteran backstop offers an essentially free opportunity for other clubs to add a power left-handed bat behind the dish. (The switch-hitter has always fared better against righties.) Though he has had his struggles defensively, Saltalamacchia remains as intriguing a player as can be hoped for in early May.
All said, linking up with Arizona makes eminent sense for both sides. The D’Backs’ catching situation has been even worse than expected, with starter Tuffy Gosewisch scuffling badly offensively. The team has little to lose and plenty to gain by installing Saltalamacchia in some kind of timeshare.
Think Tuffy knew…went 3 for 4 last night! And, stole a base!
They should have known that they needed a better catcher than Tuffy way before the season started.
The did. They also thought they had one. Sadly, now they are signing Salt to a minor league deal to get him read to take over for Tuffy, despite the fact that Salty might actually be even worse.
There weren’t too many good options out there after they traded Montero. Fans of teams not named the Diamondbacks keep cheer leading a Molina trade, but that is never going to happen. They are not willing to give up assets for a DH posing as a catcher.
Molina is a decent defender and an awful hitter…total opposite of a DH
He might be decent as a platoon player hitting only again righties. Tuffy, Ahmed and the pitcher’s spot have been brutal for the DBacks offense. Ahmed is a good SS, but needs time at AAA to work on contact. Move Owings back to SS and plug Hill in at Second and with Salty against righties the offense is a lot more balanced.
Tuffy can handle a running game. His offense, while subpar, has come in, what, 75 PAs? Salty’s work with the bat hasn’t been encouraging over the past two years, and that was in a whole lot more extensive a sample set. And everyone knows how wonderful Jarrod is behind the plate.
It’s a gamble that Saltalamacchia can get his stroke back. It’d be a bigger gamble to put him in the tools of ignorance on an everyday basis.
If the Diamondbacks wanted to entirely sacrifice defense for a marginal upgrade in hitting, they would probably have done better to either go get Wil Nieves in stead, or to have simply promoted Peter O’Brien. Both have shown the ability to get it done far more recently, and neither comes with a poor reputation among pitchers.
Trading mediocre offense for terrible defense. With Oscar Hernandez due back in June, unless he hitting well, I think he won’t be on the roster for long.
It’s a low risk signing either way.