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Jarrod Saltalamacchia

East Notes: Wright, Salty, Bixler, A-Rod

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Rainfall on the East Coast has already postponed a couple games on Friday night, but here's some items of note to hold you over …

  • Mets third baseman David Wright's days in New York may be winding down, writes Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com. The Mets, who may be in full-on rebuild mode as soon as midseason, could opt to trade Wright because he is signed to team-favorable terms through 2013 and would therefore yield a better haul in a trade than Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran or Francisco Rodriguez, writes Rubin. That the Mets could entertain this is indicative of how far they've fallen the past couple years; it once seemed likely Wright would spend his entire career in Queens.
  • Red Sox catchers Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Jason Varitek have struggled so far this season, writes Alex Speier of WEEI.com, but with underwhelming and unready in-house options and limited trade or free-agent targets out there, a move is not imminent. Bengie Molina, 36, is still unsigned, but as Speier points out, would he be much of an improvement?
  • The Nationals have purchased the contract of infielder Brian Bixler from Triple-A Syracuse, tweets Mark Zuckerman of CSNWashington.com. A corresponding move on the 40-man roster was to be announced. Bixler, a second-round pick of the Pirates in 2004 out of Eastern Michigan, last appeared in the bigs in 2009. In 166 career plate appearances, he has a .178/.238/.237 line.
  • Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez has hired Steve Loy of Gaylord Sports Management to handle his marketing. As our Agency Tracker shows, A-Rod has not officially announced an agent since parting ways with Scott Boras, and he may not need one for a while considering he's signed through age 42. For a complete list of Scott Boras clients, click here.

Heyman On Orioles, Young, Thome, Red Sox

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Orioles president Andy MacPhail told Jon Heyman of SI.com that Baltimore can contend if their young rotation continues pitching well. "If our starting pitchers pitch the way they did the last two months [of 2010] and the first four games [of 2011], of course we'll be a contender.'' The O’s are eyeing back-of-the-rotation help, just in case. Here are the rest of Heyman’s rumors: 

  • The Rangers may have enough hitting to be able to afford trading Michael Young for a starting pitcher. With three starters on the DL, the Rangers may already have some of the pitching they need. Rangers GM Jon Daniels said this week that the club is not discussing possible deals involving Young or anyone else.
  • The Marlins will likely need a third baseman, as Donnie Murphy has not proven he’s more than a part-time player.
  • Jim Thome does not assume that he’ll retire after 2011. "Why not keep going as long as you can do it?'' Thome asked.
  • The Red Sox say they aren’t concerned about Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Heyman hears that the catcher has until June to prove he belongs in Boston.

Heyman On Emaus, Red Sox, Yankees, Rangers

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In a column for SI.com, Jon Heyman discusses the new-look Rays, examining the team's chances in a competitive AL East. While one Rays person candidly acknowledges "we've got a lot of holes," the general consensus around baseball is that it would be a mistake to discount the defending division champs. Here are a few other highlights from Heyman:

Red Sox Rumors: Crawford, Martinez, Saltalamacchia

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The Red Sox may have interest in Cliff Lee, but he's far from the only free agent they'll consider. Here are the details on which teams are interested in Boston's free agents and which players the Red Sox might like to sign:

Odds & Ends: Greinke, Marlins, McGwire, Daniels

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As Cliff Lee continues his domination of the Yankees, here's some news from around baseball…

Red Sox Re-Sign Jarrod Saltalamacchia

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6:21pm: Saltalamacchia's 2011 deal is a split contract that will earn him $750K in the majors or $250K in the minors, tweets Sean McAdam of Comcast SportsNet.

6:03pm: The Red Sox have agreed to terms with Jarrod Saltalamacchia on a one-year, non-guaranteed contract for 2011, according to a team release. With the agreement, the two sides will avoid salary arbitration, which the 25-year-old would have been eligible for this winter for the first time.

Boston acquired Saltalamacchia from the Rangers at this year's trade deadline, in exchange for three players and cash. The backstop made just 25 plate appearances in ten games for the Red Sox following the deal. However, as Ken Rosenthal indicated on the day of the trade, the Sox had scouted the former sandwich-round pick extensively and felt that he'd benefit from a change of scenery and was worth a gamble.

Odds & Ends: Red Sox, Harper, Canseco, Figgins

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Saturday afternoon linkage..

  • Boston sent catcher Michael Thomas to Texas to complete the trade for Jarrod Saltalamacchia, writes Alex Speier of WEEI.
  • Dusty Baker has no interest in becoming a general manager, writes MLB.com's Mark Sheldon.
  • A former teammate of Bryce Harper's doesn't see the first overall pick going back to school, writes Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post.
  • The Laredo Broncos, an independent minor league team, say they have signed Jose Canseco to a short-term contract, according to the Associated Press.  Canseco will serve as a bench coach and designated hitter during two Laredo homestands.
  • Chuck Finder of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Pirates GM Neal Huntington and scouting director Greg Smith are expected to sit down with agents Randy and Alan Hendricks in Houston this weekend to discuss a contract for second overall pick Jameson Taillon. MLB's slot recommendation for that pick is $3.25MM, though Taillon is expected to receive more than that.
  • We know the Braves have not asked the Mariners about the availability of Chone Figgins in the wake of Chipper Jones' injury, but ESPN's Buster Olney says a deal is unlikely anyway. It would be pretty tough for GM Jack Zduriencik to tell ownership they have to eat tens of millions of dollars to move a player they just signed this past offseason.
  • Ken Fidlin of The Toronto Sun says that Blue Jays' second round pick Griffin Murphy and his father were on the field at Angels Stadium talking with club officials, "a surefire sign that a deal is done." MLB's slot recommendation for the 61st overall pick is just short of $600K. 
  • The Yankees have come to terms on well-overslot bonuses with a pair of draft picks. Baseball America's Jim Callis reports that they signed ninth rounder Taylor Morton for $450K while Kendall Rogers of Yahoo! Sports reports an agreement with tenth rounder Ben Gamel (Mat's brother) for $500K. Both deals are more than three times over MLB's recommendation, and Gamel's is the largest given to a player selected in a double digit round so far.

Daniels On Hamilton, Vlad, Lee, Scheppers

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Rangers GM Jon Daniels chatted with ESPN readers yesterday afternoon.  A few nuggets:

  • Daniels explained that Josh Hamilton will not be eligible for free agency until after the 2012 season, and "a lot can happen between now and then that could keep him in Texas beyond that point."  Hamilton reportedly turned down a four-year, $24MM offer in 2009.  Rangers president Nolan Ryan recently testified that Hamilton's salary could jump to $8-10MM in 2010 if he wins the MVP award. 
  • Daniels has let the agents for Vladimir Guerrero and Cliff Lee know he'd like to re-sign their clients, but he feels it's best to talk specifics in the offseason.
  • It's "certainly possible" Tanner Scheppers will make his MLB debut this year, and Daniels says the Rangers "don't really make decisions based on service time."  The 23-year-old righty sports a 3.76 ERA, 9.2 K/9, and 3.4 BB/9 in 52.6 Triple A innings this year.
  • The Rangers were discussing Cristian Guzman with the Nationals prior to Ian Kinsler's injury; Daniels viewed Guzman as a luxury at that point.
  • The expectation is that the Rangers will be able to announce the player to be named received from the Red Sox in the Jarrod Saltalamacchia deal shortly.
  • Daniels has a clause in his contract that allows him to leave if the Rangers are sold to a group other than the one fronted by Chuck Greenberg, but he said yesterday that "leaving the Rangers is not remotely on my mind" and "I love it here."

Rosenthal’s Full Count Video: Salty, Braves, Cards

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Ken Rosenthal has a new Full Count video up, so let's dive in…

  • The Red Sox scouted Jarrod Saltalamacchia hard before acquiring him this afternoon, and they feel that he is throwing better and will benefit from a change of scenery.  18 months ago the cost for Salty was Clay Buchholz, so they feel he's worth the gamble considering the uncertain futures of Victor Martinez and Jason Varitek.
  • The Braves didn't need either Kyle Farnsworth or Rick Ankiel, but picking up both improves their depth considerably. Ankiel will be the regular center fielder against righties, platooning with Melky Cabrera, while Farnsworth will help lessen the burden on Takashi Saito and Jonny Venters. The Braves are clearly going for it in Bobby Cox's final season.
  • It seems odd that the Cardinals would trade Ryan Ludwick given their offensive inconsistency this year, but the team likes what Jon Jay has done and they'll save big when Ludwick goes to arbitration for the final time next season.
  • Relative to its competition, no team did as poorly as the Mets at the deadline. They were outbid for Ramon Ramirez, and the Cubs wanted no part of a Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez for Carlos Zambrano swap. The Cubbies are hopeful that Big Z will come back and rebuild his value down the stretch.

Red Sox Acquire Jarrod Saltalamacchia

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The Red Sox acquired catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia from the Rangers, tweets Dan Roche of WBZ TV.  WEEI's Alex Speier tweets that the Red Sox are sending Roman Mendez, Chris McGuiness, a player to be named later, and cash to Texas in the deal. ESPN's Jayson Stark tweets that Boston will send $350K the Rangers' way.

The 25-year-old Saltalamacchia was hitting .244/.326/.445 with 11 homers in 270 plate appearances for the Rangers' Triple-A affiliate this season. He's a career .251/.313/.388 hitter in 874 big league plate appearances, and is coming back from a case of the yips, meaning he was having trouble making normal throws back to the pitcher. Salty is owed approximately $152K for the remainder of the season, and may qualify as a Super Two after the season. He was optioned to Triple-A by the Red Sox immediately after being acquired.

Mendez, 20, has a 6.56 ERA with 9.9 K/9 and 5.4 BB/9 in A-ball this season, though Baseball America considered him Boston's 23rd-best prospect before the season. They noted that he has one of the best arms in the system, touching 97 mph with his fastball. 

McGuiness, 22, has hit .298/.416/.504 with 20 doubles and 12 homers in A-ball this season, playing first base exclusively. He was not among Boston's top 30 prospects before the season, though that could change after his big year.

Mike Axisa contributed to this post.

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