Why Not Shop Jarrod Saltalamacchia?

First, I’ll come out and say that I think the Red Sox should sell at this year’s trading deadline. They’ve been ridiculously inconsistent and have been infuriating to watch with their stark lack of pitching all season. I think that the Red Sox should build for the future by selling some of their bullpen pieces, a few position players like Kelly Shoppach, Ryan Sweeney, and Mike Aviles. However, one move that seemingly hasn’t been discussed much is trading starting catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

Saltalamacchia has enjoyed a career year in 2012 and is one of the better catchers in the league– on pace for 30+ home runs. He’s been extremely inconsistent all year though, and is mired in a massive slump right now. His power numbers are still there, but his average has slipped to .233 and his on base percentage to .286. However, once he rights himself at the plate– his 19 home runs and .508 slugging percentage could be of very good use to a number of teams. Several contenders, such as the Dodgers, Pirates, and Mets could really use a power-hitting catcher in the middle of their lineup.

Plus, the Red Sox wouldn’t be missing out on much of anything as one of their better prospects, Ryan Lavarnway, currently sits in Pawtucket with a .303 batting average and .451 slugging percentage. Half of the benefit of trading Saltalamacchia would simply be getting Lavarnway in the lineup everyday. The other half would be a couple of good prospects from one of those teams. I’m not sure if the Red Sox could get an “A” prospect for Salty, but I’m sure they could get two or three B prospects.

A few intriguing pitching prospects that could be had for Salty would be Jeff Locke (7-5, 3.01 ERA in triple-A), Ethan Martin (7-6, 3.42 ERA in double-A), Cory Mazzoni (3-3, 3.50 ERA in double-A), and Ariel Pena (6-6, 2.99 ERA in double-A). These prospects play for affiliates of the Pirates, Dodgers, Mets, and Angels, respectively– all teams that need a bit of catching to fill out their lineups. The Red Sox need controllable young pitching and that would be just what they’d be getting here with Locke the oldest above at just 24 years old. I feel that the Red Sox could trade Saltalamacchia for any one of these players and, with Lavarnway waiting in the wings, not be hurt much; plus, they’d pick up some good young pitching.