On Tuesday, disgruntled Orioles catcher Javy Lopez was placed on waivers. Lopez asked for his release from the club following the catchers?? job going permanently to Ramon Hernandez and his distinct inability to play first base was hindering Lopez of any playing time. While Lopez is high in age at 35, the man has produced a very solid major league career with Atlanta, and more recently, the Orioles. He has 260 career home runs, 860 RBI and a line of .288/.338/.494. His .726 OPS (.832 career) isn??t work doing cartwheels about, but it??s only marginally worse than Varitek at .734. With Lopez gaining more comfort back at his old catcher position, look for that number to climb to around .820.
The Red Sox need a catcher desperately, and Javy Lopez has fallen right into their lap. His 9 million dollar salary means any team looking for his services will have to pay 3 million just for the last two months of the season, giving the Red Sox a very good chance. How many teams would pay that kind of money for a backup catcher? Instead of waiting until the Orioles are forced to trade him, then negotiate and deal away a prospect to save some money, just pay his entire salary for this season. Javy Lopez is off the books entirely in 2007.
I understand it??s awfully hard to acquire a catcher because of the rarity of talent at that position. There are two, rarely three catchers carried by each major league team and finding one on waivers or the free agent market is difficult. Yet just at the right time, Javy Lopez, an experienced catcher with a power bat, a catcher who would serve as a huge upgrade from Mirabelli and is equal with Varitek, is ready to be obtained.
If the Lopez option ends up not happening, there are other more affordable, yet less talented options. Mike Lieberthal is unhappy in Philadelphia and wants a change of scenery, but his paltry .252/.284/.362 won??t attract many teams. Lieberthal would be a huge mistake considering the huge drop in production and the similarity of Lopez and Lieberthal??s contracts. Might as well stick with Mirabelli at .185/.267/.324. The other catchers being named are horrendous. Chris Widger was dumped by the White Sox and is currently putting up a Bubba Crosby-type season at .184/.264/.263 with 7 RBI. Henry Blanco of the Cubs is actually having a career year with a .761 OPS, but he should retract down to his marks the last five years if he arrived in Boston: .678, .628, .524, .602, .634. Josh Paul of the Devil Rays has identical marks to Lieberthal and is simply not worth the gamble.
Folks, there is only one option to be the Red Sox starting catcher for the next month- Javier Torres Lopez. When his waiver ends this afternoon at 1 PM, I fully expect the Red Sox to have claimed him, and I fully expect Lopez to be suited up to catch as early as Friday for Boston. Signing Javy would send all my worries about Varitek??s injury to the moon and would thankfully save all of Red Sox Nation from more Doug Mirabelli horror. Theo, you better make this happen.
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