The Red Sox released Doug Mirabelli today, a move that comes somewhat of a shock to a lot of Red Sox fans.
The player immortalized by Dougie’s Going Deep Tonight! was expected to serve as Tim Wakefield’s personal catcher.
Mirabelli, who hit .202/.278/.360 and had become a liability with the bat in recent years, was in uniform this morning and slated to play in a spring training game before being abruptly scratched and later released by the team.
Makes me wonder if there’s something going on that we don’t know about that caused Mirabelli’s release…
(Yesterday was the last day a player could be released with the club only on the hook for one-sixth of his salary, and now Mirabelli should get a quarter of his salary. It’s possible the Red Sox released Mirabelli yesterday before the deadline but there was a communications breakdown. If that’s not the case, this decision is even more curious because they could have saved some money by releasing him yesterday.)
Or is a trade on the way?
Either way, the favorite to act as backup to Jason Varitek and as Tim Wakefield’s personal catcher now is Kevin Cash, who is even more anemic with the bat (.167/.223/.265 in 369 career AB). The 30-year old appeared in 12 games for the Red Sox last year and impressed defensively.
Look out for wild card George Kottaras, who is hitting .500 in 10 AB for the Red Sox in spring training. The to-be 25-year old may sneak in as the backup for Varitek, but since he had a lousy cumulative offensive season for Pawtucket last year, don’t bet on it.
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