The Red Sox Catching Crisis, And How To Solve It

Well, the Red Sox are having a slump in the catcher position between Jarrod Saltalamacchia (.186/0/5) and Jason Varitek (.074/0/1). I have some players that I think the Red Sox should trade for, and for the sake of not being boring these are new ideas. I am not giving you the typical ravings of Miguel Montero, David Ross, Chris Iannetta, Ramon Hernandez, Rod Barajas, and Ryan Doumit. I will give players who have not been in the major leagues long, and the Red Sox should be able to get before they hit the big time. I have two main names in particular, and several others that would be good options, that I think the Red Sox should go and trade for.

My first name is Jonathan Lucroy (right), a backup catcher for the Milwaukee Brewers. After going .253/4/26 in 75 games with the Brewers in his first major league season, Lucroy had shown his promise. Although he has only played in 8 games this year, he has been very good. He is batting .355/1/3, and has thrown out 2 of 7 baserunners to go along with a 1.000 fielding percentage. I think he is

a good fit for the Red Sox, and I think the Red Sox could trade Hideki Okajima and Daniel Nava for Lucroy and Craig Counsell (.182/0/0 this season).

My second name is Nick Hundley, the starting catcher for the San Diego Padres.

Hundley has not traditionally been this good of a hitter, so he will probably drop off soon, but he has been a pretty consistent catcher over his career. Hundley is having a great start to the 2011 season, hitting at a .304/3/10 clip to begin the year. He has thrown out 7 of 23 baserunners and has a .992 fielding percentage in 20 games. I think that

the Red Sox could trade Darnell McDonald and Jason Varitek for Hundley and Chris Denorfia (.324/2/3 this year).

I have a few other options for catchers, mostly young ones who just broke into the majors last or this season. These names are Ryan Hanigan (.220/2/6 with Cincinnati), Lou Marson (.304/0/4 with Cleveland), Alex Avila (.321/3/14 with Detroit), Brett Hayes (.600/1/4 with Florida), J.R. Towles (.385/2/4 with Houston), Landon Powell (.313/0/2 with Oakland), Chris Gimenez (.263/2/4 with Seattle), J.P. Arencibia (.245/3/7 with Toronto), Jose Molina (.357/1/3 with Toronto), and Wilson Ramon (.357/0/2 with Washington). I regret to say, I would be happy with any of these guys over Salty and Tek.