Red Sox Go Shopping

Congratulations to Ben Cherington, who has now made his second acquisition who could potential start the season on the major league roster. The Red Sox have come to terms with catcher Kelly Shoppach on a 1 year/$1.35 million contract. Shoppach was formerly the crown jewel of the Red Sox farm system. He will be coming back to Boston after stints in Cleveland and Tampa Bay. Up until a few years ago, he was considered an all-bat-no-glove catcher, going .245/43/141 in four years as the backup catcher for the Indians. However, with the Rays he has evolved more in the opposite direction. Last year, behind the plate, he threw out a stellar 41% of baserunners while going a measly .176/11/22 with the stick. His best season came in 2008, where he batted .261/21/55. Shoppach is an all-or-nothing type hitter, displaying a fair number of homers for a backup catcher but a very low batting average. I don't really expect Shoppach to be on the MLB team out of Spring Training. I think it should and will be Ryan Lavarnway as the backup to Salty, but you never know.