Let's face it, beggars can't be choosers and with the New York Mets struggling at the catcher position why would they not offer the Boston Red Sox a trade for catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia? In fact, I believe it would be foolish not to trade for the switch-hitting backstop.
Who do the Mets have?
In 2012 the Mets had Josh Thole, Mike Nickeas and Kelly Shoppach handling the starting rotation and providing the offense.
Well, providing the offense is an overstatement, which is why the Mets should bring in Saltalamacchia despite his offensive woes. The key thing is that Saltalamacchia has power.
In 2012, these three Mets catchers combined for a .204 batting average 5 homers and 44 RBI.
Compare that to Saltalamacchia's 25 homers and 59 RBI with a .222 batting average. The Mets need power in that lineup as David Wright and Ike Davis are the only home run threats..
He only hit 12 of his 25 home runs in Fenway Park for those saying most of his home runs were cheapshots because he played in a small park.
Saltalamacchia's Experience
Saltalamacchia is not the best defensive catcher, but he if the Mets keep R.A. Dickey, guess what, Saltalamacchia has experience catching knuckleballers being Tim Wakefield's exclusive catcher in 2011.
Last season, he committed seven errors and threw out 18 of 100 base stealers, which is not impressive. Though he did a poor job at stopping the opponents' baserunning game, he still committed less errors than the Mets catchers did.
Combined, Shoppach, Thole and Nickeas had 14 errors committed, which is double of Saltalamacchia's total in 2012.
The simple fact is that Saltalamacchia can better the Mets.
Now, I'm not saying to give up your whole farm system for the guy, but it would not be smart to overlook the guy and focus on the bad things since the Met's catching was terrible in comparison to Saltalamacchia's 2012 performance.
