
Originally uploaded by San Diego Shooter on Flickr
This helps. It really, really does.
As I wrote when V-Mart signed with Detroit, I was not, at that time, prepared to join the knee-jerk pitchfork mob that formed immediately. Rather, I sided with those calling for a bit of restraint while the rest of the off-season plan -- whatever it would be -- had a chance to take shape.
But that's not to say I was totally unperturbed at V-Mart's departure. I still wish we had something a little more inspiring behind the plate than a dude we signed out of the minor league system in Texas and a player in the proverbial twilight of his career as a backup.
It wasn't so much defense behind the plate I was most worried about -- neither V-Mart or Tek seemed to be able to throw out a baserunner if their lives depended on it, and apparently problems with throwing the ball back to the pitcher are more commonplace than you might think, and it's supposed to be a correctable problem -- as the loss of V-Mart's offensive contributions. There's just no comparing Saltalamacchia with V-Mart when it comes to the stick; given the vast unlikelihood that Jason Varitek will start, the Sox lost close to 150 points in career OPS when it opted for Salty (.701) over V-Mart (.838) as the (apparent) everyday catcher for 2011.
Yeah, we can hope for another Adrian Beltre story* for Salty, I suppose, but even in his best year (2007), Salty didn't crack .800. Moreover, in his two years with Boston, V-Mart posted an OPS above his career average, with a cool .912 in 2009 and .844 during an injury-plagued 2010 campaign. This had us all a bit, shall we say, tense.
But like I said. Gonzalez is an amazingly effective antidote for that angst, and a vindication for this off-season's anti-knee-jerk movement.