Not a lot of hard facts in there, but this tweet from CBS' Jon Heyman suggests what we've all assumed for a while: Jarrod Saltalamacchia is most likely to be the odd man out in the Boston catching situation.
Nonetheless, Heyman doesn't find a trade all that likely. And there are some factors that point toward Heyman being right. There aren't many catchers who hit for power like Salty. He hit the third-most home runs for catchers last year despite having the 13th-most at bats. He has a great reputation for being a hard worker and good communicator, and he's always accountable to the press (if that's something that matters to you, which it probably doesn't unless you're a self-righteous reporter).
There are plenty of things wrong with him. His catcher ERA (a stat many don't put much weight in) has never been good, and his on-base percentage is an abomination (sub-.300). No Red Sox player other than Carl Crawford has made me as depressed during at bats.
But the real reason he's the most available is because he's on a short-term contract. He's in the last year of arbitration in 2013, so an acquiring team wouldn't have to invest as heavily as, for example, the Red Sox did (or at least we think they did) in Mike Napoli.
The Red Sox would be wise to at least explore their options, as a long-term commitment to a player with this many holes in his swing should be something they are very hesitant about. They have a lot of catching depth in the minors, and Napoli and Ross around for partial duty. Answer the phone, Ben.
