Toronto Blue Jays Agree to Minor League Deal with Jarrod Saltalamacchia

The Toronto Blue Jays’ search for a backup catcher may have come to a close as they have agreed to a minor league deal with Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

The Toronto Blue Jays may have found their new number two backstop. According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, they have agreed to a minor league deal with veteran catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia pending a physical.

The deal could turn into an even nicer one for Saltalamacchia. Per the same report by Rosenthal, if he makes the big league roster, he would receive a base salary of $1.25 million. In addition to this, he could take home an additional $250K in incentives.

Money shouldn’t be a problem for Saltalamacchia. Right now his mission is to earn back some respect while piecing together his pride. It has been a rough couple of seasons for him, after all. He was released from his last contract, which was signed with the Miami Marlins prior to the 2014 season. The deal was for three years. It ended up lasting 13 months.

Saltalamacchia drastically underperformed in his inaugural season with the Marlins, but the final straw came in year two when he began the season 2-for-29. The Marlins showed no mercy and released him in early May.

After he was picked up by the Arizona Diamondbacks, Saltalamacchia did hit quite well. Last season, however, was a different story. It was a campaign spent entirely with the Detroit Tigers sharing catching duties alongside James McCann. Saltalamacchia delivered only a .171/.284/.346 slash line in 292 plate appearances. The way he finished the year was especially appalling as he hit only .130/.230/.241 in the second half.

Obviously, with Russell Martin on the roster, the Blue Jays are in no immediate danger of watching Saltalamacchia suit up as the everyday catcher. However, Martin does have his own hiccups. He has only a .235 batting average in two seasons with Toronto. Only his decent .332 OBP makes up for the lack of hits.

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Worse, though, are Martin’s strikeout numbers. Last season he fanned a total of 148 times. This absolutely crushed his previous career high of 108.

Saltalamacchia is no stranger to strikeouts either. In fact, it has been a problem throughout his career. He has averaged 177 per 162 games. It’s probably going to be the way things go for both of the Toronto catchers this season.

The Saltalamacchia signing still has upside. It’s already an improvement over Josh Thole whose presence on the Blue Jays was required because of R.A. Dickey. The low cost is also great for a guy who can at least put up good power numbers. For his career, Saltalamacchia is a guy who averages 20 per 162 games. Of course, he won’t play anywhere close to that many games so expect far fewer at the end of this season.

Assuming all goes well with the physical, Saltalamacchia does have some competition in spring training for the backup catcher role. While the Blue Jays will carry several backstops into camp, only Juan Graterol and A.J. Jimenez pose any threat to Saltalamacchia. Prospect Reese McGuire is not a member of the 40-man roster so he’s out of the competition this time around.

Next: Rays Long-Term Second Base Options

This low-key move does at least fill a need the Blue Jays ignored for most of the offseason. Martin will need his days off. Thus, finding a suitable backup was necessary. A solid year from Saltalamacchia could even earn him more playing time somewhere else in 2018. Both sides benefit from it and the worst thing that happens is the Blue Jays have to find out where Dioner Navarro is playing.