The Boston Red Sox have reached an agreement with catcher A.J. Pierzynski. Pierzynski hit .272 with a .297 OBP and .425 slugging mark along with 17 homers in 134 games for the Rangers in 2013. Pierzynski, made $7.5 million this season on a one-year deal with Texas.
He also threw out a career-best 33 percent of attempted base stealers (24 of 73) while logging more than 1,000 innings behind the plate for a 12th straight season.
Pierzynski would provide the left-handed bat in the catching tandem with David Ross. The signing would almost certainly bring to an end Jarrod Saltalamacchia‘s time with the Red Sox. While financial terms of the deal were not announced the Red Sox it’s a one-year deal.
Saltalamacchia, a 28-year-old coming off a career-best season, has been seeking at least three years this offseason.
Pierzynski Had drawn interest from a number of teams including the Minnesota Twins and Toronto Blue Jays. The market for catchers got smaller on Monday when Dioner Navarro signed with the Toronto Blue Jays for $8 million over two years. Catchers Brian McCann, Jose Molina, Francisco Pena, and Brayan Pena had previously signed deals this off-season.
Pierzynski represents the first free-agent signing for the Red Sox this off-season, but clearly he won’t be the last. The Red Sox need to address first base. Bringing back Mike Napoli could be next on the Red Sox off-season shopping list.
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