Jarrod Saltalamacchia has signed a free agent deal and will be playing baseball elsewhere in 2017. According to several reports today, Salty will be playing for the Toronto Blue Jays.
https://twitter.com/BlueJaysViews/status/824024507123896322
Saltalamacchia will be working as the backup catcher for the Blue Jays. He played a similar role in Detroit backing up James McCann last season. Even though Salty tends to post high strikeout numbers, his value is in his switch hitting and clutch power. He graded out at a C+ for the first half of last year according to the DSN Report Card. After that his offensive production faltered down the stretch. This is a minor league deal for now that could pay up to $1.25 million if he makes the major league club.
Salty was always a favorite of this particular blogger. I liked his versatility as a switch-hitter and his ability to play first base in a pinch. I’ll miss him on the Tigers this year.
Detroit appears to be all set at backup catcher as they have reacquired veteran Alex Avila to spell McCann. Avila took a one-year, injury-plagued hiatus from Detroit last year signing with the Chicago White Sox.
Say goodbye to Salty in the video below:
Twitter Reactions:
Jarrod Saltalamacchia a good pick up for the #BlueJays pic.twitter.com/qiKqtGrCd0
— Alex Swann (@swannsky) January 25, 2017
Jarrod Saltalamacchia had a streaky 2016:
April: 6 HR, .927 OPS
rest of year: 6 HR, .543 OPS#BlueJays— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) January 25, 2017
https://twitter.com/DavemeImages/status/824045990575570944
It looks like the original #SaltBae (Jarrod Saltalamacchia) is joining the Blue Jays. pic.twitter.com/OMdeJEAg0c
— Tim and Friends (@timandfriends) January 24, 2017
