Peter Gammons

MLB Network and NESN analyst Peter Gammons joined the Mut & Merloni Show on Wednesday to discuss the state of affairs with the Red Sox. He suggested that the issues with Jarrod Saltalamacchia behind the plate may require some kind of change in the coming weeks, discussed Jed Lowrie‘s potential as an everyday shortstop and gave his view of where the Sox might find left-handed help for their bullpen.

He also discussed the Sox’ leadoff woes, which became pronounced while Carl Crawford was occupying that spot for eight games. Gammons suggested that the Sox never envisioned having Crawford hit leadoff, and that the situation was forced by the fact that Jacoby Ellsbury was not taking the approach needed to occupy the top spot in the order.

“I don’t think there was ever an intention to hit [Crawford] leadoff. Never did. I thought it was third or fifth,” said Gammons. “I think one of the things that’s killed them is that Jacoby Ellsbury has forgotten what his job is in baseball, which is to get on base and run. His four home runs, to me, are one of the worst things that’s happened to this team early in the season, because I think it’s encouraged him to get wider and wider with his swing.

“They need him hitting leadoff. They need him to get on base 37 percent of the time or 38 percent of the time. I think he’s kind of gotten away from that. I appreciate he didn’t play for a year, and I understand how difficult it is to come back, but I think that’s sort of been overlooked. The guy who’s supposed to hit leadoff isn’t getting on base.”

Ellsbury entered Wednesday’s game hitting .196 with a .281 OBP, .451 slugging mark and .732 OPS, along with a team-leading four homers. He has walked five times and struck out on 11 occasions in 57 plate appearances this year.

Gammons also suggested that the defensive struggles of Jarrod Saltalamacchia could soon reach critical mass. Given the questions about how often the 39-year-old Jason Varitek can catch while remaining healthy and productive, the Sox may be in a situation where they are left with few desirable alternatives if Saltalamacchia doesn’t improve behind the dish.

“The Saltalamacchia question is something that’s going to continue to be raised here. I know that [Sox manager Terry Francona] is trying to give him a breather, get him established again, but it’s a problem,” said Gammons. “You look around, though – where do they go to get someone else? Their doctors never would have passed Russell Martin (who signed with the Yankees as a free agent) last winter. They red-flagged him as soon as he became a free agent, as much as some of the people in their front office liked him.

“So the question is going to be, if they really feel that this is an issue, and not hitting, but the defensive part, the throwing, do you just go immediately to (Double-A catcher) [Tim] Federowicz, who’s the best catch-and-throw guy in the organization, and hope that he pulls a [Doug] Mirabelli, and just hits fastballs in the middle half of the plate into the screen once in a while? This is an issue that in the next two weeks is going to be addressed, and I don’t know which direction it’s going.”

Gammons expressed dismay that Saltalamacchia’s struggles have quickly become an issue for the Sox.

“He’s such a good guy. He cares so much. He tries so hard,” said Gammons. “[But] you just can’t have this on a championship team, especially when a big part of that championship team is built around power pitchers who are in a couple of cases struggling for their identity. I would be shocked now if Varitek doesn’t catch [Josh] Beckett all the time now. Clearly, they’ve made the decision that he’s going to catch [Daisuke] Matsuzaka, whose earned run average is massively different with Varitek catching. But I don’t think they can afford to let Jason go out and try to catch 120, 130 games.”

Yet while Saltalamacchia’s defense (and, for that matter, offense) have both been concerns, and the Sox don’t have a catcher who is clearly ready to assume an everyday major league role in their system, Gammons noted that there aren’t viable alternatives on the trade market. Read the rest of this entry »

Bengie Molina has heard all the jokes over his 11-plus seasons in the majors.

Those jokes, of course, begin and end with the ability of the portly catcher – listed at 5-feet-11 and 225 pounds – to run the bases.

Well, on Friday night, Molina got the best kind of revenge. The catcher completed arguably the most improbable cycle in major league history when his triple off the glove of Eric Patterson leading off the eighth inning.

Molina, one of the nicest and most endearing figures in the game, admitted as much afterward but he did say the huge odds stacked against him made it that much sweeter.

“The cycle is something personal and some [type] of individual goal,” Molina said. “For being the guy that’s been criticized for his speed for 11 1/2 years in the big leagues and being the slowest guy in the world for many people so to something like is unbelievable.”

So with a smile, Molina was saying ‘take that!’ to all those who doubted him. But really what made it sweet was the winning, something he was all about when the Rangers acquired him before the All-Star break from San Francisco.

“Obviously, the winning makes it easier,” Molina said of starting for a team that leads the A.L. West. “I’m sure that’s a big part. Just winning makes you feel better. I came here to win. I didn’t come here to do anything else. It obviously makes you feel good.”

Still, everyone still in attendance was amazed that Molina had just done the improbable with the first cycle by an opponent at Fenway since Cleveland’s Andre Thornton on April 22, 1978.

“I would have put my head in a tree trimmer betting that he wouldn’t hit a triple,” said an astonished David Ortiz of the Red Sox. “That’s crazy, man. Seems to me he stopped at second to think about it. Now, I’m going to have to break that down to my son when I get home because he’s going to ask me a million questions about it.”

Unfortunately for Molina, he wound up paying the price one batter later when his right quad tightened up, forcing him from the game.

It was his manager Ron Washington who had to come out and get the big guy and pinch run for him after Molina waved to the dugout that something was up.

Washington knew going into the at-bat leading off the eighth that Molina had the hardest part left to complete the first cycle by a catcher since Milwaukee’s Chad Moeller on April 27, 2004 against Cincinnati. He had – just moments earlier – asked his third baseman Michael Young what or more to the point – WHERE he thought Molina had to put the ball for the triple.

“I had just mentioned to Michael, ‘Where do you think he has to hit this ball to get a triple?’ He said, ‘No where in this ball park.’”

Molina nearly blew a tire rounding second as Patterson raced to haul in the ball and get it back to the infield.

“I didn’t see any gears shift and he made it standing up,” Washington added.

Baggarly also tweets that the Giants aren’t serious about Dan Uggla because of his salary and fielding problems.

Despite the Yankees giving up many of their chips in the Curtis Granderson deal, Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos told MLB.com that none of the teams involved in Roy Halladay have told him they’re out.

Despite reports to the contrary, Mike Scioscia said in a radio interview Tuesday night that Jason Bay signing with the Angels is “longshot.”

Brian Sabean says that the Bengie Molina ship “has sailed,” writes Andrew Baggarly. The Gians GM also noted that the team won’t go after Johnny Damon and, given how much money catchers will go for because of the Ivan Rodriguez debacle, may have to rush top prospect Buster Posey.