Red Sox Rumors: Saltalamacchia, Shoppach, Crawford, Punto

The Boston Red Sox decided to stand pat for the most part this trade deadline, and Alex Speier of WEEI.com sheds light on why the club held onto a pair of backstops, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Kelly Shoppach:

So why didn’t it happen? Why wasn’t Shoppach (or one of the other catchers) dealt?

According to a team source, the answer related primarily to the need for offense at a time when David Ortiz remains on the disabled list. In recent days, the team has had both Shoppach and Saltalamacchia in the lineup not because it was showcasing either for a trade but instead because there was an effort to get as many impact bats as possible into the lineup at a time when Ortiz — the AL leader in OBP, slugging and OPS — is on the shelf.

Speier notes that the Red Sox also wanted to maintain their catching depth, though they do have top catching prospect Ryan Lavarnway on the major league roster at the moment.

Like other teams, the Red Sox will begin exposing their players to waivers over the next few days. While Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe says nearly all of Boston’s players will find their way onto trade waivers, yesterday it was veterans Nick Punto and Carl Crawford.

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Should the Red Sox have traded one of their catchers?

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