Red Sox, Saltalamacchia avoid arbitration

The Boston Red Sox and catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia avoided arbitration and agreed to a one-year, $4.5 million deal for 2013, reports Alex Speier of WEEI.com. This was Saltalamacchia's last year of arbitration and he will be a free agent after the season.

Saltalamacchia, 27, hit .222/.288/.454 with 25 home runs in 448 plate appearances in 2012. For his career, he is a .233/.302/.418 hitter with 64 home runs in six seasons. He has spent the past two seasons as the Red Sox main catcher and has hit 41 home runs in those years.

The Red Sox signed David Ross earlier in the offseason to a two-year, $6.2 million contract and also have Ryan Lavarnway, who hit .295/.376/.439 in Triple-A last season, waiting in the wings. There were rumors earlier in the offseason that Saltalamacchia was on the trade block, but it looks like he will remain in Boston for now.

The Red Sox still have eight remaining arbitration eligible players in Alfredo Aceves, Andrew Bailey, Daniel Bard Joel Hanrahan, Craig Breslow, Andrew Miller, Franklin Morales and Jacoby Ellsbury.