I don’t see a need to rush to change the catcher in the middle of a season, esp. during a stretch run. But presuming you are talking about the off-season, I agree that the Captain needs to be replaced. He’s just not cutting it at the plate.

that Lugo is really going to get his job back once he gets back to being healthy. If Lowrie keeps this pace up, why should he be able to? I know Tito likes to go with the veteran, but you can’t deny simply how much better Lowrie has been than Lugo throughout these past couple of weeks. And I finally don’t have a sinking feeling in my stomach whenever the shortstop comes up to bat. I’m hopeful that Tito will do the right thing and leave Lowrie in the lineup. I also feel that Lugo will come in and essentially replace Cora. He’ll play 2nd and short, and he also has been used in all three outfield positions in the past, so we could use him there. I’d love to see Lugo as our utility guy because he’s actually got speed and can be the kind of Dave Roberts pinch runner that teams love to have.

Theres talk in texas that he needs to be moved to first or another position because he can’t handle the catching duties plus he hasn’t hit at all in Texas. I would much rather the Sox sign Varitek to a 2 year deal and either Mark Wagner in Portland will develop enough to take over or trade for a guy like Lou Marson in Philly or Jeff Clement (not likely the M’s would trade him) and he could step in after Tek is done.

Jed has been kicking @$$ for most of the duration on Who-lio’s injury.

and go for a temporary upgrade over Cash, like Gerald Laird or Torrealba.

From Gammo’s chat on Boston.com:

golden9x: Realistically, what are the Sox options next year in the catching department with Tek waning , Kottaras not really taking it to the next level and Cash basically as Wake’s caddy?

Peter Gammons: They’ve spent a half year looking for young catchers in other organizations so they are prepared should Varitek get a 3-or-4 year deal somewhere else. My guess is that they’ll make a run at Jarrod Saltalamacchia in Texas or Mike Napoli with the Angels, but they may have to forge some kind of platoon with someone like Brian Schneider and hope that the next couple of years they can develop a Mark Wagner or a Luis Exposito. Remember, the average production from the catching position per team as of this morning was a .251 ave. with 10 homers and 52 RBIs. The 2005 Jason Varitek is not going to be out there.

both at and behind the plate, Salty still is

a) 23 years old
b) in possession of more upside than any catcher in the Rangers system.

Don’t forget he has less than 500 big league ABs in about a year and a half of service time that has included an organizational swap and constant role changes (backup, platoon, starter, minor league starter, etc.). His seeming lack of progress this year is slightly disappointing but the enormous potential is still there.