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A few days ago, it looked like Jarrod Saltalamacchia was on his way anywhere but back to Boston. Now it's not so clear, as John Farrell told WEEI's Alex Speier today that the Red Sox' starting catcher of the last three years has a place in Boston:
"Absolutely he has a future here. We're engaging with him and I know [Red Sox GM Ben Cherington] has talked to his agent frequently here, not just as free agent season has opened up but throughout the course of the remainder of the year and through the postseason,"
If that means the Sox were talking about an extension as recently as October, then it would make Jarrod Saltalamacchia's complaint that the team hadn't called him since the end of the World Series...odd, to say the least. It would also suggest that their move to contact him in recent days not a change-of-course, but just a way to appease an unusually needy free agent target.
That being said, it's also possible that this is just the Red Sox covering their bases. Even if Brian McCann or some other free agent remains their top priority, keeping their options open would protect against those negotiations going bad. Certainly it's better to have the option of bringing Saltalamacchia back than to burn that bridge by leaving him feeling unwanted.