Gregg Zaun Signing with the Red Sox Would be Great…for Him

In the Boston Globe today, buried deep in the middle of an article by Nick Cafardo, was an interesting conversation between he and free agent catcher, Gregg Zaun.

"I'd love it. My agent has had ongoing talks with Boston and I would love to see that happen," said Zaun about playing for Boston in the interview. "I feel one of the things I have going in my favor is being in Toronto for so long I have a deep knowledge of the AL East. I would also love the challenge of playing in Boston, where every day you go to the ballpark it's a meaningful game and you're fighting for something. That atmosphere, I'm telling you, there's nothing like it, and to be a part of that would be unbelievable.”

Zaun also explained how, in his mind, at age 37, he does not have the typical catcher’s legs.

In fact, Zaun claims that, because of his lack of consistent playing time in his first eight years, and his “great physical condition”, he is in an excellent position to “catch as much as any team wants me to.”

Zaun acknowledged that he has not been made any formal offers by the Red Sox, but says he expects something to develop in the coming weeks.

A career .251 hitter, at first glance, Zaun does not seems to be the offensive upgrade, or the youth upgrade that the Red Sox really need behind the plate.

Coming off of a season where in 88 games, Zaun hit only .237 with 6 home runs and 30 RBIs, it would seem that the Sox would be best suited to continue negotiations with their perennial backstop, Jason Varitek.

Further, with George Kotteras in the Red Sox farm system, seemingly preparing to come up to the big club, the team already has a catcher with very similar style and numbers. The only glaring difference, in fact, would be the age of Kotteras, who is only 25 years old.

Couple that with Kotteras’ experience catching the knuckleball of Charlie Zink and one wonders what the allure of the aging Zaun is for the Sox.

The biggest concern for the Red Sox about bringing Kotteras up at the point is his lack of experience handling the pitching staff.

But as Zaun sees it, “going to a team like Boston would be amazing for me."

The question is, do the Red Sox feel the same way?