In a somewhat surprising move, the Red Sox released veteran catcher Doug Mirabelli today:
Extra Bases - Red Sox blog
While he wasn't anything great in recent years, he knew how to catch the knuckleball and he occasionally had some pop in his bat. I hope the Red Sox didn't waive him simply to make room for Kevin Cash. The 30 yearold journeyman catcher is the classic case of a 4A player of limited ability.
I also question the timing of the release. Mirabelli was batting .273 with a .438 OBA in spring training. So it's not as though there was a sudden decline in performance that led to the release. I don't think it's a behavioral issue either. I know Mirabelli wasn't popular in San Diego but that was mainly because he wanted to be in Boston. If he were such an ornery guy, why would Epstein trade a pair of prospects to re-acquire him?
Pllus, even if the Red Sox wanted to go in a new direction, Mirabelli's $550,000 was hardly going to break the bank. The team could have kept him around as insurance by DL'ing him until the September roster expansion. At this stage in his career, he probably wouldn't have objected to such a move.
I hope there's more to this story than we're getting right now. Perhaps a Coco Crisp trade involving a backup catcher, or news that Dusty Brown (.556 AVG, .600 OBA in 9 at-bats) and/or George Kottaras (.500 AVG, .538 OBA in 10 AB) are closer to the big leagues than we think. I'd rather give one of those guys a shot instead of Kevin Cash. The Hearld says that Francona loves Cash, though, and that Wakefield endorsed him last year. He's probably the beneficiary of the Mirabelli release.