Marlins Sign Jarrod Saltalamacchia, 3/$21M

[Erick]

Salty = John Buck 2.0

It's kind of weird how one was criticized so much and the other one hasn't received the same criticism when Salty is just as bad, if not worse.

[Namaste]

Dat long last name, doe.

[thatnewguy]

Seriously, Salty sucks.
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Damn, that alliteration.

[AdamRavs]

Salty has trouble throwing the ball to 1st on a bunt. Even in a spring game he threw the damn thing up the line. I just hope his offense comes around enough to make up for his awful defense

[Bobbob1313]

Anyone think that Saltalamacchia has a historically bad year this year? I could see that happening.

I would be a little surprised if a career .726 OPS hitter coming off a .681 OPS would be "historically bad," yeah.

[dim]

I would be a little surprised if a career .726 OPS hitter coming off a .681 OPS would be "historically bad," yeah.

I agree. In a bubble the biggest issue with his season last year was his lack of power. He finished last season with the most walks he's ever had, hit .220 (which sucks, but he hit .273 the previous season, so I have to believe things even out a little bit this year), and struck out slightly more than his previous two season rates. Yes, I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt a bit, but when I look at his season totals, the biggest issue is that .362 slugging percentage.

31 extra base hits in almost 400 at bats just isn't going to cut it. He had 54 extra base hits in 2013 and 42 in 2012. I understand the effect of going from Fenway to Marlins Park, so that plays a pretty big role in some of the numbers decline. I can't remember too much of Salty last season, but I have to assume his swing is too power based and that a lot of deep balls that evaded players at Fenway are becoming easily caught fly balls in Miami. If he wants to improve this season, he's got to swing hard and hit those gaps. Those 40 doubles he hit in 2014 were HUGE. That stat alone is a big reason so many people in this exact thread were pumped to sign him originally.

Is the hype now for Salty as big as it was when we signed him last year? Not at all. But if he can find some kind of happy median between the decent on base ability he had in 2014, and mix that in with his old power numbers of 2012/2013, then we have a player that is well worth the money we're paying. I don't think we'll ever see 2013 Salty again as long as he's playing in Miami 81 games a year, but we could very likely see 2011/2012 Salty as early as this year (meaning .730-.740 OPS).

[Bobbob1313]

He was actually significantly better at home than on the road, fwiw.

A big problem is he really cannot hit LHP at all. Like, Mathis has a higher OPS against LHP than Salty. They should try to hide him against them.

He also had a BABIP nearly 30 points lower than his career last year vs RHP. If he gets that back to normal and puts up a .740 OPS as the larger half of a platoon, great. I would feel even better about it if they had a lefty masher to platoon him with instead of Mathis.

[HUGG]

what's our ST record when he plays and when he doesn't?

that's the important shit

[Namaste]

I'm not sure, HUGG.

[marlinsfan24]

He was actually significantly better at home than on the road, fwiw.

A big problem is he really cannot hit LHP at all. Like, Mathis has a higher OPS against LHP than Salty. They should try to hide him against them.

He also had a BABIP nearly 30 points lower than his career last year vs RHP. If he gets that back to normal and puts up a .740 OPS as the larger half of a platoon, great. I would feel even better about it if they had a lefty masher to platoon him with instead of Mathis.

My suggestion: http://marlinmaniac.com/2015/03/11/j...witch-hitting/