Salty "Surprised" at lack of contract offer
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| Photo Courtesy of NESN |
Contributing Writer
According to NESN, Jarrod Saltalamacchia is surprised at the lack of contract offer from the Red Sox organization. The Red Sox did not make Salty a qualifying offer yesterday, but make one to Jacoby Ellsbury, Stephen Drew, and Mike Napoli.
According to NESN, Salty said other clubs have already been in touch.
“Obviously, a lot of teams have already called,” Saltalamacchia told WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford. “They called the day the World Series ended. It’s really flattering and it makes me realize other teams do appreciate what I’ve done. Now on the other side, it would feel good if the Red Sox … we really haven’t had any conversation with them. It would be nice to have them call and appreciate that as well and show their appreciation by saying, ‘This is what we’re willing to do. We’re willing to go to this, that and the other thing.’ We really haven’t had discussions, but they may call and do that, so maybe I’m premature in saying this. But that’s part of the process and you have to keep an open mind, and at the same time, you have to be humbled enough to realize you’re taking good criticism with the bad criticism and let it play out.”
Salty also added that he thought he was on the same page as the Red Sox organization.
“I’m a little surprised with not more conversation going on just because I thought we had a common idea of where we wanted to be,” Saltalamacchia said. “I put so much time and effort into the team and into the organization and they’ve done the same for me. But like I said, I may be premature and they might call out of nowhere, or might have already called and I just don’t know yet.”
Things could still change, but Salty has shown a lot of improvement since coming over in 2010 at the trade deadline. He did have his struggles in the postseason, resulting in him being benched in favor of David Ross. Saltamacchia says that his preference is to remain here in Boston, according to NESN, but his future is unclear.
“I think it is difficult if you do ultimately have to leave,” Saltalamacchia said. “I was there for four years and that was my family’s home, going to Fenway Park every day, I truly know how lucky I was to be able to do that. In a sense, it makes the decision tough, but at the end of the day, it’s really not up to me. It is and it isn’t. Yeah, I want to go back there, but if the Red Sox aren’t willing to make an offer, I can’t really make them make an offer. I’ve always said that if it’s close, yeah, my decision is going to be Boston. That’s where my ties are and that’s where I want to be. But that’s not my decision.”
Should we keep Salty or let him walk? Let me know on Twitter (@ConorJF1016) or leave a comment.
