NASHVILLE -- The signing of free agent Mike Napoli gives the Red Sox as many as four catchers on their major league roster: Napoli, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Ryan Lavarnway and David Ross.
But general manager Ben Cherington insisted the Sox may not deal from their surplus and could hold onto all four.
"We're pretty comfortable where we are," said Cherington. "There's some time before spring training. We've been trying to strengthen the team all over the roster and it just so happens that we've made some additions in that area. We'll see how the offseason goes.
"There's certainly a very viable scenario where all the guys that are here are (still) here in spring training, and we'll figure out Opening Day from the guys here. There's a very viable scenario where we go into spring training without moving any one of the catchers off the current roster and figure it out in spring training and keep the guys in the organization that are here now."
The Sox could go with a tandem of Saltalamacchia and Ross on the major-league roster, have Napoli play mostly first and sent Lavarnway back to Pawtucket -- he has options remaining -- for more experience.
That said, a source said the Sox are more than willing to move Saltalamacchia for the right price. Problem is, two of the teams most in need of catching are in the American League East -- the Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays -- and it's unlikely the Sox will deal within their division.
The Chicago White Sox need catching, but are limited in how much payroll they can take on. Saltalamacchia is eligible for arbitration and is expected to make somewhere in the neighborhood of 4.5 million in 2013.