As I posted earlier, I would much prefer Bard as a part of a platoon, only playing against lefties, when he has the best numbers. Come to think of it, Varitek is also best against lefties, so maybe this spells the end of the Tek era?
More thoughts on Bard: He was unlucky last year, with a .235 BABIP. He is appealing as a platooner, as against lefties he is: .288/.341/.443, pretty solid. Plus, he's getting out of Petco. Not too bad, but not as a full timer.
While I expect Bard to improve from his 2008 disaster, I hope he isn't the solution to the catcher hole.
And here's the link: http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/baseball/red_sox/view.bg?articleid=1141749&srvc=home&position=1
I liked Kottaras as the backup. Wasn't a problem with Bard that he couldn't catch Wakefield? Is this not what he will be doing?
But what if he doesn't get back to his 2006-07 form, which is basically a league average hitter? Then you're paying 8MM for a terrible player, have given up players and have the same problem in the 2009-10 off-season. I would rather get Montero and Byrnes in a trade; it gets us our future catcher and fills a hole for the 2009 (4th OF).