Barrett is the best hitter of the group without a doubt, but something in the back of my mind says he has the reputation of being a dick, so while you could bring him in as a bat, I'm not sure how much use behind the plate he would bring.

And I'm not too sure about the salary aspect either. Catchers in the prime of their career that can mash are very valuable. He might not get a lot of attention, but his stats will do the talking when it comes time to get a payday. The plentiful market of catchers might depress his expected salary, but regardless he has got to be the prime target for many teams.

And he worked with Schilling, Johnson, Wood, Prior, Zambrano, Zito, Harden, Mulder, Hudson, Bush, Capuano, and Sheets.

He'll be 38 next year, his statistics have been in a sharp three year decline, and he offers no potential solution beyond 2008. If we want to go after a catcher, we need not half ass it. We can't keep dipping our hands into the well and pulling out discarded or mid-level catching prospects. We need to do it right this time, and that means Saltalamacchia or a catcher in his prime such as Barrett or another catcher through a trade. I firmly believe that catcher is the most important position on the diamond, and I think that it should be a top priority to solidify it.

Now, that raises the obvious question: why not draft Matt Wieters? And quite frankly it is a very tough call for me, even with my bias. But I'm concerned about three things:

1. His ability to stay at catcher long-term (what's the point in having a catching prospect if they are eventually going to be moved?)
2. Signability
3. Drafting based on need almost always comes back to bite the offending party in the ass. Wieters is certainly a reasonable top pick and this wouldn't be an egregious offense, but I think Price is the better prospect.

I'll start combing the Mexican Leagues right now.  Good thing I have Renee Russo's phone number on speed dial.

I think we do need Salty Dawg, especially if we can get him for the price of an outfielder (seems like that will be Atlanta's primary need) Throw some stick'em on Rocco's hammys and hope he hits .280/.340/.400 for the rest of the year and maybe we can get Salty after the Yankee's purchase Anduw Jones.

Grizzled veteran? Veteran presence? Good lord, there are so many clichès in that post that it makes me want to barf.