Per the Rob Long Show, the Rays have acquired Gregg Zaun.
Let me speak for everyone when I say
YESSSSSSSSSSSS
I've wanted Zaun for a very long time now and he's exactly what this team needs. He can back-up, he can start, he's an easy upgrade over any catcher we have and he's cheap for next year.
We'll see what the price is, but wow, gold star for Mr. Friedman and crew.
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Serious analysis time.
Zaun is a switch-hitter due 2 million next year. His wOBA this season is .331, ZiPS foresees some regression (buzzword!) and has him at .321 the rest of the way. That's fine, Navarro is projected at .292 and over 100 plate appearances Zaun would be worth about 2.5 runs more. Raise that to 200 and it's a half a win. He's always been talked about as a solid defender and he rates well by every attempt at quantifying catcher defense out there.
He's perfect and he's all ours.