Dusty

Brown

Brown has received a handful of at-bats the last couple years with the Pirates and Red Sox but has spent most of his time at the Triple-A level. He’s likely to be Triple-A Round Rock’s starting backstop in 2012 with Taylor Teagarden now in Baltimore.

The 31-year-old backstop hasn’t appeared in the big leagues since he appeared in 11 games with the Pirates during the 2011 season. He’ll provide organizational depth for the A’s.

He’ll be ready by the end of May, at which point he’s expected to be assigned to Triple-A Sacramento. Brown was in A’s camp as a non-roster invite.

This prevents him from becoming a minor league free agent. Brown, 25, hit .268/.344/.453 in 254 at-bats for Double-A Portland last season. He’s not going to be a long-term backup for Boston, but most teams figure they can never have enough insurance at catcher.

Someone had to be moved in order to make room for John Smoltz’s return to the lineup and Brown was that man.

Either Jason Varitek has some sort of undisclosed minor injury or the Red Sox couldn’t be bothered to promote anyone potentially useful with John Smoltz taking the roster spot later this week. Brown, who is in the majors for the first time, was hitting .239/.347/.331 for Pawtucket.

Brown hit .264 in 86 games this season with Pawtucket. He’ll serve as an emergency catcher for the Sox over the regular season’s final few weeks.

It looked like Brown could be on the Opening Day roster because of Sean Casey’s injury, but Casey is well enough to play, resulting in the demotion of Boston’s third catcher.

The good news is that no ligament damage was found, but he’s still expected to miss more than a month. Chris Snyder and Dusty Brown will share playing time behind the plate during his absence.

Kottaras was chosen over the Red Sox’s other in-house option, Dusty Brown, because he’s out of options and because Brown has yet to catch Wakefield in a game. However, the Red Sox continue to explore trade possibilities, most of which hang on their willingness to trade Clay Buchholz. The Diamondbacks will ship Miguel Montero to any team that will cough up a solid reliever and a prospect. Reportedly, Texas has asked for Buchholz in a deal for either Jarrod Saltalamacchia or Taylor Teagarden. Boston has also talked to the Phillies about prospect Lou Marson, but Philadelphia seems to be asking for either Buchholz or Daniel Bard.