Sandy

Martinez

Martinez surely isn’t any better of an option than Kelly Shoppach or Andy Dominique to act as Boston’s third catcher. Maybe the Red Sox just wanted him to finish out the season for Pawtucket since they’re probably going to call up Dominique tomorrow.

Martinez won’t be used in anything other than an emergency, so it’s not a big deal that he’s being called up. We just don’t see any reason to prefer him to Kelly Shoppach or Andy Dominique.

The Royals needed a couple of catchers for Omaha, but they were limited in what they could do because they could only pick up players worse than Mike DiFelice. In Martinez and Fernando Lunar, they have the perfect duo.

The Red Sox likely will try to re-sign Martinez to a minor league contract and have him work with Kelly Shoppach at Triple-A Pawtucket.

The Indians needed some extra catching depth with Josh Bard hurt. Martinez will report to Triple-A Buffalo.

Even the teams that require catch-and-throw backups no longer consider Martinez much of a candidate for a job in the majors. He’ll have to fight just to make Triple-A Nashville’s roster.

Martinez, 35, hit .265/.315/.382 in 272 AB for Triple-A Toledo last season. He’ll head to Triple-A and act as insurance.

The Tigers are set for catching at the major league level, so Martinez, Boston’s third catcher in September, will likely play for Triple-A Toledo.