The Boston Red Sox got rid of their scapegoat, and the St. Louis Cardinals got their jerk.
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CBSSports.com, citing a tweet from the St Louis Post-Dispatch's Derrick Goold, confirmed that the Cardinals signed enigmatic catcher A.J. Pierzynski to help fill the void left by Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina' thumb injury.
#Cardinals make a move for a catcher. Kottaras moving out, and club working on deal with free-agent Pierzynski. #stlcards News @stltoday
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) July 26, 2014
The report added that the Cardinals signed the 37-year-old Pierzynski to the pro-rated portion of the league minimum. The Red Sox recently released Pierzynski, who was hitting .254 with four home runs in 72 games.
Larry Brown Sports reported earlier this month that several Red Sox players went to management to complain about the "negative influence" Pierzynski was having on the team.
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WEEI's Rob Bradford reported:
"It should be noted that one player can't be defined as the downfall of this Red Sox team to date, but it was tough to ignore the voices throughout the home clubhouse in the aftermath of the team's 5-4 walkoff victory over the White Sox, which described an entirely different dugout environment than there had been up through Tuesday. Over the course of a season, there are few times such proclamations are made, but this was unmistakably one of those rarities.
The Red Sox might rattle off 10 straight losses, leading to many of the same players who were celebrating Wednesday's win being shipped out of town. But the facts are the facts, and the facts are that this one player was identified as a dark cloud that had just been lifted by multiple members of what is perceived as one of baseball's most tight-knit groups."
Larry Brown Sports added that the Red Sox knew Pierzynski "was a jerk," but they were looking to avoid paying Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
Pierzynski also is a completely different ball player than Molina, which could make for another difficult transition for Pierzynski in St. Louis, CBSSports.com reports.
"Molina is a patient hitter while Pierzynski is a total hacker," CBSSports.com reported. "Molina has an elite arm (49 percent) while Pierzynski struggles to throw out base-runners (19 percent). Molina is seen as a leader whereas Pierzynski has worn out his welcome with more than one team. It's a curious fit, for sure."
But the Cardinals obviously thought he was an upgrade over their platoon of Tony Cruz and George Kottaras.
Do you think A.J. Pierzynski will be a good addition for the St. Louis Cardinals? Comment below or tell us @SportsWN.
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