SOX RELEASE MIRABELLI

In a bit of a surprise move, the Red Sox have placed Doug Mirabelli on irrevocable waivers. The 37 year old catcher has seen his solid offensive numbers collapse in the past few years. In 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004 - his first seasons with the Sox - he hit .247, slugged .459, hit 33 homeruns. Those were very good numbers for a backup.

But the last three seasons have seen a considerable drop. He's hit .206 since 2005, with a slugging percentage of .363. He's still hitting the occasional homerun, with 17 in the past three years, but every other aspect of his game at the plate has fallen off. Last year, he struck out about 4 times as often as he walked, and once every 2.78 at-bats.

The Red Sox now have three candidates for the backup catcher's role. Kevin Cash did a solid job catching Wakefield last year, but he's having a mediocre Spring, and only hit .111 in limited time with Boston last year. George Kotteras is hitting .500 in Grapefruit League play, and Dusty Brown is hitting .556.

Although he wasn't that great, Doug will still be missed. Here is a video tribute to him, showing all of his homeruns from 2004 to 2007.



Sources:
Baseball-Reference.com
USA Today
ESPN
CBS SportsLine