Marlins, Jarrod Saltalamacchia reportedly agree to 3-year deal

The Miami Marlins have agreed to a three-year, $21 million contract with free-agent catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, reports Juan C. Rodriguez of the Sun Sentinel. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports has confirmed the report. The deal is still pending a physical.

Saltalamacchia, 28, was the best catcher still available in a market window for backstops that has closed very quickly. When the offseason began a little over a month ago, players like Brian McCann, Carlos Ruiz, A.J. Pierzynski, Dioner Navarro and Salty were all available to clubs looking to upgrade behind the plate.

Now, however, every single one of those guys is off the market, including Saltalamacchia. Any club waiting until the winter meetings to bolster its catching corps — looking at you, Rockies and Twins — will now have to settle for lesser names like Kelly Shoppach and Yorvit Torrealba unless they can find a trade partner.

Though his home runs declined pretty significantly from his 25 bombs in 2012, Salty still managed to increase his extra-base hit rate by nearly 2 percent, so there shouldn't be any cause for concern there. He should slip right into the top of the Marlins' depth chart at catcher, which pushes Jeff Mathis into back-up duty and could potentially make youngster Rob Brantly expendable.