Marlins Sign Free Agent Jarrod Saltalamacchia
**Royal Palm Beach HS Product Returns Home on Three-Year Contract**
MIAMI - The Miami Marlins today announced the signing of free-agent catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia to a three-year contract. The announcement was made by Marlins President of Baseball Operations Michael Hill.
Saltalamacchia, 28, resides in Wellington and is a graduate of Royal Palm Beach HS. He batted .273 in 121 games for Boston last season, including a mark of .276 in 119 games at catcher, which ranked third among American League backstops. His 14 home runs were tied for fourth among AL catchers, and his 65 RBI ranked third.
Over the last three seasons, Saltalamacchia recorded a .457 slugging percentage, which ranked first among AL catchers. He had 80 doubles and 55 home runs, both of which ranked fourth among AL catchers, and recorded 180 RBI, which ranked fifth. Only three other Major League catchers, Carlos Santana (171), Yadier Molina (153) and Matt Wieters (152), had more extra-base hits than Saltalamacchia (139) in that time.
Selected in the Compensation A Round (36th overall) of the 2003 First-Year Player Draft by the Braves, Saltalamacchia has appeared in 595 games over a seven-year career with Atlanta (2007), Texas (2007-10) and Boston (2010-13).
Saltalamacchia will be available to the media at the Winter Meetings on Monday at 3 p.m. in the media work room (Northern Hemisphere A/B).
Additional information on the 2014 Marlins is available on the team's official website, www.marlins.com.