Updating Zaun
Since I started beating the drum this morning, I may as well play another tune.
I just got off the phone with catcher Gregg Zaun, who confirmed that his former club has engaged in talks with his agent, Dan Evans, about bringing him back to Baltimore next season.
No offers have been made, however. As Zaun put it, everyone is just "kicking the tires" at the moment. He's heard from multiple clubs who see him in a variety of roles, but he's waiting for the first serious bid.
"There are a lot of things left to be done," he said. "I imagine that I'll find out how serious these clubs are pretty quick. There are different levels of interest and I'm listening to what people have to say."
Zaun broke into the majors with the Orioles in 1995 and was dealt to the Marlins a year later to complete an earlier trade for reliever Terry Mathews.
Zaun cherished his time with the Orioles, except for one moment.
"All I didn't like is when I got traded," he said. "It broke my heart. I really enjoyed being an Oriole. They taught me how to play the game. I admired how they ran their minor league system, and the quality of the instruction was very high."
Zaun said he's at the point physically where he's still able to play every day because "I don't have the mileage that most 37-year-old catchers with 14 years in the majors have under their belts."
"I still feel like I can do it," he added. "I'm in between being a true starter and a backup. I know I'm at the stage where being a mentor to a young guy is where I'm going to be in my career in the next year or two."
We'll wait to see whether it happens in 2009.
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Categories (click for archive)Roch Kubatko | Roch Kubatko Orioles |
Bring him back!! Seems to me like he perfectly understands the situation he would be in and that he's fine with it. Not to mention it would be nice to have a back-up catcher that was a true backup and not just a cardboard cutout that we put behind the plate.
Okay, I have to stop posting and go do some work...stupid winter meetings for distracting me all day!
Let's take him....Zaun would be a great addition to the defense and pitching staff.....let's go Andy, sign him NOW.....
I feel the same way, Tracy!
And about Zaun, bring him back, sign him for a year at like a few million. He seems like he understands the situation and would gladly be a back-up when Wieters arrives and still be able to get playing time.
I vote for Gregg Zaun!
Roch,
Thank you very much for getting in touch with Zaun to get these commetns. This is EXACTLY the type of stuff us fans crave at this time of the year. I really hope that they can work it out with Zaun. Looks like a good fit for both parties.
Hey roch with all this talk about zaun, what about jason varitek. He won 2 rings with the red sox's an be good mentor to matt wieters an since they both went to georgia tech it would be a great pairing.
So Zaun is saying he wants to see how serious the other teams are in him. That just tells me that he's not that serious in the Orioles or he wouldn't have said that. If it's me, I'm signing up at the mere mention. I'm going to say to Roch, "as soon as Andy calls me, I'll have pen in hand. I'll tell him that I want to sign up today and get it done."
We want you Gregg. Don't take too much of our time thinking about it.
Gary,
There is no way Varitek signs to be a 1 year stop gap/placeholder until the Orioles are ready to call up Wieters.
Ok, he actually is FINE with being a mentor. He was happy when he was here. If that doesn't say SIGN HIM, I don't know what does.