By Scott Plack

March 23, 2011: New Orleans, LA – Víctor Salgardo is headed back to where he began, in a way – at least back to the division he started out in, and maybe even a chance to recreate his career (or at least to play a full season as a starter). 

The early scouting on Salgardo was high.  The following report was issued upon his 2007 trade from Florida to San Antonio:

“Catcher Víctor Salgardo is a highly valued prospect who has very good power, but his defensive skills are even more impressive.  Said one scout, “Some guys have howitzers for arms, and they make great catchers.  This guy has a 16 inch naval gun for an arm; you will not run on him.  He’s a combination of Chris Hoiles bat and Benito Santiago’s arm.”

Since that glowing review, Salgardo has failed to reach 200 at bars in any season, with his career high being 188 in 2007.  He has often been the player who was getting overpaid while waiting in the wings, which eventually led to him being traded to the next team to wait in the wings.  When asked about his own take on his career so far, he said this, “Don’t get me wrong; it was great getting paid a couple of million to play, but looking back it’s possible that my paycheck actually worked against me.  When the PEBA got started, everyone was handed out their salaries based on an arbitration system.  My contract was one of the many that didn’t match up with my on-the-field accomplishments.”

Salgardo was drafted by Florida and then was traded to San Antonio… and then West Virginia… and then Aurora, where he most recently graced the bench.  In Colorado, Salgardo was beat out by Wilson Berry (even though Berry at times was less than impressive) and had become the perennial backup, but his arrival in New Orleans will give him another change of scenery and, for the first time, the outright starting job.

“I have been through frustration, disappointment and new hopes for a new team, and frankly nothing has really worked out the way I’ve wanted it too.  Lately I have mostly just been angry knowing that Aurora was a dead end spot for me.  When my agent called and said New Orleans wanted me to start for them, I felt like things were turning a corner.”  They may be, but whether they do or not, this is probably Víctor’s last chance to find a team and make an impact as a consistent starter.

New Orleans is looking for Salgardo to bring in the experience of winning from the Borealis as well as veteran leadership, easing the load on rookie John Ray, who was being backed up by another rookie.  GM Paul Tanner stated that if Salgardo could hit around .240 and hit 10-15 homeruns, then that would be a job well done.

“He is a great defensive catcher, and now we are willing to roll the dice and see if he can add some offensive firepower.  Since we plan on batting him near the bottom of the order, it won’t take too much for us to consider that we got decent return for our investment.”

Time will tell, but Trendsetters’ fans are hopeful that redemption will come for Salgardo, especially versus his former Dixie teams.