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A .282 average and 14 home runs at acquisition.
Those are the numbers Liam Hicks carried into Tampa Bay when the Rays dealt for him from Miami at the trade deadline, ending a three-season search for reliable production behind the plate that had required 10 different catchers before his arrival.
The position in focus Eleven catchers in three years is an operational figure, not a footnote.
It means the Rays had been unable to stabilize the backstop, a gap that compounds differently than most roster weaknesses because the catcher position touches every pitch.
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