Twins’ Butera scouted by Blue Jays’ Butera

Bah…talk to me when he can grab a handful of nails, stick them in his mouth, and then spit them out pointy end forward!

Former Minnesota Twins backup catcher Sal Butera, whose son Drew is a Twins backup catcher, has been a major league scout for the Toronto Blue Jays for 20 years.

...Sal’s report on Drew?

“He’s a good player; he’s one of the better defensive catchers, and his bat is a work in progress,” Sal said.

Drew Butera is batting .213 in 34 games for the Twins this season.

“I put my own comments in about where I think he needs to improve,” Sal said.

Sal, 59, said he can evaluate his son objectively.

“It’s easy,” he said. “It’s different because it’s not like he’s 21, 22 anymore—he’s an established big leaguer. This is his third year in the big leagues. He’s 29 now.

“So I look at him in the role that he plays on his club, how that profiles for what we look for, and then I put in my report.

“The first time I did it, I was a little bit hesitant. I don’t want to say I was negative, but I didn’t grade him as high as I probably should have because I didn’t want anybody to say he was (overrated) because of his dad. And as it turned out, I got questioned on it (by the front office) because his numbers came up better from our other scouts.”