Diamondbacks have 'not made a whole lot of headway' in search for catcher

As it stands, the Arizona Diamondbacks appear set to head into spring training with a catching tandem with 55 major-league games under its belt.  

The Diamondbacks shipped starter Miguel Montero to the Chicago Cubs in December, ridding themselves of the remaining $40 million on his deal, but simultaneously creating an offensive hole behind the plate. 

Arizona general manager Dave Stewart has surveyed the catching market since the trade to no avail. 

"We've not made a whole lot of headway in that area yet," Stewart told Nick Piecoro of AZCentral.com. "Without really giving up something that's going to cost us a player that we don't want to give away, we don't have a whole lot of motion yet."

Rule 5 selection Oscar Hernandez and Tuffy Gosewisch will battle it out for the starting position, with the latter coming to camp as the only catcher with major-league experience. 

Gosewisch, 31, appeared in 41 games a season ago, slashing .225/.242/.310 with one home run and 24 strikeouts, while Hernandez, 21, hit .249/.301/.401 with nine homes and 63 RBIs in 94 games with Single-A Bowling Green. 

Stewart conceded that he's prepared to start camp knowing there might be a lack of offense coming from his catchers, but believes the likes of Paul Goldschmidt, Yasmany Tomas, Mark Trumbo and others in the lineup will help alleviate that issue. 

"We feel that offensively we're going to be decent enough that we can give away some offense at a position or maybe even a position or two," Stewart said. "If (the right deal) comes our way, it comes our way. But I'm not going to give away a player that we hold in high regard to get a catcher."