One catch: Who'll be behind plate?

With a rash of recent signings, the Red Sox have chopped their offseason to-do list down to one large objective: re-sign captain Jason Varitek or find a catcher to replace him.

General manager Theo Epstein said that while finding another catcher is the club's preference, it is not a necessity. As it stands, the Red Sox would enter spring training with Josh Bard and the combination of Dusty Brown and George Kottaras, who platooned last year at Triple A Pawtucket.

"If nothing makes sense, we'll go to spring training with" those three, Epstein said. "We'd like to find another catcher. If we can't, we're pretty confident with what we have. We trust Josh. The other two were a pretty good platoon. We'd like to add another. But we'll see."

It seems unlikely the Sox will settle for that trio. If they don't re-sign Varitek, the options seem to be trading for one of two young catchers, Miguel Montero of the Diamondbacks or Jarrod Saltalamacchia of the Rangers.

Montero, 25, is a lefthanded hitter who would be a nice match with Bard, a switch hitter who is better from the right side. According to one major league source, the Diamondbacks are seeking only a comparable prospect - a pitcher or positional player - but the sides have yet to identify a comparable talent that would make the deal work.

Though he has batted just .239 in 414 career at-bats over parts of three seasons, Montero has demonstrated some power (15 home runs) while averaging roughly a walk every 10 at-bats. (Most evaluators deem that ratio to be a sign of sound plate discipline.) His best years came in the lower minors.

In 2006, in time split between Double A and Triple A, Montero batted .286 with 17 home runs and 75 RBIs in 117 games.

The question is whether the Sox would prefer other options, raising the question of whether they would try to use Montero as leverage to bring down the demands of the Rangers (for Saltalamacchia) or Scott Boras (who represents Varitek).

Daisuke Matsuzaka will remain in Japan for the beginning of spring training and will not join the Red Sox until after the World Baseball Classic, Epstein said. Matsuzaka will work out on his own. The tournament is slated to run March 5-23, with teams being eliminated along the way. "In an ideal world, we would have all our guys from Day 1," Epstein said. "But given the circumstances, we feel that a lot of communication is the best way to get through it." The list of Red Sox players who will play in the WBC appears set: Matsuzaka (Japan), Jason Bay (Canada), David Ortiz (Dominican Republic), and Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis (US). Manager Terry Francona had feared that 7-9 Red Sox would play in the event, so sending five comes as a small relief.

Tony Massarotti of the Globe staff contributed to this report.