As Red Sox Pursue Catching Help, Marlins' Liam Hicks, Pair Of Cardinals Are Options

As the Boston Red Sox continue their search for an upgrade at catcher, a few more paths could be open.

One is the Miami Marlins and the other is the St. Louis Cardinals.

According to MLB.com's Mark Feinsand, the emergence of rookie catcher Joe Mack has prompted the Marlins to be open to trading Liam Hicks, who has seen more action at designated hitter than catcher in July while also spending a little time at first base this season.

Hicks, who is under club control through 2030, is slashing .279/.358/.438 with 14 homers and 60 RBIs in 95 games for the Marlins, who Monday ended their franchise-record 12-game losing streak that switched their role from buyer to seller with Monday's trade deadline coming up. In addition to being 9½ games out of the NL East lead, the Marlins went from possessing the No. 3 wild-card spot to now being two games out, but having to surpass five teams to get back into that same position.

Hicks has started 31 games behind the plate, 18 at first base and 35 at DH.

If Hicks isn't who the Red Sox are looking for, they could head back to the Cardinals, who shipped right-handed starter Sonny Gray and first baseman Willson Contreras to Boston in separate deals with its former front-office boss Chaim Bloom.

The Cardinals have the top catching prospect in baseball, per MLB Pipeline, in Rainiel Rodriguez, a 19-year-old who is at Double-A. But ahead of him yet on the Cardinals' depth chart are Pedro Pages and Ivan Herrera. Pages would be more attractive from a defensive standpoint as Herrera does a poor job of controlling the running game. But Pages' problem is offense. He has a .207/.248/.327 slash line with four homers and 11 RBIs in 60 games, while Herrera's slash line is .244/.365/.380 with 12 homers and 44 RBIs in 105 games. Herrera has made 40 of his 105 starts at catcher, with the rest as a designated hitter.