Boston Red Sox Want An Upgrade At Catcher

[Matthew Lenz]

The Boston Red Sox have fortified their rotation, but still have needs on the offensive side of the ball. While their primary need is for a third base, a recent report suggests they are also looking to improve elsewhere.

Sean McAdam of MassLive is reporting that the Boston Red Sox "Remain Active" in the catcher market. They previously had been tied to J.T. Realmuto and Victor Caratini, but they have signed with the Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins, respectively.

Had they landed Realmuto, then incumbent backstop Carlos Narvaez likely would have moved to a backup role. On the other hand, a Caratini signing likely would have kept him in a starting role. With both guys off the market, the remaining catchers in free agency are not overly attractive options.

Turning our sights to the trade market, there haven't been reports of available catchers; however, there is a lot of speculation that the Twins may shop Ryan Jeffers. Jeffers, 29, is in his final year of arbitration and will be a free agent following the 2026 season. He's a bat-first catcher who has a career .740 OPS (108 wRC+) and 68 home runs across 515 games. In 2025, he shifted his approach at the plate, sacrificing power for plate discipline and contact. Behind the dish, three years of mentorship from Cristian Vazquez didn't seem to impact his defensive acumen. He's a well below-average defensive catcher.

If they do look to trade for a catcher (or a third baseman), Ed Hand of Beyond the Monster is reporting that Connelly Early and Payton Tolle would not be made available unless "the return is something truly elite." That leaves the logjam in the outfield or a big league starter like Brayan Bello as potential routes to acquiring a backstop to pair with Narvaez.

Who do you think the Red Sox should target? Let us know in the comments!

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[mvp 78]

Realmuto's catching has been going downhill. I think if they brought him in, it would be to DH/C and take over for Wong. I don't think it would make sense to reduce Narvaez's role for a guy who can no longer frame or block a pitch. 

[JoeBrady]

I would at least make a call about Sean Murphy.  He's not nearly the player he once was, but at $15M, he's cheap.  Something along the line of Bello + salary relief would be interesting.  Needs to clear some in-depth medicals with his history.

[mvp 78]

7 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

I would at least make a call about Sean Murphy.  He's not nearly the player he once was, but at $15M, he's cheap.  Something along the line of Bello + salary relief would be interesting.  Needs to clear some in-depth medicals with his history.

Murphy is currently rehabbing his hip, so IDK if he's a great guy to make a run for right now. 

[notin]

Reportedly the Sox plsn is still Narvaez ss the starter, which, if true, means a backup catcher search.  How fun! 
 

If they want someone to start ahead of Narvaez, Ryan Jeffers? Good bat.  Questionable glove.

Free agency has potential returns of Reese McGuire and Christian Vazquez.  Or former All Star turned non-tender Jonah Heim.

And if they were really Sox go down this path, will they consider that Connor Wong has experience at 1b,2b,3b and corner OF in his major and minor league career? Or just DFA him?

 

[mvp 78]

5 minutes ago, notin said:

Reportedly the Sox plsn is still Narvaez ss the starter, which, if true, means a backup catcher search.  How fun! 
 

If they want someone to start ahead of Narvaez, Ryan Jeffers? Good bat.  Questionable glove.

Free agency has potential returns of Reese McGuire and Christian Vazquez.  Or former All Star turned non-tender Jonah Heim.

And if they were really Sox go down this path, will they consider that Connor Wong has experience at 1b,2b,3b and corner OF in his major and minor league career? Or just DFA him?

Wong still has 1 option left.

[notin]

2 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Wong still has 1 option left.

It’s not so much the option as it is the 40 man roster spot…

[mvp 78]

22 minutes ago, notin said:

It’s not so much the option as it is the 40 man roster spot…

Holding onto Wong as a 3rd Catcher is more important than holding onto Sogard. 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, notin said:

Reportedly the Sox plsn is still Narvaez ss the starter, which, if true, means a backup catcher search.  How fun! 
 

If they want someone to start ahead of Narvaez, Ryan Jeffers? Good bat.  Questionable glove.

Free agency has potential returns of Reese McGuire and Christian Vazquez.  Or former All Star turned non-tender Jonah Heim.

And if they were really Sox go down this path, will they consider that Connor Wong has experience at 1b,2b,3b and corner OF in his major and minor league career? Or just DFA him?

 

We need some offense, so maybe Ryan Jeffers for one year would be nice. I like Narvaez more than some seem to, and Jeffers could also DH, if we didn't have 3-4 guys vying for the DH slot (Masa, Duran, Romy & Campbell.)

Last 3 years OPS: (250+ PAs)

.859 Anthony

.810 Duran

.803 Casas (IL?)

.791 Abreu

.786 Romy

.772 Jeffers (22 HRs per 650)

.762 Masa

.726 Narvaez

.708 Story

.685 Rafaela

.682 Wong

.664 Campbell

.642 DHam

[moonslav59]

50 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Holding onto Wong as a 3rd Catcher is more important than holding onto Sogard. 

Yes, he'd be a big asset at AAA- ready to step in as needed, and knowing many of the pitchers on the staff already, despite the massive Brz pitcher purge over the past 2+ years.

[drewski6]

2 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Yes, he'd be a big asset at AAA- ready to step in as needed, and knowing many of the pitchers on the staff already, despite the massive Brz pitcher purge over the past 2+ years.

Well catchers usually do have big ass(ets). Prob from all the squatting. How do you think Cal R got his nickname?

[drewski6]

Tough thing about catcher position is that we dont know if Narv dropping off at the end was him reverting back to the player he is, which is still solid but not like a no-doubt starter. Or if he just fatigued/rookie wall, and what we saw from him prior to the end of year drop off was the real Nav (which would make him a no-doubt starter)

In either case you prob want to plan for more reps for the other catcher, but Im not sure Wong isnt a solid backup C in his own right. He is quite athletic for a C so hes not without tools.  ANd I think on the D side (which is prob most important for backup c) - his metrics seem to be all over the map, which makes me distrust the metrics.

[mvp 78]

6 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Tough thing about catcher position is that we dont know if Narv dropping off at the end was him reverting back to the player he is, which is still solid but not like a no-doubt starter. Or if he just fatigued/rookie wall, and what we saw from him prior to the end of year drop off was the real Nav (which would make him a no-doubt starter)

In either case you prob want to plan for more reps for the other catcher, but Im not sure Wong isnt a solid backup C in his own right. He is quite athletic for a C so hes not without tools.  ANd I think on the D side (which is prob most important for backup c) - his metrics seem to be all over the map, which makes me distrust the metrics.

Wong had a significant shoulder injury prior to '25, so it's not surprising his throwing metrics fell off. It was surprising that he became a net zero framer somehow. In previous seasons, his poor framing tanked his defense (2nd percentile '24, 11th percentile '23). I don't think the elite pop time and CS% from '23 will ever come back. 

[moonslav59]

36 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Tough thing about catcher position is that we dont know if Narv dropping off at the end was him reverting back to the player he is, which is still solid but not like a no-doubt starter. Or if he just fatigued/rookie wall, and what we saw from him prior to the end of year drop off was the real Nav (which would make him a no-doubt starter)

In either case you prob want to plan for more reps for the other catcher, but Im not sure Wong isnt a solid backup C in his own right. He is quite athletic for a C so hes not without tools.  ANd I think on the D side (which is prob most important for backup c) - his metrics seem to be all over the map, which makes me distrust the metrics.

Narvaez had decent minor league stats, especially OBP (.371 in AAA) & decent power (about 20 HRs per 650). It's hard to know "who he is" as a batter, so I'm okay with getting insurance.

No doubt, Narvaez dropped off from his pretty hot start to the season, but....

.719 first 96 games

.756 last 22 games

This shows maybe he's a .725-.750 batter for real.

While I do think Wong's 2024 offense was not sustainable, I think his injury contributed to a worse then who he is 2025 season.

[notin]

3 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Holding onto Wong as a 3rd Catcher is more important than holding onto Sogard. 

Maybe.  The Sox have Gonzalez, Hamilton and Gray for infield beyond the starters.  But only two catchers on the 40 man roster..

[drewski6]

2 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Wong had a significant shoulder injury prior to '25, so it's not surprising his throwing metrics fell off. It was surprising that he became a net zero framer somehow. In previous seasons, his poor framing tanked his defense (2nd percentile '24, 11th percentile '23). I don't think the elite pop time and CS% from '23 will ever come back. 

Yeah, TY for the details, I just remember his defensive metrics being a mixed bag, then somehow, they all flipped (so still a mixed back, but inverse to the previous mixed bag). Which I found weird. And I feel like defensive stats , even the complex ones are wonky and I feel like WAR is wonky.

[drewski6]

I feel like I could construct a player prototype to manipulate WAR

[drewski6]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

Narvaez had decent minor league stats, especially OBP (.371 in AAA) & decent power (about 20 HRs per 650). It's hard to know "who he is" as a batter, so I'm okay with getting insurance.

No doubt, Narvaez dropped off from his pretty hot start to the season, but....

.719 first 96 games

.756 last 22 games

This shows maybe he's a .725-.750 batter for real.

While I do think Wong's 2024 offense was not sustainable, I think his injury contributed to a worse then who he is 2025 season.

I lean towards Narvaez being good because he was only a rookie last year, he has a short/stout body with tree stumps for legs, and he grades well defensively.

[mvp 78]

10 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Yeah, TY for the details, I just remember his defensive metrics being a mixed bag, then somehow, they all flipped (so still a mixed back, but inverse to the previous mixed bag). Which I found weird. And I feel like defensive stats , even the complex ones are wonky and I feel like WAR is wonky.

I don't have a problem with the defensive metrics and get why OAA and DRS don't match. I just don't necessarily agree with how they have determined defense factors into WAR. 

[mvp 78]

13 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

I feel like I could construct a player prototype to manipulate WAR

Ceddanne Rafaela. 

[drewski6]

4 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

I don't have a problem with the defensive metrics and get why OAA and DRS don't match. I just don't necessarily agree with how they have determined defense factors into WAR. 

My issue is that I seem to hear / read that defensive player x has fallen off a cliff defensively based on advanced metrics when they look the same to me and I wonder if theres sample size issues or other weird variables are skewing data.

[JoeBrady]

50 minutes ago, notin said:

The Sox have Gonzalez, Hamilton and Gray for infield beyond the starters.

I see almost no chance Gray gets any serious playing time.  He's been with a who's who of teams that want cheap talent (PT, TB, Oak, Mia, WS) and hasn't stuck with any of them.

[JoeBrady]

9 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

My issue is that I seem to hear / read that defensive player x has fallen off a cliff defensively based on advanced metrics when they look the same to me and I wonder if theres sample size issues or other weird variables are skewing data.

IMHO, the defensive metrics have too much variance from year to year to be dependable.  If a hitter has some variance, I can look at objective numbers like K/W, BABIP, HR/FB, EV, etc., to make some sense of them.  I don't see that in fielding.  If I need to choose something, I go with the Fielding Bible.

[notin]

8 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

I see almost no chance Gray gets any serious playing time.  He's been with a who's who of teams that want cheap talent (PT, TB, Oak, Mia, WS) and hasn't stuck with any of them.

And about 4 years ago, you could apply that same description to Rob Refsnyder…

[Kimmi]

Upgrading at catcher is just not a priority for me.  Narvaez might regress some offensively, but he is a solid defensive catcher, and the pitching staff speaks highly of him.  If you're looking to upgrade the offense, which the Red Sox undoubtedly are, upgrade it elsewhere.

[moonslav59]

3 hours ago, notin said:

Maybe.  The Sox have Gonzalez, Hamilton and Gray for infield beyond the starters.  But only two catchers on the 40 man roster..

Contreras could be the emergency 3 catcher.

[Duran Is The Man]

they should have claimed Daniel Susac off waivers before the Giants did. 

[moonslav59]

3 hours ago, Duran Is The Man said:

they should have claimed Daniel Susac off waivers before the Giants did. 

Didnt they have the earlier choice than us?

[Duran Is The Man]

25 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Didnt they have the earlier choice than us?

maybe so. IDK.

[Duran Is The Man]

27 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Didnt they have the earlier choice than us?

just looked it up. Twins took him with the 4th pick and then the Giants traded for him.