Red Sox Can Address Their Catching Needs Once and For All At MLB Trade Deadline

[Alex Mayes]

Earlier this week, I profiled why Minnesota Twins backstop Ryan Jeffers is a prime trade target for the Boston Red Sox. He checks a lot of the boxes that the team needs behind the plate and on offense, but there are questions about the cost to acquire him and if the Twins would even be willing to part with him. He’s also an unrestricted free agent after next season, so Craig Breslow would have to heavily weigh the cost versus the possibility of extending Jeffers before he has a chance to reach free agency. 

Since that article was written though, the trade market for catchers has become arguably the hottest stove in MLB. ESPN’s Jeff Passan has listed three additional catchers as matches for the Red Sox. While Jeffers was at the top of my trade target list, I’d likely bump him down to number two or three on my tier rankings now that Shea Langeliers, Adley Rutschman, and Hunter Goodman’s names have surfaced. Instead of profiling each player with their own piece, I wanted to give a one-stop-shop location for the three names that are going to fly up fan’s trade boards in the next week and a half.

#3: Hunter Goodman, Colorado Rockies

We talked quite a bit about Goodman on the most recent episode of the Talk Sox Podcast and for good reason: he’s currently projected to perform better this season than he did during his breakout in 2025. He’s currently slashing .257/.326/.565 with a .375 wOBA, 124 wRC+, and a 2.4 fWAR. To go along with that, he’s already matched his 2025 home run total of 31 in just 94 games into this season. Typically, you have to take any hitter on the Rockies with a grain of salt, but not Goodman. In fact, his road splits are better than his home numbers. On the road, he’s slashing .282/.345/.619 with 18 home runs, a 32 K%, and an 8 BB%. At home, he’s slashing .231/.306/.509 with 13 home runs, a 32.6 K%, and an 8.8 BB%. Much like nearly every hitter connected to the Red Sox while Craig Breslow has been at the helm, Goodman has a staggering 30.6 Pull-Air% that would likely drive his home run totals to the moon if he were taking aim at the Green Monster for the remainder of this season. He’s also not an unrestricted free agent until 2030.

With that much control, it’s understandable that Colorado is waiting to be blown away by an offer for Goodman. That’s the biggest knock against him right now; it’s going to take multiple top-10 prospects plus some MLB-caliber talent to pry the catcher out of the Mile High City.

Along with that, there are a couple areas of his game that should give teams, but especially the Red Sox, pause for concern. As noted in his splits above, his strikeout percentage is out of this world, and not in a good way. Currently, Goodman is in the 5th overall percentile for K% at 32.3%. His BB% is slightly better, 8.4%, putting him in the 43rd percentile. The sky-high strikeout percentage also explains the bottom-of-the-barrel chase percentage at 40.4% and the even worse whiff percentage at 35..4%.

On the defensive side of the baseball, he’s bottom of the league as well. He currently is in the 58th percentile in blocks above average at +1, the 45th percentile in caught stealing above average at zero, the 27th percentile in framing at -2, and the 58th percentile in pop time at 1.94 seconds. It’s a massive step backwards on the defensive side of the baseball compared to Carlos Narváez, but the pop in his bat is tantalizing. If the hitting program believes they can tinker with him enough to fix his swing-and-miss issues, then it may be worth ponying up the prospect capital to land Goodman at the deadline since he’s under control for so long.

 

#2: Adley Rutschman, Baltimore Orioles

I like Rutschman a lot and typically hate seeing him at the plate in a series against the O’s. There are two big reasons I have him ranked number two here, though: He plays for a division rival, so a trade is going to be incredibly difficult to pull off, and he has an injury history that gives me a bit of pause for concern. He landed on the IL just before the most recent series against the Orioles with left wrist inflammation. That’s his third IL stint this year; he was placed on the IL in April with left ankle inflammation and again in June with a concussion. Due to the time spent on the injured list, his 2026 numbers aren’t spectacular. He’s slashing .251/.331/.433 with a .333 wOBA, 114 wRC+, and a 2.3 fWAR. That being said, he has all of the intangibles that the Red Sox are looking for if they decide to upgrade at the catching position.

First, his Baseball Savant page gives us a look under the hood to a lot of the information that Craig Breslow is also likely looking at. He grades out in the 82nd percentile in xBA at .270, and his squared-up percentage is the 90th percentile at 32.3%. While all of that is impressive, Rutschman’s whiff, strikeout, and walk percentages are the offensive stats that Breslow is probably drooling over. His whiff percentage is sitting at 15.8%, good for the 92nd percentile, the strikeout percentage is in the 86th percentile at 14.1%, and his walk rate is 69th percentile at 10.6%. To go along with that, his Pull-Air percentage is at 19.3%, good for the top ten percent of hitters in the league.

We all know Breslow loves to sign right-handed (or switch, in Rutschman’s case) hitters who can pull the ball in the air on a regular basis. Defensively, Rutschman goes stride for stride with Carlos Narvaez behind the dish. Rutschman is ranked in the 80th percentile in blocks above average, the 99th percentile in caught stealing above average, and the 97th percentile in framing. The lone knock defensively against him is his pop time comes in at 1.95 seconds, good for the 45th percentile.

Rutschman is arguably the most all-around catcher potentially available on the trade market, but making a deal of this caliber within the division is going to be incredibly tough, and will likely command a massive overpay for the Orioles to even listen to an offer. Rutschman is a free agent in 2027, so he has an extra year of control over someone like Jeffers, but the price here may be too exorbitant to even consider.

#1: Shea Langeliers, Athletics

Langeliers is ranked number one because the Red Sox and A’s match up very well on a trade and his offensive profile is made to mash at Fenway Park. He’s battled injuries in his career, but not to the level of Rutschman above. With a capable backup in either Narvaez or Connor Wong, he can see some extended time at DH to help save his legs and hopefully prevent lower body injuries. He’s currently slashing .260/.330/.496 with a .355 wOBA, 125 wRC+, and a 2.7 fWAR. He’s slugged 23 home runs and has 51 RBIs. He also fits the ‘bat speed’ mold that Breslow and company have an affinity for, coming in at the 87th percentile with a 75.3 MPH average swing. His Pull-Air rate is at 21.7% but has been as high as 29.7% in his young career. He’s not a free agent until 2029 as well, so you can bet his price tag will be hefty as well.

Like Goodman above though, Langeliers has some holes in his swing. He’s ranked in the 42nd percentile in BB% with an 8.3%, the 40th percentile in K% with a 23%, 36th percentile in chase% with a 31.9%, and the 30th percentile in whiff% with a 28.2%. You could almost copy the same statements that I wrote about Goodman here when it comes to these numbers. He’s going to strike out a lot, and he’s hardly going to walk, but the power is so tantalizing.

Like Rutschman and Goodman, the odds of a mid-season trade for a star catcher like Langeliers are incredibly low. But if the front office is going to push their chips into the middle to acquire a bat at a position of need that can put the Red Sox on par with the American League's best, the A's backstop is the one to get.

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