The Boston Red Sox entered 2025 with one of the better rosters in the major leagues on paper. Most positions were filled with all-star caliber players, award winners, or talented young players and rookies. The most glaring hole, especially in the lineup, was the catching position. Connow Wong had a decent season in 2024, but outperformed his skill level according to many analysts.
After the trade of Kyle Teel in a package to acquire Garrett Crochet, the catching depth became glaringly weak. The Red Sox acquired rookie Carlos Narvaez from the New York Yankees as a backup, and also brought in Blake Sabol and Seby Zavala, among others, as non-roster invitees. There is little in the way of prospect depth at the position either, at least at the top of the farm system. Therefore, catching appeared to be the greatest area of need going into the season.
Connow Wong has since gone on the IL, and the concerns went from worrisome to downright catastrophic. Calling up Blake Sabol as the backup has been an unmitigated disaster. So what can the Red Sox do to address their catching position, and how quickly do they need to make a move? They are hardly out of the picture by any means, given they are second in the division. At 16-14, though, there is a sense of urgency to pick up the pace.
Therefore, there are three options for the Red Sox to address the current catching dilemma, each with its pros and cons.
The first option for the Red Sox is to go out and acquire a catcher from another team. This is the direction that would bring the highest ceiling of talent back, but also the most costly. At a minimum, it will require prospect capital in some capacity, and the better the player, the higher the cost. The cost will be even greater right now, when most teams are still at least ostensibly in the mix for the playoffs.
So, what players could even be available? One player that was recently mentioned in a potential trade is Baltimore Orioles catching prospect Samuel Basallo. Basallo is a top ten prospect in the league, which will cost a lot. Baltimore has Adley Rutschman entrenched at C and a metric ton of corner infield prospects already, which makes Basallo expendable. Baltimore needs pitching, which Boston could potentially offer. The fit is not perfect, but it is probably the highest level of talent on the market right now, if Baltimore is willing to move him.
Outside of Basallo, catching around the league is scarce. There are only a few teams right now that would be in the market to sell, given they are in full rebuild mode. Those teams include the Chicago White Sox, the Colorado Rockies, and the Miami Marlins (who are currently outperforming expectations). Any other team in the league has at least some claim to being in the general race, although the Los Angeles Angels and the Sacramento Athletics should probably be in the mix soon.
Out of these five teams, none of them has standout catching depth that could be targeted. The Angels have O’Hoppe and D’Arnaud, but only D’Arnaud would be available and has been terrible so far this year. The Marlins have a plethora of catchers on their depth chart, but are Nick Fortes and Rob Brantly (both injured) worth the assets it would take to acquire them? The White Sox may match best, with Korey Lee (injured), Matthew Thaiss, and Omar Narvaez all in the system, with Kyle Teel waiting in the wings.
The Red Sox have the prospect depth to work on a trade with one of these teams, and fill their catching situation for the short term or long term, depending on who they target. The problem with the above names is that none of them are particularly intriguing, except Basallo. They may be improvements, but they are not substantial or game-changing.
Technically, the Red Sox already used this approach to catching. Yasmani Grandal was offered a minor league contract and is currently on the Worcester AAA roster. If the Red Sox wanted to, though, they could continue to dive into this pool, watching for players who get designated for assignment. There is nothing out there right now that is better than what is currently on the roster.
This is a risky strategy to fill any hole, let alone a catching hole. There is no way to predict who will become available, and even if players do enter the market, there is no promise they are any better than what is currently on the roster. On occasion, a marginal depth improvement will pop up, but that is not going to move the needle much for a team with playoff aspirations. The ceiling here is low, and the floor is lower. It is an option, but not a particularly viable one.
The Red Sox can just stand pat. The reality is, they are above .500 and sitting second in the AL East, despite weak catching and an overall underwhelming performance. Carlos Narvaez has provided fantastic defense, and he is only a rookie. This means he could develop into a more consistent hitter. Connor Wong will presumably come back at some point and provide at least adequate play at the position. Blake Sabol is awful, but Yasmani Grandal could be called up to take that role and provide solid defense, even if the bat is not what it once was.
The problem is, none of these options seems like a long-term solution. Wong and Narvaez are perfectly acceptable players, but neither is going to help a team make a run in the playoffs. If they are the only hole on the roster, or one of only a couple, then that is one thing. If they are part of a series of holes, that becomes a bigger problem. Given the problems with the strategies above, however, it may be easier to fill the other holes, such as the bullpen and starting pitching, than catching.
Perhaps this is what the Red Sox are banking on. Catching is a problem around much of the league, so having a good defender may be all that is needed to match up with other teams. The Red Sox have a couple of minor league catching prospects working their way through the system, but all are still years away. Until then, the best bet may be to simply tread water.
The Red Sox have a catching issue. Trading for Crochet was worth it, but losing Teel was a big blow to a position of need, and there are no easy solutions to solve the problem. Trading brings the most back, but also takes away the depth that the team has been working years to rebuild. Picking a player up off waivers or free agency adds depth but does not move the needle. Therefore, standing pat is the right move for now, at least until more teams become willing to deal from a surplus near the trade deadline.
The Red Sox are a team that can, and should, be competing for a title. If they are going to reach their goals, players on the roster need to perform better and live up to, or possibly even exceed, expectations. Catching is not exempt from that analysis, so hopefully, one of Narvaez, Grandal, or Wong, when healthy, will step up and deliver production from a position that desperately needs it. My money is on Narvaez.
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