While much of the focus for the Red Sox this offseason has been on their efforts to upgrade the rotation and fill out their corner infield mix, the team has also been connected to a number of catchers in recent months. They were reportedly involved in the market for J.T. Realmuto throughout the winter before he returned to Philadelphia on a three-year deal, and the team was also connected to Victor Caratini shortly before he signed on with the Twins on Friday. Those efforts to improve behind the plate don’t seem to be going away, as Sean McAdam of MassLive reported today that the team “remain[s] active” in their attempts to upgrade behind the plate after the signing of Caratini, who he emphasizes they were “very much involved” in the market of.
Those efforts shouldn’t be taken as a knock against Carlos Narvaez, who turned in an impressive 2025 season that earned him a sixth-place finish in AL Rookie of the Year voting thanks to a combination of league average offense at the plate and elite defense behind it. It seems likely that Narvaez would remain the primary catcher in Boston even if they were to find another backstop to bring into the mix. That said, there’s certainly signs Narvaez could use more support if the Red Sox are going to maximize his effectiveness. Narvaez caught 952 innings last year, ninth-most among catchers in 2025. While that’s not quite as much as the most used regulars like Realmuto and William Contreras, Narvaez still caught nearly 200 more innings than fellow rookie backstop Drake Baldwin.
That’s not terribly meaningful on its own, but given that Narvaez slumped badly at the plate in the second half with a .187/.233/.387 slash line after the All-Star break it’s fair to wonder if a lighter defensive workload could allow Narvaez to maintain his offensive numbers deeper into the season without a similar fall-off in 2026. Getting Narvaez off his feet more often could be easier said than done, however, thanks to the shakiness of Boston’s catching situation behind him. Connor Wong is currently set to serve as the club’s primary backup. He’s always been a lackluster defender behind the plate, however, and last year slashed just .190/.262/.238 in 188 trips to the plate.
It shouldn’t take someone like Caratini or Realmuto to upgrade over that paltry production. With that being said, the market for catching in free agency is exceptionally thin now that those two (and old friend Danny Jansen) have signed. Gary Sanchez and Jonah Heim are among the best catchers still available in free agency at this point, and it’s fair to wonder if the Red Sox see either as a substantial upgrade. Perhaps a turn to the trade market could be in the cards, as McAdam notes that the Red Sox have previously discussed both Dalton Rushing with the Dodgers and former Red Sox prospect Kyle Teel with the White Sox. Neither of those talks appeared to gain much traction, but it’s entirely possible the team could continue to look to the trade market for catching help over the final weeks leading up to Spring Training.
The Royals have been frequently attached to Jarren Duran in trade talks, but the team appears pessimistic on their chances to land him and would surely balk at including top prospect Carter Jensen in a package for his services, while prospect Blake Mitchell might be too far from the majors for Boston’s tastes. The Yankees have previously seemed open to shopping J.C. Escarra, though they might be more hesitant to do so now that Ben Rice appears poised to take over first base full-time after bouncing between first base, DH, and catcher last year. Perhaps the Phillies would be willing to part with Rafael Marchan now that Realmuto is back in the fold, or the Twins’ signing of Caratini could clear a path for Ryan Jeffers to be dealt.
Even if some of those names are available, however, the Red Sox might also find themselves outbid in the market for catching help by teams like the Rays and Astros that appear to have a larger need behind the plate. As lackluster as Wong’s production was last year, he was an above-average hitter as recently as 2024 and it’s certainly not impossible to imagine him bouncing back. If the Red Sox don’t find the right deal, they could always just add a depth piece like Matt Thaiss or Luke Maile in free agency on a minor league deal and plan on Wong opening the season as Narvaez’s backup.
Bring Keel back and teach Carlos 3rd base.
Bring who back?
Stu – Jaws, the James Bond villain. Richard Keel.
Now that’s a catcher, Never! But Jaws back there!
*Fever of course
Teel*
A guy can dream
Kyle Teel. He went to CHW in Crochet trade
Teel is going nowhere bud
“The Red Sox have discussed former Red Sox prospect Kyle Teel with the Red Sox?” They hear the secrets that they keep. When theyre talking in their sleep.
Classic Nick Deeds
Choo – He’s new and it’s a Sunday.
He’s been doing these a decent while now and they’re on almost every one….
dumpster- when you close your eyes and you go to sleep…everything about you is a mystery!
The Red Sox and their minor leagues have gone through a small civil war so now they have to trade major league players for their own prospects
White Sox asking price for Teel must be steep, and I don’t think BOS should include Duran in such a deal. They have enough minors depth to get it done, but it’s anybody’s guess what the ask is.
Considering he was the big piece in the Crochet trade it’s no wonder he would be expensive
Mango – I have been advocating for Jeffers since last June. He’d be 👌
Where’s Reese McGuire? I was half hoping he would re sign with the Cubs but they got Bethancourt instead. Did I miss something? He’d be better than all those other guys.
You could probably find Reese in a dollar general parking lot somewhere in Florida around this time of year…
Yeah but he was done with that in the baseball season. Don’t care what he does with his free time in the off season. LOL
GA, while I’ve never done what he apparently did, 99% of us at one time or another could have been arrested or worse for something embarrassing. Let’s finally end the jokes. Just my take. McGuire only embarrassed himself and I agree with Uncke that for 26, he’s a good option at this point.
GaSox – What about that Iowa gas station chain, the one founded by Krause and Gentle? He could work there, he has the experience.
Dewey – You know what I find fascinating, last year all the posts here from people insisting Breslow did a great job putting together the 2025 team.
He’s practically blowing up the team. Giolito, Buehler, Bernardino, Fitts, Bregman, Devers, Winck, Refsnyder all gone and Casas, Campbell, Bello, Yoshida, Wong and Duran or Abreu might not be on the OD team either.
Proof last year’s team was way overhyped.
In the end, time always tells.
The red sox should 100% include Duran in talks for Teel.
Teel isn’t going anywhere but Edgar Quero might be available for the right outfielder.
It would depend on what they got in return. I assume what they would be asking for to get Teel back would be astronomical since he was the centerpiece for Crochet.
Quero + Miguel Vargas (think he’d hit really well in that park) for who?
And then Robert plus Cash and a reliever (not Taylor) to Mets for Baty
The Reds have Tyler Stephenson. They are also desperate for another bat in their lineup. Makes me wonder if they could get a deal worked out for Duran.
Isn’t Stephenson their best offensive catcher? Why would they be willing to give him up? How is his defense and pitch framing/calling?
You have to understand that most Reds fans are idiots. They complain about Hayes at 3rd who can’t hit and the fact that the Reds lose alot of 1 run games or shutout. So going with Trevino as the starting catcher( who hit like. 180 the final 3 months) and another defensive catcher shows you the ignorance of the fan base.
Trying to add offense by subtracting one of their better bats would be on-brand for the Reds.
Stephenson is a free agent after this season so replacing him with Duran would make plenty of sense, the question is what else would Boston want.
In that case I don’t see the Sox giving up Duran for a one year rental.
That’s why I said what else would Boston want
Completely get what you were saying. It could make sense for the Reds if the right package could be put together.
Sean Murphy and one of their plethora of minor league pitchers for Brayan Bello. That’s a trade I could get behind for my Braves.
Not so much for the Red Sox.
lol from Boston’s standpoint.Murphy today is simply an expensive shell of the player the Braves got from the A’s.
You guys! 🤦♂️ People only think in terms of offense. The article plainly says they’re looking for a defensive “backup” for Narvaez … and Murphy is exactly that. He’s still an excellent defensive catcher with experience handling pitchers. His overall offensive numbers aren’t what they used to be and his injury history is the biggest issue. I still say that a top minor league pitcher like Ritchie or Fuentes paired with an experienced defensive catcher for Bello is a win/win for both teams. Red Sox no longer really need Bello and want to trade him. 🤷♂️
Does anyone edit these articles? Jeeez
That would have been my response, too, a year ago. Now, it’s almost refreshing to see a ‘human’ mistake, and trust that AI wasn’t the author.
It’s just Nick Deeds. His are always full of stuff like that
The question is what is the priority, a righty bat for the infield or a significant upgrade at catching? I assume they are saving the biggest bargaining chips for the infielder. Granted they have enough pieces to get both, but how much are they willing to give up from their surplus or prospects.
Essentially they’re only looking for a decent backup catcher so they probably won’t need to devote that many resources to find one. Somebody who can play solid defense back there would be totally fine even if he swings a noodle bat. The big upgrade should come in the form of an infielder.
That would be my assumption as well. They don’t need to be desperate as Wong is serviceable.
Singer/Stephenson enough for Duran?
short answer is no
The whole Teel thing is just so incredibly typical for Boston sports coverage, which is to say it’s incredibly stupid.
Pittsburgh has a catcher or two probably available.
The issue with the Pirates catchers is that they don’t provide anymore offense than Wong and he may bounce back from an off year.
Trade Dalton Rushing there!
There should be a ban on trading with the Dodgers!
Adrian del Castillo is the guy to chase, and the Sox have the farm assets to make the deal with Arizona happen. Make it so, Craig.
Except ADC isn’t very good at all. 36% K rate and a bad defender. He’s AAA level and the D-Backs are probably the Red Sox competition for a good backup like Reese McGuire.
Red Sox didn’t think McGuire was worth a low cost roster spot a year ago – doubt they’re interested now.
I wouldn’t mind him on an MiLB deal.
Today.
Via Fangraphs, Red Sox rank #23 in MLB at C. Problem is Wong – projected for 0.3 WAR in 218 PA. By contrast, Reese McGuire is available and projected for 0.9 WAR given the same 218 PA. That jump would take Red Sox from #23 at C to #18. Wong has an option left and can be kept in AAA as depth instead of Jason Delay.
Caratini was the upgrade available. I don’t see them trading for a Catcher but i could see Elias Diaz or a Christian Vazquez reunion on minor league contracts happening
They could talk to the A’s about acquiring Shea Langeliers for Narvaez and some starting pitching. David Forst is not going to actively shop Shea, so he will need to be overblown with an offer. Something that will be rejected by Baseball Trade Values. I’m sure that he would go for Narvaez and one of Tolle/Early, but the Red Sox aren’t doing that. How about Narvaez and Sandoval and Harrison? This is now more likely to happen. The A’s have been looking to add a veteran starter, so Sandoval makes a lot of sence. They would also improve the defense at catcher and then there is no need to worry that much about finding a replacement in 2-3 years. But are those benefits worth losing Shea’s bat? It will be a very difficult deal for both teams to get over the line.
The article literally said Narvaez wasn’t on the table to be traded by the Sox.
The wrote that it seems likely that Narvaez will remain the main catcher, which I agree with, but they didn’t express that the Red Sox aren’t trading Narvaez under any circumstances. Shea Langeliers could be that player that would make the Red Sox more open to dealing Narvaez.
the goal was to improve the backup catcher spot.
Shea would certainly provide offense and I would not be upset by a move bringing him in, but I have not heard any rumors of them looking for a starting catcher. My assumption is they plan to stick with Narvaez and were just looking for an improvement over Wong just in case he has another bad year. I would not be surprised if they just bring in minor league depth at catcher.
Wong is probably okay as the backup Catcher. He hit decent in 2024, and is probably somewhere in between 2024 & 2025 at the plate, maybe .250 average.
This is to ignite connor wong Wong was also hurt last year
Campusano and a couple of prospects for Tolle
Wong was solid over the last part of the season.
Just relax.
This team has won World Series championships with catchers not even hitting .200.
Just relax.
Sure, catching is important but …
Just relax.
Surprised Narvaez is considered so good with all the interference calls last year. Good arm, of course. I can’t wait for ABS to get rid of all this framing BS.
Son – That’s the whole thing, Narvaez was just doing what he was told to do …. moving closer to the plate. Not his fault.
I can’t wait for ABS to overturn the ridiculously bad command that some umps have of the strike zone. Players are going to give themselves concussions tapping on their heads. That is going to become the international sign for “you’re wrong”.
The thing is the umps will adjust quickly we have already seen it at the AAA level. The strike calling has been tightened up tremendously. If there is one thing that should have been learned from watching AAA games. Pitchers should not be allowed to challenge it should only be the catchers and there are only a two challenges per game so you better be judicious in using them and have the right hitters in the right counts and at the right points of the game.
Not clear that Teel or McGuire is an improvement over Wong. Two seasons ago Wong was an above average catcher, with better than average defensive numbers. In 2024 he was above average, but the defense declined. Last season he was relegated to backup duty, and went from 400+ PAs to less than 200, most of them against righties. His BABIP was 250, almost 100 points below his career average. He’ll be 30, so he’s likely not getting better, but he has every right to get back to where he was the prior two seasons with just better batted ball luck. He costs less than $1.5 million. Does it make sense to spend what a decent backup catcher costs?
Bronx – You must have the wrong Wong, he was rated one of the worst defensive catchers in MLB 2 years ago.
Pages would be an upgrade over wong. Like to see the red Sox swing a deal for pages and jojo remero. Don’t think it would cost the farm either. Maybe add donovan and make it a big trade
Really surprises me the rox passed up the royals catching prospects in a Duran deal. A deal seemed to make too much sense for them to Bogaerts 1 if their 4th outfielders.
Backup catcher…Heim, Elias or possibly trade for Quero.
The big question is…where is the big bat “we” were going after??
Call Pirates,we have an extra catcher.can have Joey Bart for a MLB quality reliever ,or a MLB ready starter. Like Tolle
The Red Sox have bigger fish to fry if they could have gotten Realmuto then I could see them doing that but they aren’t trading assets to get a backup catcher. My guess if the Red Sox make a trade at all before spring training then it will be with the Astros for Parades. I don’t think they are going to overpay for him either they could move Duran or Abreu but it’s certainly not a one for one trade the Astros would probably have send a good lefty reliever back as well then maybe. The Red Sox should just start spring training with what they have there’s bound to be injuries in spring training in the rotations and the Red Sox have 10 guys who could start and 9 of them have big league experience as starters. They could always assess and trade during the season their starting pitching depth probably just gets deeper as we get a look at Kyson Witherspoon.
The Astros should send back some of their better prospects but the problem with the Astros is their farm systems isn’t great. Also not sure why people are that high on Parades given his defensive limitations. Makes more sense for the sox to targer Cam Smith
Parades is very serviceable at third base he’s not a gold glover and he’s going to be a downgrade defensively from Bregman but he’s not bad at third and would allow Mayer to play second. His bat looks like it would play in Fenway he would be a good get imo. I don’t know how Astro fans feel about Cam Smith but he’s only one year of a major piece in that Tucker trade but he really struggled no guarantee he’s an upgrade for anyone on Boston. Paredes is a no doubt upgrade but if you’re sending Duran for Paredes you are going to need more coming back.
I’m not sure Parades is that much of an upgrade in the short or longer term. Parades by most metrics is an average to below average defesnive 3B and his offense doesn’t real move the needle if the sox are giving up Duran. While the sox would need more back than just Parades, it’s not enough of an upgrade to make that deal. Also a good lefty reliever isn’t enough to bridge that gap betwen Parades and Duran.
Cam Smith may have struggled but he also skipped the minors and he didn’t completely crap the bed either. He’s younger and fits the timeline of the team more than Parades who will be a free agent in two years.
As it sits right now the Red Sox don’t have to do anything they can sit back and see how spring training plays out. I’m quite confident the Astros aren’t trading Cam Smith and if comes down it maybe the Cubs would be willing to move Matt Shaw for a pitcher. I haven’t looked at the free agent possibilities for 2027 at third but I think Mayer’s long time position will be at third base where he will be a plus defender and my belief is he’s going to hit for power probably more power over hit than once thought. 2027 will see Arias arrive I’m thinking to take over shortstop duties but if they want the best option for the next two years that apparently out there now I’d say it’s Paredes it just depends the cost.
The way the roster is setup right now Masa needs to be the DH assuming Casas starts in AAA. He’s by far the best bet to hit second behind Anthony right now. If they rotate the outfielders through the DH then Masa becomes an expensive pinch hitter and there is nowhere for Casas to play assuming he comes back strong from injury. It will be interesting to see how the Red Sox navigate this situation but Paredes is the best bet to be a really good add for Boston I’d they want to add a third baseman and move Mayer to second with plenty of backup should Mayer continue to stumble.
I guess we disagree on Parades being the best option especailly given his defensive limiations.. Also we really don’t know what’s out there either as Breslow hasn’t really projected sox moves all that often. Cam smith might not be available but Parades might not either. If they’re going to move Duran (which I’m fine with if they do) it needs to be with someone who moves the needle more than Parades. Furthermore I’m on board with the plane of shifting Mayer to 3rd if needed to allow Arias to slide to SS in year or two.
The Red Sox are not interested in adding to their already worst defense in the AL.
I don’t think Paredes is that bad. I don’t think Boston will have anywhere near the worst defense especially when they probably have the best defensive outfield in baseball.
None of the guys available are upgrades. One clear upgrade would be Teel but he’s not available. And they are not going to trade Duran and a top prospect for him. Boston deserves an award for “remaining active” the entire offseason!
Vazquez seems like a good idea to me, he’s a known quantity, should still be decent defensively, and shouldn’t cost much as a free agent
Everybody is available! Overpay for Teel!
Why overpay for Teel they don’t need him. The Red Sox have Carlos Narvaez and he’s among the very best defensive catchers in baseball and probably will be for years to come. So my question why spend valuable resources to try and get him back when he would, at best, be a marginal upgrade on your current number 1 catcher? You certainly aren’t going to pay the prospect cost to pry him lose to be a backup. It makes no sense and it’s a clickbait idea at best zero percent chance it happens.
I wish Eduardo Tait was further along, would love for the Sox to trade for him.