The Red Sox have claimed infielder Tsung-Che Cheng off waivers from the Nationals, the team announced. The Sox had a vacancy on their 40-man roster, which is now full. They’ll need to open a spot to finalize this week’s reported agreement with infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa.
Cheng, 24, made his big league debut with the Pirates in 2025 but went hitless in seven plate appearances. He didn’t fare all that well in Triple-A last year either, hitting just .207/.305/.267 with one homer, 12 doubles and three triples in 410 turns at the plate. However, Cheng is a plus runner who swiped 20 bags despite that paltry OBP, and he’s also a capable defender at shortstop, second base and third base. The 5’8″ lefty swinger also has an excellent eye at the plate, evidenced by a career 12.5% walk rate in the minors.
Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has been vocal about his desire to improve the club’s infield defense. Cheng isn’t going to secure a starting spot in the infield and may not even crack the Opening Day roster if he sticks with the Sox that long, as he has a minor league option remaining and can be sent to Triple-A without needing to be exposed to waivers. He’s a viable backup at any of shortstop, second base or third base who can work counts and run well, which makes him a potential bench option if he can improve his offense to some degree.
Then again, it’s far from certain Cheng will even be with the Red Sox at the end of camp. He’s been one of the most frequent riders of this offseason’s DFA carousel, bouncing from the Pirates, to the Rays, to the Mets, to the Nationals and now the Red Sox — all in the past month alone. The Red Sox are on the lookout for both a righty-swinging outfielder and another infielder (even after agreeing to terms with Kiner-Falefa), and if they bring in a veteran at either spot, Cheng could again find himself jettisoned into DFA limbo.
Their is the Infield add.
So… IKF, Rodgers, Cheng to go along with Romy, Hamilton, Eaton, Sogard. I mean depth is good, but this is looking… crowded? How is anyone going to get any decent field time?
I think everyone listed still has options.
Rodgers. Kiner Falefa.
Mb, I meant all the young guys. Obviously IKF doesn’t still have options. Rodgers is on a minor league deal though.
Guys will be cut or sent down
I mostly meant in Spring Training
They pay cora over 7 million a year some of his job is to figure out how to get playing time for people..I assume this includes spring training …im sure he/they can manage it
Don’t forget that a bunch of players will be during the WBC. These replace them while they 40-man players are gone (and it is open tryouts).
With all the assumptions that something else is coming soon, one of them may be gone before we get to spring training. They are likely going to need some of the roster space for players more likely to help the big league club. If Cheng can’t produce in the minors, I can’t see him being around long.
I doubt anything else big will happen
I am holding out hope, but will probably be disappointed.
swan – You’re also forgetting Gasper (2B) and Thaiss (3B) and Campbell.
Well I did say the last time he was DFA’d that I was going to become the world’s biggest Tsung-Che Cheng fan… and now he’s on my team (for now). Is 2026 the Year of Cheng???
MeowMeow maybe 2026 will be the year of the cat.
When you’re me, every year is the year of the cat.
Lol
shadow- from the depths of time passages, Al Stewart approves of this message.
5 teams in a month. Poor guy, just when he thinks someone really wants him he gets designated. Can’t he just sign a minor league contract and not have to be on a 40 man roster, should reduce the likelihood of being dumped again. I assume that is not an option when a player is claimed off waivers. Brutal winter for him, can you imagine his moving expenses.
Being on a team’s 40-man roster is generally preferable to being on a minor league deal. Better baseline pay and benefits even when you aren’t on the ML roster, plus I believe 40-man roster time eventually gives you more control over your own destiny once you’ve accrued enough. The uncertainty sucks and eventually he will probably get outrighted, but until then he’d surely prefer to stay on 40-man rosters even if it leaves his destination a bit in flux.
Good point. It would just be unfortunate if he doesn’t stick with anyone and ends up looking for a minor league contract in the end. I think it is a safe bet that the Sox are not going to be his final landing spot.
This guy shouldn’t unpack his bags!
I’m sure he leaves everything at home now.
Cheng of scenery candidate.
They wanted to Tsung Cheng tonight.
The last two Sox additions sound like a box of cookware thrown down the stairs.
this- is it better then Wang Chunging it tonight? not so sure…
the Cheng news alert heads are feasting this offseason
Sox just can’t hide how F’n cheap they are anymore.. Just signing a bunch of refuse in order to hopefully find something when they can easily afford to have picked up Arraez (obviously didn’t matter that he’s a lefty when they sign BS like this). Would have been $9m more in total but, nah, we’ll find something on the scrap heap, doesn’t matter as long as they sell tickets to the “Fenway Experience of Downtown Boston”.. It’s a destination attraction, no need to spend more in their cheap minds.
What a bizarre comment considering their payroll. They’re far from cheap. The issue for me has been with the Sox related revenues, they could be spending more but choose to invest the extra amount elsewhere. This move is for minor league depth and they like every other club try to pass these fringe players through to the minors. No one on this site expects Ching to still have that 40 man spot when spring training starts.
*Cheng
The Sox are one of 5 teams that he has bounced around between. That is just part of the process of filling the minors and having some back up options on the 40 man roster. They put together potentially one of the best rotations in baseball, I don’t consider that being cheap. There are a few moves I had hoped would happen, but some of the players have been ridiculously overpaid. Let’s wait until the roster has been finalized for opening day, I am expecting bigger moves to happen.
Uncle, cheap is not the right word but not too long ago, they had a top payroll and since 2020 or so, they capped it (in fairness to an extent, the Dodgers and Mets blew it out) and take Sox generated extra revenue elsewhere.
dewey – Isn’t that the epitome of cheapness though, having money but not spending it?
There’s websites that rank player payroll as a percentage of revenue, the Red Sox have consistently been among the lowest percentages ….. that’s cheap no matter how you look at it.
With a luxury tax of almost $260 million and an actual payroll of about $220 million they aren’t cheap. To be honest nobody who was a FA other than Schwarber or Alonso interested me. I wanted either Marte or Hoerner but it takes two to tango.
Ellis, Schwarber was always going back to the Phillies. Hoerner with only one year left is not worth the cost. I did want Alonso and would love to still get Marte but not at a ridiculous cost. While his contract is team friendly, that only matters if you’re the team that originally signs him. He’s not an HOF player (yet; he could be by the time the contract ends). What is a fair trade?
I don’t know that it is out of the realm of possibility that we could still get either Marte or Hoerner. Hoerner only if we can extend him, because he is going to cost too much for a rental. Obviously they wanted a massive return for Marte or he would have been moved, but if there is the right package that can benefit both teams and not cost an unreasonable price he would definitely be an impact player. I am sure that is very unlikely. I would have loved to get Schwarber but we would have had to overpay dramatically to get him to leave the Phillies.
I still think something is going to happen but they are running out of time and the options seem very limited.
Uncle – I know Breslow has been dishonest often, but Hazen has a solid reputation. When he says something, he means it. He said Marte will not be traded, and I believe him. It’s too late for him to find a replacement for Marte anyway.
He hit .207 with 1 homer over his last 406 plate appearances….in the minors!
Why clog the roster with all these un-rosterable players? Jeeez Louise. Breslow is grabbing at straws now. Maybe he figures if you add 3 subpar middle-infielders, they will equal 1 average player
Third –
Feb 6 Cheng
Feb 5 Rodgers
Feb 4 IKF
Feb 4 Gasper
Feb 3 Keller
Feb 2 Nittoli
Jan 31 Thaiss
I totally agree with you. Anyone who says the Red Sox don’t make these dumpster dives any more than any other team is grossly uninformed.
I can’t anymore…..this is like a bad prank right???
Red Sox love them 0-fers.
In two days, they’ll DFA Tsung-Che Cheng
Welp, pass around the ring-sizing kits……..
Ca-Cheng! I thought I heard something.
The 3rd scrap heap infielder this fading franchise has picked up in the last few days. Obviously, they are trying to find a toy soldier in their box of Lucky Charms. What a waste.
I think this is the end of Hamilton’s time in the Hub, Cheng gives much better defense and probably better offense.
He’s another guy with potential that the Pirates farm system somehow couldn’t develop. He’s not alone in that regard, as they haven’t developed an impact position player during Cherington’s tenure but sooner or later one of these kids who got drafted and washed out here is going to benefit from better development coaching
Another fine move by the Boston Mid Sox. 🙄 #FullThrottle
At this point it’s almost becoming humorous. I’d laugh if I wasn’t a Red Sox fan.
The final piece!
Yeah, it’s an oldie, but so I’m I.
Odd move, I’m squinting but can’t quite see the reasons…
Pitching staff is great, but are we OK with this lineup as we head into spring training next week?
Anthony LF
Story SS
Duran DH
Contreras 1B
Abreau RF
Narvaez C
Mayer 3b
Kiner-Falefa 2B
Rafaela CF
We should learn to be ok with it because I think these are the starting 9 most nights, though the exact order might change.. Personally, I think I would go:
Duran
Story
Anthony
Contreras
Abreau
Mayer
Narvaez
Kiner-Falefa
Rafaela
Im not fully onboard that IKF is a starter. I see them starting Romy at 2B and using IKF as a mid/late inning replacement. So Romy would be an improvement to that lineup.
Anthony, Story, Duran, Contreras, Abreu, Rafaela all could hit over 20 hr and 80 RBI. They have speed with Duran, Rafaela, Hamilton and Story. They have great D in the OF and some great bench players in Yoshida, Romy, Hamilton and IKF. I would love a better 2B but this team will score runs.
Flip Duran and Anthony. While Anthony was great leading off, if Duran is on the team, you can’t waste his speed by batting him third. Against a lefty, I would consider ninth.
Exactly a year ago the posts were the same. Breslow is a stiff. Breslow is over his head. Breslow genuflects to the miser Henry. Then they signed Bregman from under the Tigers’ and Cubs’ noses. To read these posts you’d think there’s no such thing as a minor league system and that needs to be stocked and that the time for building a roster ended the day Eugenio Suarez was finally picked up by a team after 29 teams passed on him. If the team goes to the all star break with IKF as the starting second baseman you can crow as much as you want (and you sure do love your crowing!). Why not try exercising some patience, see what happens in the six weeks before opening day?
I rec’d you for the recognition that, unlike the other prof sports, baseball execs are building an entire organization at any moment, not just a major league club. Those “fans” who want the FO to spend endlessly on big-name, top-dollar FAs care about one thing only: the 26-man roster (actually, just the handful of stars on it) and winning the World Series. The running of a club is much wider and deeper than that, and it requires staffing six levels at once, riding herd on all of the moves and player transactions that an active roster of 165 (plus injuries, Dominican league, etc.) entails. If you want one-dimensional, “what you see is what you get” simplicity, enjoy your football.
Are they actually going to screw this 6 year rebuild up before it even starts? I though to myself, a T-baller couldn’t screw up this rebuild with the cash and prospect depth they have…now I like the arm side of this team, YES WE STILL NEED A CO-ACE LIKE SKUBAL IN FREE AGENCY NEXT SEASON, But they are messing up the field side a tad here making me nervous…if you wanted cheap and good D good bat right side infield, should have traded for Christian Arroyo and the Mets and he would have been better on both sides of the ball that all those they’ve added this offseason. 6mill for ikf no thanks…Breslow needs non pitching assistence in the selection process to bring it all together. Bres call me‼️👍
Christian Arroyo? I think your 5 years late talking about Arroyo’s future potential.
Arroyo: 7 years: – 2.1 War
IKD: 8 years: 15.9 War
Last 3 years (better for predicting future results)
Arroyo: -0.2 War (not in majors past 2 seasons)
IKD: 5.4 War
—–
How is Arroyo “better”?
Breslow, it depends on how the salary is spent. I like the IKF signing because of his ability to play anywhere on the infield.