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Blake Sabol

Red Sox Outright Blake Sabol

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The Red Sox have sent utility player Blake Sabol outright to Triple-A Worcester, per Tim Healey of The Boston Globe. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment a few days ago.

Sabol, 27, was acquired from the Giants in January. He had been designated for assignment by that club but some international bonus pool space was sent from Boston to San Francisco in order to add Sabol to the Red Sox’ roster. That gave the Sox some extra depth at various positions, with Sabol capable of playing catcher, first base and the outfield.

Boston started the year with Connor Wong and Carlos Narváez as their big league catching duo, with Sabol optioned to Worcester. Wong suffered a finger fracture a week into April. That got Sabol up to the majors for close to a month while Wong recovered. However, they didn’t put him in the lineup often, as he only got into eight games and was only sent to the plate 18 times. He struck out seven times, a 38.9% clip, and produced a line of .125/.167/.188.

Sabol was once a nice Rule 5 pickup of the Giants. Going into 2023, he was technically plucked from the Pirates by the Reds, but Cincinnati flipped him to San Francisco for cash. He went on to appear in 110 games for the Giants that year, slashing .235/.301/.394 for a wRC+ of 91 while splitting his time between catcher and left field.

It seemed like he had a path to being a useful utility player but it hasn’t quite panned out that way. He spent most of last year on optional assignment, having a fine-but-unexceptional season. He slashed .246/.340/.388 for a wRC+ of 96 at the Triple-A level and was only called up for 11 big league games. In his 25 Triple-A games this year, he has a .193/.304/.341 line while striking out in a third of his trips to the plate.

The 29 other clubs passed on the chance to grab Sabol off waivers. Since this is his first career outright and he has less than three years of service time, he doesn’t have the right to reject the outright assignment. He’ll stick with the Sox as non-roster depth and try to earn his way back to the majors.

Narváez and Wong are the only two catchers on the 40-man so Boston is probably happy that Sabol is sticking around as non-roster depth. Yasmani Grandal was in Triple-A on a minor league deal but it seems like he might be retiring.

Photo courtesy of Eric Canha, Imagn Images

Red Sox Place Justin Slaten On IL, DFA Blake Sabol

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The Red Sox announced a flurry of roster moves this morning. Right-hander Justin Slaten was placed on the 15-day injured list with shoulder inflammation, and was replaced on the roster by right-hander Luis Guerrero. Meanwhile, Boston selected the contract of infielder/outfielder Nate Eaton. Infielder Nick Sogard was optioned to Triple-A in order to make room on the active roster, while catcher Blake Sabol was designated for assignment to clear a 40-man roster spot. The additions of Eaton and Guerrero were previously reported last night.

Slaten, 27, has emerged as a crucial piece of the Red Sox bullpen over the past two years. Plucked from the Rangers in the 2023 Rule 5 draft, the right-hander has posted a 3.09 ERA with an even stronger 2.77 FIP across 78 2/3 innings of work. That’s been enough to make him one of the top set-up men on the roster in both of his years with the Red Sox, serving in a high-leverage role setting up closer Kenley Jansen last year and Aroldis Chapman this season. Impressive as those results have been, however, Slaten’s taken a bit of a step back this year. His strikeout rate has dipped to 17.8%, his walk rate has jumped to 7.8%, and he’s shaved nearly ten points off his ground ball rate relative to last year.

Perhaps today’s placement on the injured list offers some level of explanation for that step backwards in production. The right-hander told reporters (including Chris Cotillo of MassLive) that he’s just dealing with some “fatigue” in his shoulder and hopes to be back in action after only a minimum stint. Losing a key piece of the bullpen is never a good thing, but if a two-week trip to the shelf can help Slaten get back to the dominant form he flashed in 2024 that could be well worth it for the club.

As for Sabol, the 27-year-old is a fellow alumnus of the Rule 5 draft. Selected by the Giants in the 2022 installment of the draft, Sabol hit .243/.313/.392 (95 wRC+) in 121 games with the Giants between the 2023 and ’24 seasons while splitting time between catching and the outfield. Unfortunately, Sabol did not show enough offensive potential to serve as a regular outfield option nor enough growth defensively behind the plate to be rostered as a regular catcher in the eyes of San Francisco. That led the club to designate him for assignment back in January, and he was traded to the Red Sox shortly thereafter.

Sabol has largely been a depth option for the Red Sox this year, and has only appeared in eight games with the big league club with a -14 wRC+ in that extremely limited opportunity. The Red Sox will have one week to trade Sabol or attempt to pass him through waivers. If he goes unclaimed, Boston will have the opportunity to outright him to the minor leagues to use as non-roster depth going forward. Connor Wong and Carlos Narvaez have settled in as the club’s primary catching tandem, and depth options like Yasmani Grandal and Seby Zavala remain in the fold at the minor league level.

Yasmani Grandal Not Planning To Use Opt-Out In Red Sox Deal

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Veteran catcher Yasmani Grandal has a May 1 opt-out in his minor league contract with the Red Sox. He’ll pass on that chance to return to the open market and remain in the organization despite not being selected to the big league roster today, per MassLive’s Chris Cotillo. He’ll remain in Triple-A as a depth option for Boston, at least for the time being.

Grandal is out to a nice start in his brief time with the organization. Signed to a minor league pact back on April 10, the 36-year-old has appeared in seven games and gone 6-for-24 with three doubles and a homer in 29 plate appearances. That’s a .250/.379/.500 batting line, which could put him in line for a big league look sooner than later, even if he won’t be called up immediately. Cotillo adds that the Red Sox are expected to be amenable to granting Grandal his release if a big league opportunity presents itself elsewhere.

The switch-hitting Grandal has been a consistent presence in the big leagues dating back to his 2012 debut. He spent the 2024 campaign with the Pirates — his fifth MLB club — and enjoyed a nice season in a part-time role. Appearing in 72 games and tallying 243 plate appearances, Grandal slashed .228/.304/.400 with nine home runs, a 9.9% walk rate, an 18.9% strikeout rate and his customary brand of framing-focused defense behind the plate. He only thwarted six of 72 stolen base attempts against him (8.3%), but he was excellent at manipulating the strike zone and drew positive grades for his ability to block balls in the dirt.

The Red Sox lost starting catcher Connor Wong to a broken finger early in April. That left them with the inexperienced tandem of Carlos Narvaez and Blake Sabol behind the plate. Seby Zavala, their most experienced option in Triple-A prior to signing Grandal, hit the minor league injured list with an oblique strain in mid-April as well. The subsequent results behind the plate have not been pretty. Narvaez is hitting .218/.274/.385 (81 wRC+) in 84 plate appearances. Sabol is hitting .125/.167/.188, albeit in only 18 plate appearances.

Sabol has been used as a true backup to Narvaez, in part because of concerns regarding his glovework. He’s just 1-for-21 in throwing out runners in the majors dating back to 2024 (1-for-11 this season). Narvaez opened the year with similar struggles, but he’s quieted some of the throwing concerns by following up a 1-for-8 start to catch four of the past nine runners who’ve taken off against him.

With or without Grandal, the Sox should have help on the horizon. Wong began a minor league rehab assignment in Triple-A on Sunday and has now appeared in two games. He’ll presumably need several more before he’s cleared to return, but it seems as though he might only end up missing around a month (or perhaps a slight bit more) in total with the injury.

The 28-year-old Wong slogged through an ugly start to the season, hitting just .087/.192/.087 in 26 plate appearances (2-for-23), but he hit .280/.333/.425 as Boston’s primary catcher in 2024. That’s the only season of Wong’s young career in which he’s delivered above-average offense — or even just average offense — over any meaningful sample. He’ll need to prove that wasn’t a fluke, but he’s the best option for the Red Sox for the foreseeable future. If Wong can’t get back to something close to that 2024 form, it’s easy to envision the Red Sox seeking catching help at this summer’s trade deadline. After trading Kyle Teel in the offseason Garrett Crochet blockbuster, Johanfran Garcia is the only catcher among Boston’s top 30 prospects at Baseball America or MLB.com. He’s 20 years old and has yet to play above A-ball.

Latest On Red Sox’ Catching Depth

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Having lost Connor Wong to a broken finger, the Red Sox quickly signed veteran Yasmani Grandal to a minor league deal that includes an opt-out just over two weeks into the contract (May 1). They could continue to explore further options behind the plate in the days ahead, writes MassLive’s Chris Cotillo.

At present, the Sox are going with rookie Carlos Narvaez and DFA pickup Blake Sabol behind the plate. Narvaez is hitting .212/.297/.303 in 37 plate appearances. Sabol is 0-for-6 since his recall and is a career .239/.308/.386 hitter in the majors. Narvaez has caught just one of eight runners who’ve attempted to steal against him. Sabol, who has a career 11.7% caught-stealing rate, is 0-for-5 in that regard through his first dozen innings behind the plate with the Sox. Wong has been right in line with league average dating back to 2023 (21.1%). Seby Zavala, the organization’s most experienced option beyond the newly signed Grandal, is hitting .129/.156/.194 through 32 Triple-A plate appearances (2-for-31, 15 strikeouts).

When it comes to free agency, there’s not much in the way of unsigned catchers. Grandal was one of very few unsigned players of note. Fellow veteran Yan Gomes also went unsigned this offseason, though it’s not clear he’s even looking to play after being released by the Cubs last June. He didn’t sign with another team for the remainder of the 2024 campaign, either.

Catchers Curt Casali and Chadwick Tromp were both released by the Braves over the past month. Neither has signed with a new team, and both struggled this spring. Casali, a veteran of 11 big league seasons, hasn’t hit much since 2022 and was hitless in 15 spring plate appearances. Tromp hit .147/.171/.176 in 35 spring plate appearances and was hitless in six regular season plate appearances. He has a limited big league track record but did go 5-for-17 in catching base thieves last year (29.4%). Kyle McCann, who hit .236/.318/.371 for the A’s in 157 plate appearances last year, was also released last month and remains unsigned.

Given that lack of free agent options, it’s not a surprise that Cotillo suggests the trade market as an option. Many veterans have upward mobility clauses in their minor league contracts with current teams. Others will have opt-out dates late this month or early next — similar to Grandal — and could be flipped for cash if they’re planning to opt out anyhow. Among the veteran depth options playing with other organizations’ Triple-A affiliates right now are Tucker Barnhart (Rangers), Andrew Knizner (Nationals), Luke Maile (Royals), James McCann (Braves) and Austin Nola (Rockies), just to name a few.

The Red Sox still haven’t provided an exact timetable on Wong’s return from injury. The 28-year-old batted .280/.333/.425 last year in what has been his lone productive season at the MLB level to date. He followed up that breakout showing with a 2-for-23 start to the 2025 season prior to sustaining that fractured finger.

If Wong has any setbacks or struggles with the bat upon returning from a hand injury of some note, it stands to reason that catching help could be a target for Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow this summer. Johanfran Garcia is the only catcher generally considered among the top 30 prospects in Boston’s system after trading Kyle Teel in the Garrett Crochet swap, and Garcia was limited to 14 games in A-ball last year after requiring season-ending knee surgery.

Red Sox Designate Robert Stock For Assignment

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The Red Sox announced a series of roster moves today. Catcher Connor Wong was placed on the injured list with Blake Sabol recalled, a pair of moves that were reported last night. They also made a move on the pitching side, recalling right-hander Josh Winckowski with fellow righty Robert Stock designated for assignment.

Stock, 35, was just added to Boston’s roster yesterday. The club had played a doubleheader on Sunday, with one of the two games going to extra innings. With the pitching staff fairly taxed, Stock was brought up to give them a fresh arm in case they needed someone to cover multiple relief innings.

That’s exactly what ended up happening, as the Sox were down 5-1 to the Blue Jays after seven innings last night. Stock mopped up the final two frames, allowing one earned run on a walk and three hits, with the Sox eventually losing 6-2. Perhaps Stock was not going to be available for tonight or tomorrow, so the Sox have bumped him off the roster and replaced him with Winckowski.

They will now have a maximum of one week of DFA limbo to see what’s next for Stock. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so Boston could potentially take five days to assess any trade interest. Last night’s performance was his first big league action since 2021. He spent 2022 pitching in Korea, 2023 in the minors and Indy Ball, then spent 2024 in Mexico.

Including last night’s game, he now has a 4.70 earned run average in 74 2/3 major league innings. For what it’s worth, he was quite good in Mexico over the past year. He posted a 3.38 ERA in 98 2/3 innings over 19 starts for Tecos de los Dos Laredos last year. He then stayed in Mexico for some winter ball, logging 84 1/3 innings over 14 starts for Naranjeros de Hermosillo with a 1.60 ERA. That led to a minor league deal with the Red Sox and yesterday’s return to the majors after a long absence.

Photo courtesy of David Butler II, Imagn Images

Red Sox To Place Connor Wong On Injured List With Broken Finger

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The Red Sox will place catcher Connor Wong on the 10-day injured list, skipper Alex Cora told the Boston beat after tonight’s loss to Toronto (via Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic). Wong broke his left pinkie finger on a catcher’s interference in the first inning. Cora said the Sox have not decided the corresponding move yet.

Wong has started seven of the Sox’s 11 games behind the dish. He only has two hits (both singles) and three walks over his first 23 at-bats. Wong had a career-best .280/.333/.425 showing with 13 longballs through 487 plate appearances last year. Boston dealt top catching prospect Kyle Teel as part of the Garrett Crochet trade. They committed to Wong as their starter while acquiring Carlos Narváez from the Yankees to work as the backup.

Narváez is now in line for the most significant playing time of his young career. The 26-year-old has appeared in 11 major league games over the last two seasons. He hit .254/.370/.412 with 11 homers over 96 Triple-A contests last season, though that came with a concerning number of strikeouts. The Red Sox strongly valued his receiving and game-calling acumen when they acquired him.

Blake Sabol, acquired in an offseason deal with the Giants, is the only other catcher on the 40-man roster. Recalling him to serve as Narváez’s backup would be the straightforward move. Sean McAdam of MassLive writes that it’s the expected transaction. The lefty-swinging Sabol is a career .243/.313/.392 hitter with 13 longballs in 382 trips to the plate. While he might have a higher offensive ceiling than Narváez, he doesn’t have as strong a defensive reputation. Sabol was more of a third catcher/corner outfielder for most of his San Francisco tenure. Statcast credits him with a decent arm but subpar blocking and framing grades.

Giants Trade Blake Sabol To Red Sox

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2:04pm: The teams have announced the moves.

1:48pm: The Red Sox have a deal in place to acquire catcher/outfielder Blake Sabol from the Giants, as first reported by Hunter Noll of Beyond the Monster. Boston will send international bonus pool space back to the Giants. Right-hander Chase Shugart is being designated for assignment in order to open a spot on the Sox’ 40-man roster, Noll adds. San Francisco designated Sabol for assignment last week.

Sabol, 27, was the Giants’ Rule 5 pick out of the Pirates system prior to the 2023 season. He stuck on San Francisco’s roster all year, posting a .235/.301/.394 batting line (91 wRC+) with 13 home runs but an ugly 34% strikeout rate. Sabol’s Rule 5 selection came on the heels of a stout .284/.363/.497 slash between Double-A and Triple-A in 2022. With that big performance and a respectable rookie showing in the big leagues, he looked as though he could have a role on the Giants for several years to come.

That, however, was not to be. Sabol spent nearly the entire 2024 season in Triple-A and struggled considerably. He slashed .246/.340/.388 there — about 15% worse than league-average production. He went 10-for-32 in a tiny cup of big league coffee, bringing his career rate stats to .243/.313/.392 in 382 plate appearances. That wasn’t enough to save his spot on the roster following a regime change in the Giants’ baseball operations staff that has seen former NL MVP Buster Posey take over as the department’s president.

Sabol has caught 458 innings in the majors and played 271 innings of left field. He didn’t grade as a plus defender in either spot, though both positions come with a pretty small sample of playing time. The Giants added a bit of first base to Sabol’s defensive repertoire in 2024. He’s now caught 1843 innings, played 943 innings across all three outfield spots and played 172 innings at first base since being selected by Pittsburgh in the seventh round of the 2019 draft. Sabol has a pair of minor league option years and five seasons of club control remaining.

With the Red Sox, Sabol will compete with Carlos Narvaez — and any additional catching depth brought in by the Sox — to see who’ll serve as the backup to starting catcher Connor Wong in 2025.

For the Giants, adding some extra pool space is notable. San Francisco punted on a combined $1MM of pool space last offseason when they signed Matt Chapman and Blake Snell after they rejected qualifying offers. That left them tied with the archrival Dodgers for the smallest international bonus pool in the game, at $5.146MM. Between this swap and the trade of righty Will Kempner to the Marlins, they’ve added to that pool by at least $500K, as international allotments must be traded in increments of $250K. The Giants spent $3MM — more than 58% of their initial pool — on top international signing Josuar de Jesus Gonzalez earlier today, so the extra dollars will help to offset some of that weighty bonus.

Turning to the 28-year-old Shugart, he made his big league debut with the Sox this past season, yielding four runs on eight hits and three walks with eight strikeouts in 8 1/3 innings of relief. He spent the bulk of the 2024 season in Triple-A Worcester, where he logged a 4.46 earned run average, 25.6% strikeout rate and 10.2% walk rate in 70 2/3 innings, mostly out of the bullpen.

Shugart was originally selected by the Red Sox in the 12th round of the 2018 draft. He generally posted solid numbers up through the Double-A level before struggling mightily in his first two seasons of Triple-A ball in 2022-23. This past year was the first in which he’s posted solid numbers at the top minor league level. During his brief big league look, he showed a five-pitch mix — four-seamer, cutter, sinker, slider, changeup — and sat 96.1 mph with his heater. He didn’t induce many swings and misses in the big leagues but turned in a solid 11.7% swinging-strike rate in Worcester.

The Red Sox will have five days to trade Shugart. If not traded by then, he’ll need to be placed on waivers, which is a 48-hour process itself. If he goes unclaimed on waivers, the Red Sox can retain him as non-roster depth in Triple-A and invite him to big league camp this spring. Within the next week, he’ll have some form of resolution on his current DFA status.

Giants Designate Blake Sabol For Assignment

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The Giants announced this evening that they’ve designated catcher/outfielder Blake Sabol for assignment. The move clears a roster spot for the signing of Justin Verlander, which has now been made official.

Sabol, who just celebrated his 27th birthday earlier this week, was a seventh-round pick by the Pirates back in 2019 who was plucked from the organization by San Francisco during the 2022 Rule 5 Draft. That locked Sabol into an Opening Day roster spot with the Giants for 2023, and he performed admirably for a player with just 25 games of Triple-A experience under his belt. While splitting time between catcher and left field in 2023, Sabol hit a respectable .235/.301/.394 (91 wRC+) in 344 trips to the plate.

Once the Giants were able to option him to the minors in 2024, however, Sabol was quickly shuttled back to Triple-A and only made a brief cameo in the majors last year. He hit well in those 11 games, however, with a .313/.421/.375 slash line in 38 trips to the plate while helping cover for a Patrick Bailey during a trip to the concussion-related injured list. When in the minors, Sabol struggled offensively with just a .246/.340/.388 slash line at Triple-A that was good for a wRC+ of just 85.

That lackluster performance at Triple-A seemingly made Sabol expendable as a catching depth option in the eyes of president of baseball operations Buster Posey and the Giants’ front office. The club recently claimed catcher Sam Huff off waivers from the Rangers, which may have made Sabol’s presence on the 40-man roster even less necessary. Huff is out of minor league options and can’t be sent to the minors without clearing waivers but can still provide the club with depth behind Bailey and Tom Murphy throughout Spring Training or even be carried on the roster as a third catcher.

Going forward, the Giants will have one week to either work out a trade involving Sabol or expose him to waivers. As an optionable catching depth option, it would hardly be a surprise to see a catching-needy club take the opportunity to pluck Sabol off waivers in hopes of helping him rediscover something closer to the offensive form he showed in 2023, which would make him a roughly average offensive catcher in the majors. If Sabol were to pass through waivers unclaimed, the Giants would have the option of keeping him in the fold as a non-roster depth option for the 2025 season.

Giants Activate Tristan Beck, Recall Blake Sabol

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Amid yesterday’s flurry of transactions related to September’s expansion of active rosters from 26 to 28, the Giants recalled catcher Blake Sabol and activated right-hander Tristan Beck from the 60-day injured list to fill the newly created vacancies. No corresponding 40-man move was necessary to activate Beck, and the club’s 40-man roster now stands at 39.

Beck, 28, has spent the entire season on the injured list to this point after suffering an aneurysm in his upper arm back in February. The righty underwent surgery to correct the issue back in early March but was shut down from throwing for the next two months and since then has been slowly working his way back towards a return to the majors. After spending the majority of August on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Sacramento, Beck finally made it back to the majors yesterday.

With that being said, Beck’s current role isn’t the one he was expected to fulfill at the start of the season. The right-hander was expected to be a member of the club’s starting rotation this year at the time of his injury after a solid rookie season in 2023 where he pitched to a 3.92 ERA in 85 innings of work as a multi-inning relief arm and spot starter. Beck’s injury derailed those plans, however, and while he started games in the minors during his rehab assignment last month he maxed out at just 56 pitches.

That won’t be enough for him to join a rotation that currently features Blake Snell, Logan Webb, Kyle Harrison, Hayden Birdsong, and Mason Black, but it should allow him to join righties Landen Roupp and Sean Hjelle as a multi-inning option out of the bullpen down the stretch. If Beck manages to post solid numbers in his return from surgery, it’s even possible that he could work his way back to into the conversation for starts with the Giants by next season, with Snell widely expected to opt out of his deal with San Francisco and vacate a rotation spot by returning to free agency.

As for Sabol, the 26-year-old was thrust into a semi-regular role with the club last year after being selected from the Pirates in the Rule 5 draft. He performed admirably in the role, with a decent .235/.301/.394 slash line that was within spitting distance of league average as he split time between catcher and left field in 110 games for San Francisco. This year, however, Sabol has returned to the minor leagues for the majority of the year with just 11 games in the majors under his belt to this point. Triple-A has been a bit of a struggle for the 26-year-old, as he’s slashed just .241/.339/.373 at the level despite the Pacific Coast League’s inflated offensive environment. Still, the versatile youngster should provide the Giants with some depth in the outfield and behind the plate down the stretch, and a strong performance could earn him more regular playing time headed into 2025.

Giants Designate Derek Hill For Assignment

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The Giants announced a series of roster moves today. Outfielder Mark Canha, acquired before the trade deadline, was added to the roster. They also selected outfielder Jerar Encarnación, a move that was previously reported, and reinstated right-hander Sean Hjelle from the bereavement list. To open roster spots for those three, the club optioned catcher Blake Sabol and infielder David Villar while outfielder Derek Hill was designated for assignment.

Hill, 28, was claimed off waivers from the Rangers just over a week ago. He got into five games since then, producing a line of .250/.308/.417 in 13 plate appearances. Combined with his time with the Rangers earlier in the season, he has a line of .255/.293/.455 for the year, which translates to a 107 wRC+ in 58 plate appearances.

Despite that generally cromulent performance, Hill keeps getting nudged off rosters since he’s out of options. The Rangers signed him to a minor league deal in the offseason and he got up to the majors with them for a couple of weeks starting in late May before being cut and re-signing another minor league deal with that club. He was selected back to the roster in late June and got another few weeks before going to the Giants on waivers.

Now that the trade deadline has passed, Hill will be on waivers again shortly since the Giants will have no other choice. Perhaps Hill will be claimed by some club that just did some selling at the deadline and has playing time available. If he were to be grabbed off waivers, the claiming club would be receiving a guy who has yet to qualify for arbitration and who can be controlled for four additional seasons after this one.

He hasn’t been able to do too much with his major league opportunities. Despite this year’s performance, he has a career line of .233/.281/.337 in 362 plate appearances. But he has 12 steals and some decent marks for his outfield glovework at all three spots. He’s also hit .297/.360/.492 in just under a thousand plate appearances in the minor leagues since the start of 2021, with that production translating to a wRC+ of 115, which could tempt a club to give him some at-bats down the stretch here in 2024.

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