{"id":415600,"date":"2026-01-18T21:17:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T21:17:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/415600\/"},"modified":"2026-01-18T21:17:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T21:17:10","slug":"red-sox-remain-active-in-efforts-to-upgrade-catching-tandem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/415600\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Sox “Remain Active” In Efforts To Upgrade Catching Tandem"},"content":{"rendered":"

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<\/a> throughout the winter before he returned to Philadelphia on a three-year deal, and the team was also connected to Victor Caratini<\/a> shortly before he signed on with the Twins<\/a> on Friday. Those efforts to improve behind the plate don\u2019t seem to be going away, as Sean McAdam of MassLive<\/a> reported today that the team \u201cremain[s] active\u201d\u00a0in their attempts to upgrade behind the plate after the signing of Caratini, who he emphasizes they were \u201cvery much involved\u201d in the market of.<\/p>\n

Those efforts shouldn\u2019t be taken as a knock against Carlos Narvaez<\/a>, 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\u2019s 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\u2019s not quite as much as the most used regulars like Realmuto and William Contreras<\/a>, Narvaez still caught nearly 200 more innings than fellow rookie backstop Drake Baldwin<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s 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\u2019s 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\u2019s catching situation behind him. Connor Wong<\/a> is currently set to serve as the club\u2019s primary backup. He\u2019s always been a lackluster defender behind the plate, however, and last year slashed just .190\/.262\/.238 in 188 trips to the plate.<\/p>\n

It shouldn\u2019t take someone like Caratini or Realmuto to upgrade over that paltry production. With that being said, the market for catching in free agency is exceptional thing now that those two (and old friend Danny Jansen<\/a>) have signed. Gary Sanchez<\/a> and Jonah Heim<\/a> are among the best catchers still available in free agency at this point, and it\u2019s 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<\/a> with the Dodgers and former Red Sox prospect Kyle Teel<\/a> with the Red Sox. Neither of those talks appeared to gain much traction, but it\u2019s entirely possible the team could continue to look to the trade market for catching help over the final weeks leading up to Spring Training.<\/p>\n

The Royals have been frequently attached to Jarren Duran<\/a> in trade talks, but the team appears pessimistic<\/a> on their chances to land him and would surely balk at including top prospect Carter Jensen<\/a> in a package for his services, while prospect Blake Mitchell<\/a> might be too far from the majors for Boston\u2019s tastes. The Yankees have previously seemed open to shopping J.C. Escarra<\/a>, though they might be more hesitant to do so now that Ben Rice<\/a> 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<\/a> now that Realmuto is back in the fold, or the Twins\u2019 signing of Caratini could clear a path for Ryan Jeffers<\/a> to be dealt.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s production was last year, he was an above-average hitter as recently as 2024 and it\u2019s certainly not impossible to imagine him bouncing back. If the Red Sox don\u2019t find the right deal, they could always just add a depth piece like Matt Thaiss<\/a> or Luke Maile<\/a> in free agency on a minor league deal and plan on Wong opening the season as Narvaez\u2019s backup.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While much of the focus for the Red Sox this offseason has been on their efforts to upgrade…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":415601,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[28647,97811,363,99,153012],"class_list":{"0":"post-415600","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-carlos-narvaez","9":"tag-connor-wong","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-victor-caratini"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415600\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/415601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}