Leandre: Re-acquiring veteran catcher makes sense for Red Sox
In a weak class of free-agent catchers, the Boston Red Sox could look to a familiar face to shore up defensive issues.
The Boston Red Sox signed veteran catcher Seby Zavala to a minor-league contract Wednesday.
This marks the third consecutive year Boston brought in a veteran backstop, likely, to work with its minor-league pitching staff — not to mention top catching prospect Kyle Teel.
However, there’s still a hole at the MLB level backing Connor Wong. As it stands, Zavala likely is the guy. While it makes sense, assuming Teel only needs a couple more months of seasoning before his big-league debut, there’d be no real veteran fallback option should Wong or Zavala get hurt.
But would it make more sense for the Red Sox to bring in another veteran backstop?
Moreover, how about one that makes a decent salary as a backup … and that gentleman just so happens to be a former longtime Red Sox?
Yes, Christian Vázquez makes sense, for several reasons, as a potential re-acquisition.
1. Defensive prowess
Lauded as a Yadier Molina-lite in the early stages of his career, Vázquez declined as his Red Sox career waned.
He was still above average, but his framing declined dramatically while his blocking remained steady. The blocking continued hovering around slightly above average as he moved on to Houston and later Minnesota, but his framing rebounded — especially with the latter organization.
Boston’s catchers ranked in a 25th-place tie with negative-eight framing runs in 2024, with its leader, Reese McGuire, designated for assignment after a deadline trade for Danny Jansen.
Jansen and Wong combined for -10 framing runs, which would’ve ranked tied for last in the majors. Vázquez’s six ranked tied for eighth among 58 qualified catchers despite ranking 26th in pitches on the edge received.
Moreover, blocking was a major issue for the Red Sox a season ago. While Vázquez recorded just one block above average, that’s 14 more than Wong.
The 34-year-old’s pop time hovers around mid-to-upper 1.9 seconds, remaining roughly league average as he ages.
The onus isn’t entirely on the catcher to keep baserunners from stealing bases, as a pitcher’s time to deliver matters a lot. As a result, there’s often variance in how well a catcher cuts down would-be base stealers.
Perhaps surprisingly, Boston’s pitchers ranked highly in preventing base advancement. However, its catchers didn’t do a good job of throwing runners out when opportunities arose.
Jansen was in the fifth percentile in catching baserunners, Vázquez in the 23rd. Though not great, it’s certainly an upgrade.
Improving defense at the catcher position can only help the Red Sox as they try to acquire pitchers this winter.
Especially someone like Blake Snell, who is unhittable in the zone but sometimes erratic with command. Having a catcher who can steal strikes and, even better, not lose them makes Boston even more attractive to someone like that.
2. Minnesota shed payroll ahead of 2024 and could do so again
While reporting suggests the Twins won’t cut payroll again, despite doing so a year ago and some uncertainty with their television deal, $10 million on a backup catcher is fairly steep.
Current starting catcher Ryan Jeffers is projected to earn $6.1 million in arbitration, per Spotrac. They may not view $16.1 million tied to their catchers as too much, but Vázquez has accumulated 1.7 fWAR despite earning $20 million his first two years in Minnesota.
It’s his final year under control, so if Minnesota ate some salary, it likely could find a suitor for the two-time World Series Champion.
Since Teel would be on a rookie salary, and Wong is as well, Boston can add payroll to its catching room to bring in a legitimate MLB catcher to work with both youngsters.
Perhaps Boston could acquire Vázquez for a depth reliever and $4 million in cash.
3. The organization loves him
While the Xander Bogaerts quotes from post-deadline 2022 became a meme during outfielder Wilyer Abreu’s rookie season, it was clear losing Vázquez took its toll on the clubhouse.
Bogaerts and other veterans like J.D. Martinez and Nathan Eovaldi are no longer in Boston. That said, RHPs Kutter Crawford, Tanner Houck and Brayan Bello all have experience throwing to him.
Not to mention manager Alex Cora has never uttered a bad word about him. Moreover, he was emotional when the Red Sox dealt him to Houston.
Bringing back someone popular within the organization, and fan base could be a nice shot in the arm despite him not being the player he once was.
4. His offense isn’t good, but his swing plays at Fenway Park
These past two years aren’t the first two Vázquez struggled offensively.
His 60 wRC+ in 2024 marked the sixth time in his 10 seasons in which his wRC+ finished below 80.
However, last year, he saw a career-high flyball rate. His pulled fly ball rate in 2024 matched that of his from 2022, which was his last season finishing around league-average offensively (99 wRC+, 110 before the trade).
His swing isn’t necessarily “tailor-made” for Fenway, but he took aim at the Green Monster in the first half of the 2022 season. Could he see a resurgence in offensive production as he did then? Perhaps.
If not, oh well. He’s a backup catcher who plays good defense.
5. Veteran leadership
As mentioned, the Red Sox seem to be paving the way for Teel to become their full-time, franchise catcher as soon as next summer.
When he got to Triple-A last year, he could learn a bit from McGuire and Tyler Heineman. That said, neither have been consistent No. 1 MLB catchers, much less have experience playing in a pennant race for the Boston Red Sox.
Vázquez provides unique experience and institutional knowledge from six postseason trips and two World Series titles. He’s been there, done that. While the Red Sox are eager to dramatically improve their roster, having guys like that on the margins could be worth its weight in gold.
Someone like Teel — even Wong — stands to benefit a ton from simply having Vázquez in the room.
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Love the creativity. I'd love for a reunion with Vazquez