Red Sox acquire catcher from Yankees, DFA Enmanuel Valdez
The Red Sox made a minor trade on Wednesday night, acquiring catcher Carlos Narvaez from the Yankees for right-handed pitching prospect Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz. Boston is also sending $250,000 of international bonus pool space money to New York.
To make room on the 40-man roster for Narvaez, Boston designated infielder Enmanuel Valdez for assignment. Over his first two seasons with the Red Sox, Valdez has hit .235 with 12 homers, 47 RBI, with six stolen bases, and a .687 OPS.
Boston initially acquired Valdez along with Gold Glove right fielder Wilyer Abreu from the Astros for veteran catcher Christian Vazquez. At the time of the deal, Valdez was the Astros 12th-ranked prospect, according to Baseball America.
The Red Sox were looking to add a backup catcher behind Connor Wong this offseason even before trading top catching prospect Kyle Teel. The former first-round pick was traded to the White Sox in a five-player deal that sent lefty Garrett Crochet to the Red Sox.
Narvaez made his major league debut last season, playing in six games with the Yankees. He went 3-for-13 with three singles, two walks, and six strikeouts. Defensively, he threw out 1 of 2 base stealers.
While playing in Triple-A, Narvaez batted .254 with a .370 on-base percentage, a .412 slugging percentage, a .782 OPS, 11 homers, 20 doubles, 58 RBIs, 54 runs, and 56 walks and 105 strikeouts in 96 games. Throughout his minor league career, the 26-year-old has thrown out 30% of base stealers.
Rodriguez was ranked by Baseball America as the No. 20 prospect in Boston’s farm system. The 21-year-old was originally selected by the Red Sox in the fourth round (105th overall) of the 2021 draft out of Leadership Christian Academy in Guaynabo.
The native of Puerto Rico split the 2024 season between Low-A Salem and High-A Greenville. He posted a 2.91 ERA and a 3.56 FIP with 102 strikeouts to 43 walks over 21 appearances (20 starts) over 89 2/3 frames, setting a professional career high.
The 6-foot-3 and 160-pound righty added more velocity to his fastball; it sits between 94-97 mph and has topped out at 99 mph. He also has an 85-88 mph slider, an 80-83 mph curveball, and an 88-91 mph curveball, per his SoxProspects.comscouting report.
Rodriguez is Rule 5 draft eligible next winter, provided the Yankees don’t add him to their 40-man roster.
