Red Sox bring in new catcher in trade with Giants
The Red Sox have found their way back into the news cycle, announcing on Wednesday that they have made a trade with the San Francisco Giants, exchanging international bonus pool space for 27-year-old catcher/outfielder Blake Sabol. The move resulted in pitcher Chase Shugart to be designated for assignment.
Sabol was selected out of high school in the 33rd round of the 2016 MLB Draft to the Cleveland Indians, but he elected to not sign and play college baseball at the University of Southern California, rather than going directly to the pros. The decision worked out, as he was later drafted out of college by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the seventh round of the 2019 MLB Draft.
In 2022, Sabol was subject to the Rule 5 Draft and picked up by the Giants. Over his professional career, he has struggled to earn a consistent role in the majors.
During his time with the Giants, Sabol played in 121 games over the 2023-24 seasons, the majority during 2023. In his first major-league season, Sabol appeared in 110 games, registering numbers of .235/.301/.394 across his 344 plate appearances. The following year, he played in only 11 games for 38 plate appearances (.313/.421/.375) before being optioned to the minors in mid-May. He was recently designated for assignment by the Giants on Saturday following the Justin Verlander signing.
For the Red Sox, this is the second catcher they’ve acquired in a little over a month. They previously added Carlos Narvaez in a trade with the Yankees on Dec. 11. Presumably, the Sabol move signifies the Red Sox’ effort to further replenish and bolster their catcher depth chart. Especially after losing Danny Jansen, who signed a one-year deal with the Tampa Bay Rays on Dec. 12, reported to be worth $8.5 million guaranteed, per Adam Berry at MLB.com.
It is unlikely that Sabol will overtake current Red Sox starting catcher Connor Wong, who fills a need in the order as a right-handed bat and was the team’s No. 1 ranked hitter in 2024, according to Baseball Reference. However, contingent on a strong spring with the Red Sox, he will have a solid case for earning the backup job over Narvaez, who has only played in four major-league games in his career.
On the whole, the addition of Blake Sabol will likely have little impact over who is the Red Sox’ everyday roster, but he does bring more, albeit not huge amount but some, MLB experience to the room and should be a decent backup to Connor Wong, along with filling the hole that Jansen’s exit left behind.
