Red Sox, Connor Wong agree to new contract

The Red Sox avoided arbitration with another member of their roster Thursday, with catcher Connor Wong signed to a deal for the 2026 season.

Wong, who has been with the Red Sox since 2021, will make $1.375 million in base salary on this new deal with Boston. Wong can make an additional $75,000 in performance bonuses, according to MassLive's Chris Cotillo.

Playing backup to Carlos Narvaez for most of the campaign, Wong made 63 appearances for the Red Sox in 2025, hitting .190 with seven RBIs.

But Wong's biggest impact came behind the plate, and at the end of games really, as Wong instructed Aroldis Chapman to spot his fastball opposed to simply throwing it. The change resulted in Chapman cutting his walk rates to the lowest of his career, and allowed Chapman to put together perhaps the best season of his career, with 32 saves and a 1.17 ERA on the way to a seventh-place finish in the AL Cy Young voting. 

Wong, of course, is also the last remaining piece in town from the 2020 trade that sent Mookie Betts to LA. In addition to Wong, the Red Sox also received outfielder Alex Verdugo and shortstop Jeter Downs. Verdugo spent the 2025 season with the Braves, but was released by the club in July after hitting just .239 in 56 games for Atlanta, while Downs has spent the last two seasons playing for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of the NPB (Japan).

The 29-year-old Wong has appeared in 348 games for the Red Sox over the last five seasons, hitting .245 with a .680 OPS, along with 23 home runs and 103 RBIs, for the club.