Tomase: Why Red Sox should call Blue Jays about a catcher trade originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
With the free agent catching market picked cleaner than carrion, the Red Sox need to trade if they hope to upgrade on Reese McGuire and Connor Wong, and there’s one team with catching to spare: the Blue Jays.
Trading within the division isn’t as forbidden as it used to be. The Red Sox helped relieve luxury tax pressure on the Yankees two years ago, for instance, by acquiring reliever Adam Ottavino, who ended up contributing to an ALCS run. Since Chaim Bloom took control of the baseball operations, he has also dealt with the Rays (left-hander Jeffrey Springs for catching prospect Ronaldo Hernández).
Bloom has yet to swap with the Blue Jays, unless you count the saga of reliever Joel Payamps, who bounced between the Sox and Jays on waiver claims three times in three weeks in 2021.
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But that could change this winter. The Blue Jays boast the deepest catching rotation in the big leagues, and someone’s got to go. There’s something for everyone, depending on how aggressively you want to spend.
If you’re looking for a veteran with pop, 27-year-old Danny Jansen owns 26 homers in his last 399 at-bats. If you’d rather a young star with remaining years of team control, then 24-year-old All-Star Alejandro Kirk is your man. And if you’re seeking maximum upside, then consensus top-10 prospect Gabriel Moreno is the target, although it will take a ransom to get him in the unlikely event that Toronto makes him available at all.
In Alex Verdugo and Jarren Duran, the Red Sox actually have something Toronto needs, as noted by MLB Trade Rumors, and that’s a left-handed-hitting outfielder. Verdugo would be too steep a price to pay for Jansen, who has averaged only 71 games a year since 2021, and he’s probably not enough to pry away Kirk, but he could be a start.
Regardless, if the Sox plan to pivot to the trade market, as Bloom said last week, then Toronto is worth calling.
The rugged and bespectacled Jansen bears a slight resemblance to former Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, and he has improved considerably since a miserable 2020. While injuries ranging from multiple pulled hamstrings to a broken finger and strained oblique have cost him at least 90 games in each of the last two years, Jansen has still shown an ability to drive the ball from the right side. Defensively, he grades as slightly above average, too.
Jansen remains arbitration-eligible through 2024 and would be the lowest-cost option of the three in terms of money and trade capital.
Next up is Kirk, a bowling ball-shaped receiver with less pop, but elite bat-to-ball skills. Listed at 5-foot-8 and 265 pounds, Kirk made an All-Star team and earned a Silver Slugger award last year in his second full season. Even if his body type doesn’t necessarily profile as a long-term everyday catcher, he only just turned 24, so he at least has youth on his side, and he’s under team control through 2026.
Kirk ranked fourth in pitch framing, per Statcast, and is also excellent at blocking balls in the dirt. He’s slow out of his crouch and thus struggles a bit in the running game, but on the whole, he’s a dependable everyday player who walked more than he struck out last year. With the Red Sox emphasizing an ability to put the ball in play, Kirk fits that mold, and he’s a strong enough hitter to DH on the days he’s not catching, too.
That leaves Moreno, and it’s hard to imagine the Jays parting with him. The athletic backstop has a ceiling of a future All-Star who should hit for a high average with decent power and above-average defense. He perfectly fits Toronto’s young core and at 5-foot-11, 195 pounds, represents less of a breakdown risk than Kirk. Any deal for Moreno would probably have to begin with shortstop Marcelo Mayer, and that’s almost certainly a non-starter.
With a slew of catchers coming off the market between free agents Willson Contreras, Christian Vazquez, and Mike Zunino, as well as the traded Sean Murphy, the demand for backstops isn’t what it was a month ago. The Red Sox would likely be competing with the Diamondbacks and Astros, but an offer of Duran/Verdugo and prospects would at least make them part of the conversation.