The Boston Red Sox have placed Sandy Leon on waivers, effectively committing to Christian Vazquez and Blake Swihart at the catcher position.
The Boston Red Sox are following through on their stated intent to carry only two catchers on their Opening Day roster and Sandy Leon is the odd man out.
According to WEEI’s Evan Drellich, the Red Sox have placed Leon on waivers.
Source: The Red Sox have placed catcher Sandy Leon on waivers. They're still carrying three catchers, wanted to break with two.
— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) March 24, 2019
If no other team ends up claiming Leon then he will have the option of being assigned to Triple-A Pawtucket or being outright released. It seems unlikely that any team would claim him at his $2.475 million salary but bargain hunters will seek him out on a cheaper deal if he hits free agency. Given the dearth of catching talent across the majors, a veteran with strong defensive and game-calling skills should find a home somewhere.
The Red Sox had tried shopping Leon, with rumors swirling that the team was actively engaged in trade talks as recently as last week. Apparently, they couldn’t find anyone to take Leon off their hands, now they’ll most likely lose him for nothing.
Leon led the team with 87 appearances and 78 games started at the catcher position last season yet the writing was on the wall that he would be the one to go. Boston made their commitment to Christian Vazquez with a three-year, $13.3 million contract extension last spring. The 28-year old is younger than Leon with more upside.
The move also signals that the Red Sox are finally prepared to give Blake Swihart significant time behind the plate. Even if Vazquez earns the starting job, Swihart should be given a chance to catch at least a couple of times per week while perhaps earning extra plate appearances at other positions. It will be the closest Swihart has come to consistent playing time at the major league level since his rookie year in 2015.
Swihart has earned the opportunity for more playing time with a strong camp this spring. He’s slashing .414/.433/.517 in 29 at-bats.
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Leon had an unexpected breakout season in 2016 when he hit .310 with a .845 OPS. He never came close to replicating that success again, slashing .201/.262/.317 over the last two years. His 33 wRC+ and .227 wOBA were dead last among major league hitters with a minimum of 250 plate appearances last season. Vazquez was next to last with a 42 wRC+ and third from the bottom with a .240 wOBA. Starting either one of them created a black hole at the bottom of the lineup.
By giving more playing time to Swihart, the Red Sox can roll out a deeper lineup without an automatic out to stall their momentum. They still have the strong presence of Vazquez to utilize behind the plate but really only need one defensive-minded catcher.
The downside of losing Leon is that they’ll miss the rapport he built with the pitching staff. Red Sox starters have raved about Leon’s ability behind the plate, particularly Chris Sale, who has thrown almost exclusively to Leon since coming to Boston. It’s a good thing the Red Sox locked in that five-year extension for their ace before announcing they were cutting his favorite catcher.
While the Red Sox made it work last year, carrying three catchers wasn’t a feasible plan moving forward. Swihart had been reduced to a seldom-used end of the bench option, stunting his development. It’s time they gave the former top prospect a chance to see what he can do. When a trade never materialized, sending Leon to waivers was inevitable.