The Boston Red Sox have just one catcher on their 40-man roster and, based on comments from Craig Breslow at November's General Manager Meetings, Kyle Teel may not be ready to start in the big leagues by Opening Day.
Despite their murky catching situation, the Red Sox haven't been big players in the catching market — their interests are currently tied up in a certain star free agent outfielder. But as they pursue Juan Soto, more backup-catching options come off the board.
The Texas Rangers signed former Yankees and Padres catcher Kyle Higashioka on Dec. 2. The backstop earned a two-year, $13.5 million deal after a career year and playoff heroism in San Diego.
The 34-year-old was sent to SoCal as part of the Yankees' trade for Soto before his walk year. Higashioka batted .220/.263/.476 with a .739 OPS over 84 games. He knocked a career-high 17 homers and 45 RBI.
Rangers sign Kyle Higashioka and remove another potential free agent backup catching option for Red Sox
Higgy is heading to Texas!
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) December 3, 2024
Harold and Matty V react to Kyle Higashioka's two-year deal with the 2023 World Series champs.#MLBNHotStove pic.twitter.com/32g5wcsdv0
The Rangers signed Higashioka as a backup to their catcher Jonah Heim, who collected an All-Star appearance and a Gold Glove in 2023. If Higashioka can maintain his career-best numbers from San Diego, they could be one of the better catching tandems in the American League.
Higashioka could've helped the Red Sox in a few categories had they beaten the Rangers to him. He's right-handed and his bat would be ideal in Fenway Park. He could've served as a backup or platoon option to Wong, who posted an outstanding .280/.333/.425 slash line over 126 games last year. Wong's offense began to stall when he took over as Boston's everyday catcher after Reese McGuire was sent down to Triple-A — if he had someone to help bear the catching load, Wong might have been able to maintain his .300+ batting average last season.
The Red Sox are focused on improving their offense and pitching, but they can't get through the season with just one catcher on the roster. If the team banks on Teel being big league-ready by Opening Day, they may not need one, but that seems unlikely based on his age and early Triple-A experience. Pitching should be Boston's No. 1 priority, but it'll need another catcher to get through the early part of the season before Teel's debut.