The Boston Red Sox signed veteran catcher Yasmani Grandal shortly after Connor Wong was moved to the 10-day injured list with a fractured hand.
Grandal signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox, despite refusing to sign one with another club over the offseason. When he missed out on a deal entirely, a minor league deal with Boston didn't seem like a bad deal.
Grandal's contract with the Sox contained an opt-out on May 1, which he will not exercise, according to Chris Cotillo of MassLive. The catcher hopes to get more at-bats in the Red Sox organization, likely after Wong's rehab assignment is over, despite having interest from other teams.
Grandal is a 13-year MLB veteran and a two-time All-Star and MVP vote recipient. He seems like a good fit for the Red Sox among their other catching depth options, who have little MLB experience between them.
Yasmani Grandal does not opt out of Red Sox contract, will remain with Triple-A Worcester
Watch it fly, Yasmani đź‘Ź pic.twitter.com/hTYtJVGOcj
— Wicked Worms of Worcester (@WooSox) April 22, 2025
The 36-year-old is batting .250/.379/.500 wth three doubles and a homer over seven games in Triple-A Worcester. He's a career .236/.345/.424 hitter in the major leagues and posted 72 games for the Pirates in 2024.
Grandal's desire to stick around in the Red Sox organization could be great for the team, especially if another unforeseen catcher injury arises. Carlos Narváez has been a rock-solid defensive replacement for Wong and also has a few home runs under his belt, but Blake Sabol has been rough overall on Narváez's off days.
Sabol has two hits and seven strikeouts in his eight appearances with Boston so far. He's only played a small sample size of games but his defense has left much to be desired, with two errors and 10 stolen bases on his watch.
Not only could the Red Sox use Grandal as a backup if another catching emergency pops up, but he could be a solid trade deadline chip. Teams in the postseason race can always use more defensively capable catching depth, and Grandal is a veteran with plenty of playoff experience from his time in the Dodgers organization.
Wong flashed some defensive improvements in the few games he's played this season and is swinging well in Triple-A during his rehab assignment (three hits, two RBI in two games), but if he stalls out when he hits the big leagues again, Grandal could be just the just the help the Sox need behind the plate.