Craig Breslow has caught a lot of flack this year for a host of bad decisions, both where it pertains to the Boston Red Sox's roster and the now-gutted coaching staff. The kind thing would be to give him some credit for some of the good calls he's made. Alas, positivity is in short supply in Boston these days (thanks, Celtics).
Remember back to last year's trade deadline for a moment, and you'll probably recall the biggest move involving the Red Sox was one that Breslow didn't make; the rumored Jarren Duran swap with the San Diego Padres supposedly would have returned Dylan Cease, Ethan Salas, and another prospect to the Sox's coffers. Instead, Duran wasn't (and still hasn't been) moved at all.
The Cease part of that equation is worthy hyper-fixating on for its own reasons — he sure would have been a nice Game 3 starter to have in the Wild Card round against the New York Yankees — but he was a rental starter and not the focus of our anguish today. Instead, that honor belongs to Salas, who is reigniting the hype around his status as potentially the best catching prospect in baseball.
Ethan Salas is the hottest prospect in baseball!
— Thomas Nestico (@TJStats) May 4, 2026
Over the last two weeks, Salas has posted a 1.354 OPS with 5 HR with more walks than strikeouts. The 19-year-old catcher is one of the youngest players in AA and looks unfazed against higher level pitchingpic.twitter.com/zFvrll7DgT
Still just 19 years old, Salas is absolutely raking at Double-A this year (.310/.392/.560, 154 wRC+), while displaying the kind of defensive upside that made him the top international prospect in the 2023 class. He'd sure look good as the Red Sox's catcher of the future right now.
Red Sox may come to regret passing on Ethan Salas if Carlos Narváez doesn't rebound
Even in hindsight, this is a very difficult situation to judge. Cease would have been an incredible asset in 2025, but odds are he would have walked in free agency (or, if he had stayed, the Red Sox wouldn't have signed Ranger Suárez or traded for Sonny Gray).
Meanwhile, Salas, despite looking like a superstar this year, struggled badly in 2024 and missed nearly all of last year with a stress fracture in his back, which is a terrifying injury for a young catcher. His prospect shine was greatly diminished when Breslow rejected the Duran trade, and there's no guarantee he would have responded well to a new organization after signing with the Padres as a 16-year-old.
All that being said, the Red Sox would sure like to have a catcher as good as him in the farm system right now. Carlos Narváez is struggling at the plate this year, and he'd look much better as a "1B" defense-first option than a true starter. Connor Wong, now nearly 30 years old, shouldn't be seen as a long-term answer, while the top catching prospect in the organization (Johanfran Garcia) has serious conditioning and mobility concerns that could limit his upside behind the plate.
Forgoing a chance to develop Salas just to keep an outfield logjam intact was a questionable decision when it was made last year. Time is only making it look that choice look worse.
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