Former Nationals Catcher Riley Adams Finds New Home in American League
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While the 2026-27 offseason hasn't officially gotten underway, that didn't stop a former Washington Nationals player from finding a new home.
According to Ari Alexander of 7News in Boston, Riley Adams inked a minor league deal with the Boston Red Sox. Because Adams has more than three years of major league service time and wasn't on the Nationals' 40-man roster, he was able to become a free agent before the offseason officially began. That allowed him to choose his next destination early, which will be with the historic American League club.
This officially ends Adams' tenure with Washington after they acquired him back in 2021 from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for reliever Brad Hand.
Riley Adams Expected To Be Depth Piece for Red Sox
On the surface, signing with Boston is an interesting decision. They traded for former No. 1 overall pick Adley Rutschman ahead of the trade deadline this past season, and they already have Connor Wong and Mickey Gasper on the 40-man roster as backup catchers. Because of that, Adams is likely just a depth piece in the mind of the Red Sox, which puts the 30-year-old right back into the same position he was in with the Nationals.
That spot in the pecking order resulted in Adams not playing a single major league game for Washington in 2026. After he re-signed towards the beginning of the winter in 2025, he was then designated for assignment on Jan. 22 and then outrighted to Triple-A Rochester six days later. Adams then spent the entire season in the minors, where he was effective. He slashed .273/.389/.506 with a career-high 16 home runs, 15 doubles and 50 RBIs across 82 games.
Translating that production to the big league ranks has been a struggle for him, though.
Over 262 career MLB games played, he has a slash line of .215/.291/.361 and an OPS+ of 83 that is 17 points below the league average mark of 100. That includes the .186/.252/.308 slash line he had in 2025 when he got extended playing time due to Keibert Ruiz's injury, as Adams played 83 games that season as both the backup and starter.
Breaking through on Boston's roster will likely be a challenge barring injuries, and he'll likely need to have a good showing during spring camp to be in the mix for some playing time if he's still with the organization when the 2027 season gets underway.
As for Washington, one of their longtime backstops is now officially out of the equation. And with Drew Millas still a question mark after undergoing surgery, that leaves Ruiz as the starter, former top prospect Harry Ford as the backup and 2022 ninth-round pick Maxwell Romero Jr. as the depth piece in Triple-A.
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Brad Wakai graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Journalism. While an undergrad, he worked at the student radio station covering different Penn State athletic programs like football, basketball, volleyball, soccer and other sports. Brad became the Lead Contributor for Nittany Lions Wire of Gannett Media where he continued to cover Penn State athletics. Currently, Brad is the Publisher for Washington Nationals On SI and covers multiple teams across the On SI network. He is the host of the sports podcast I Said What I Said, where he and his co-host discuss topics across the NFL, College Football, the NBA and other sports. You can follow him on Twitter: @bwakai