Red Sox Poach Catcher From Yankees In Minor League Rule 5 Draft

Boston takes a shot a their rival's catching depth

Red Sox Poach Catcher From Yankees In Minor League Rule 5 Draft

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Boston Red Sox New York Yankees

The Red Sox and New York Yankees made headline news on Tuesday night in a trade that sent one of Boston's core players -- Alex Verdugo -- to the Bronx.

One day later, a transaction of a much lesser magnitude was made involving the pair of historic rivals.

The Red Sox selected switch-hitting catcher Mickey Gasper from the Yankees in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft.

Gasper hit .246 with 15 extra-base hits including seven home runs, 28 RBIs and a .736 OPS in 74 games between Double-A Somerset and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

The 28-year-old's greatest strength could be his versatility. Gasper logged 26 appearances at first base, 19 at catcher, and one at third base.

Given his age and middling success at the higher levels of the minors, this move is nothing to get too excited about.

The Red Sox addressed a need to bolster the catching depth after Caleb Hamilton elected free agency earlier in the offseason. That's likely the driving force behind Boston taking Gasper in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 Draft.

Gasper is a Merrimack, NH native who attended Bryant College and will return to New England, though it's not like he was thousands of miles away from home before.

More MLB: Red Sox Lose Pair Of Promising Pitching Prospects In Rule 5 Draft

Published Dec 6, 2023

Scott Neville

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu

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