Red Sox Reportedly Add Slugger With Elite Power To Bolster Catching Depth
The Boston Red Sox made one of the more intriguing depth moves of the offseason by adding a potential low-risk high-reward option behind the plate.
With Reese McGuire and Connor Wong as the only catchers on the 40-man roster, Boston entered the new year in need of an upgrade. While it won't make national headlines, Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom finally addressed the position.
The Red Sox signed catcher Jorge Alfaro to a minor-league deal according to MassLive's Chris Cotillo on Monday. The deal will jump to $2 million if he reaches the majors, and includes opt-outs on June 1 and July 1.
Alfaro -- who has a post-playing career as a Jason Momoa body double if he wants it -- hit .246 with 21 extra-base hits including seven home runs, 40 RBIs and a .667 OPS in 82 games for the San Diego Padres last season.
The 29-year-old is one of the most interesting additions Boston could make due to his extreme variance. His best traits are truly elite in comparison to his peers. He also features some weaknesses that place him at the bottom of the league in certain metrics.
The good for Alfaro:
The veteran backstop has as much power as anyone in the game. He ranked in the 97th percentile in max exit velocity last season. He ranked in the 82nd percentile for hard-hit percentage and 81st percentile for barrel rate the last time he played enough to qualify -- 2019.
Alfaro absolutely crushes fastballs and should see plenty at the bottom of the lineup -- he saw 52.5% heaters a year ago. The right-hander hit .288 with a .394 slugging percentage against fastballs last season.
As expected, Alfaro was much better against left-handed pitching. The longtime backup catcher hit .269 with a .773 OPS in 71 plate appearances against southpaws. It would make sense for Alfaro to platoon with the left-handed hitting McGuire.
Despite being listed at 6-foot-3, 230 pounds and only having 18 career steals, Alfaro ranked in the 85th percentile for sprint speed.
Alfaro also is a larger-than-life presence that has a flare for the dramatic.
Here's an example of his raw power coming through in the clutch -- and a great call by Don Orsillo.
Alfaro also recently went viral for his no-doubt bomb -- including a stare-down and empowered bat spike -- for the Tigres del Licey in the Dominican Winter League, one day after hitting a walk-off single off of Fernando Rodney.
The bad for Alfaro:
Alfaro's approach at the plate is quite poor and unlikely to change 478 games into his career. The backstop had a basement-level 98-to-11 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 2022. The last time he qualified, Alfaro ranked in the second percentile for strikeouts, eighth percentile for walk rate, and first percentile for both whiff and chase rates.
Alfaro ranked in the 96th percentile for pop time to second, but only nabbed 5-of-30 attempted base stealers last season (16.7%). He's a strong blocker -- with only seven passed balls in 2022 -- but had below-average defensive runs saved numbers and frame ratings a year ago according to FanGraphs.
Any catcher with Major League service time could challenge Wong for playing time, and Alfaro will be a leading candidate to do so -- heightened by his ability to successfully platoon for McGuire.
The Red Sox's most recent addition will create an interesting spring training position battle behind the plate.
More MLB: Red Sox Reportedly Interested In Former All-Star Shortstop, Productive Utility Man
