Red Sox Still Pursuing Catchers; World Series Champion Floated

Back to where it all began?

Oct 28, 2018; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Boston Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale (left) celebrates with teammates including catcher Christian Vazquez after defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in game five of the 2018 World Series at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

The Boston Red Sox returned their two primary catchers from a year ago, but they clearly aren't married to the current depth chart.

Boston sniffed around three-time All-Star J.T. Realmuto, who recently re-signed with the Philadelphia Phillies, and was also linked to Victor Caratini, who also came off the board when he joined the Minnesota Twins last week.

It's clear that the Red Sox are still searching for the right deal, even if it's a minor-league one, to bring in one more backstop, which would let Connor Wong know that his spot on the roster isn't a given. And one insider floated the possibility of Boston bringing back Wong's predecessor.

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Would Red Sox reunite with Christian Vázquez?

Aug 1, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Minnesota Twins catcher Christian Vazquez (8) rounds third base en route to scoring during the seventh inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

On Thursday, Chris Cotillo of MassLive reported that Boston remained engaged with free-agent catchers, and speculated that bringing back 2018 World Series champion Christian Vázquez could be of interest, particularly because of his close bond with the manager.

"Red Sox remain engaged in a thinned-out catching market as they look to add depth before Opening Day," Cotillo wrote. "Total guess here, but if the market falls the right way, Christian Vázquez is someone Alex Cora loves and would love to have around. Again, speculation and not a report."

The Red Sox are trying to bring a World Series championship back to Boston, and Vázquez is one of only a select few players from the last team to do so who remain in the league. He even caught the final out, an iconic back-foot slider from Chris Sale to Manny Machado.

There's no doubt about it -- Vázquez's offense has fallen off a cliff. He posted an OPS+ of 60 across his three years with the Minnesota Twins, which had to make the Red Sox feel great about getting Wilyer Abreu from him in a trade.

That said, the 35-year-old Puerto Rico native still plays reasonably strong defense, and it wouldn't hurt to have him around in spring training at the very least. Cotillo's tweet doesn't constitute a ton of "smoke," per se, but it's not hard to see why it might be of interest to both sides.

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