Tom CarrollSat, November 29, 2025 at 5:42 AM UTC·2 min readEarlier this week, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal had an interesting nugget about the catching market as it relates to the Red Sox:
“Acquiring another catcher is not among the Sox’s top priorities, or so it has seemed. But the Red Sox are showing interest in J.T. Realmuto, according to people briefed on their discussions.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAs Rosenthal mentioned, catcher isn’t, and shouldn’t be, one of Boston’s top priorities.
Why would it be?
In 2025, they had a young rookie catcher, Carlos Narvaez, emerge as a Gold Glove finalist. Given his performance and the fact that he's playing on such a team-friendly deal right now ($820,000 in 2026, pre-arbitration), he's clearly the player you want to support.
Coming into the season, the 27-year-old was seen as a depth piece behind Connor Wong, who had established himself as an above-average catcher at the plate just one year earlier. As a result, Wong’s bat was viewed as a plus for the lineup—someone the team depended on to have another strong offensive season.
Sep 8, 2025; West Sacramento, California, USA; Boston Red Sox catcher Carlos Narvaez (75) rounds the bases after hitting a home run against the Athletics during the fifth inning at Sutter Health Park. (Ed Szczepanski/Imagn Images)Out of the gate, it was clear that wasn’t going to happen. And when Wong broke his pinky finger on April 7, it cleared the runway for the former Yankees prospect to grab the catching job and run with it.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIn 446 plate appearances across 118 games played, Narvaez batted .241 with an on-base percentage of .306 and a slugging percentage of .419. His .726 OPS was among the highest at his position in all of baseball.
On top of his 15 homers and 50 RBI, Narvaez consistently came up with clutch hitting throughout the season, never feeling like the moment was too big despite his lack of experience at the major league level.
When Wong was ready to return to the lineup in May, Narvaez had already taken the ball and run with it. It was his job to keep, and it looks like that will be the case moving forward after a successful surgery on the meniscus in his left knee.
Right now, the only way I’m bringing someone in at catcher is if they can serve as Narvaez’s back-up and represent an upgrade over Wong.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementGiven that, Realmuto, while still productive at age 34, doesn’t feel like enough of an upgrade over Narvaez for Boston to stifle his development in favor of the three-time All-Star.
May 5, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto (10) reacts after hitting an RBI triple against the Boston Red Sox in the fourth inning at Citizens Bank Park. (Kyle Ross/Imagn Images)Three to four years ago, when he was in the midst of winning Gold Gloves and Silver Slugger awards? Sign me up.
Now, although he's still good (batted .257 in 2025 with a .700 OPS), I'd rather see those resources go toward a power bat or another starting pitcher.
I don’t think bringing in Realmuto moves the need for Boston in the World Series market. And if anything, it hurts them in the long run, as I see a shorter runway for what Realmuto has left in the tank as opposed to Narvaez.
Tom Carroll is a contributor for Roundtable, with boots-on-the-ground coverage of all things Boston sports. He's a senior digital content producer for WEEI.com, and a native of Lincoln, RI.
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