The Boston Red Sox are heading into the second half of the season and walking a tight rope ahead of the MLB trade deadline. President of baseball operations Craig Breslow has shown he already has an eye for the future after trading Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants last month but also has one on the present as the Red Sox are two games out of the American League Wild Card race and 6.5 games out of first place in the American League East Division entering Tuesday.
With that in mind, the Red Sox will operate not only to help the current team but also to give them the best roster possible in 2026 and beyond. It leaves a Red Sox veteran on the chopping block, and the blade could fall as July begins.
Connor Wong is Still on Thin Ice for Red Sox in July
Being on thin ice isn’t a great place to be in general, but the July heat has made things even more troubling for backup catcher Connor Wong. A part of the 2020 trade that sent Mookie Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Wong was showing signs of a breakout this time last year, hitting .280/.333/.425 with 13 homers and 52 RBI in 126 games. He showed the same promise with 2.2 wins above replacement during the 2023 season and was entrenched as Boston’s starting catcher to begin the year.
But baseball showed its tendency to be hard to predict, and it might have cost Wong his job. The Red Sox acquired Carlos Narváez in a rare trade with the New York Yankees last winter and a fractured left pinky finger in April opened the door for him to take the starting role. Narváez has thrived in that position, hitting .276/.352/.435 with seven homers and 29 RBI over 69 games but Wong has went the other direction since returning in early May.
Wong’s stats look rough as he’s hit .150/.242/.150 over 32 games. But it’s even worse when you consider he’s looking for his first extra-base hit of the season and is hitting .175/.262/.175 since his return on May 2. While the Red Sox acquired Blake Sabol from the San Francisco Giants last offseason, he doesn’t appear to be an option either, hitting .167/.286/.304 with three homers and 17 RBI in 41 games with Triple-A Worcester.
The interesting thing is what happens now. At age 26, Narváez doesn’t appear to be going anywhere. But Wong is just one year removed from his breakout campaign – although that happened at age 28. With teams looking to boost their own depth, it could benefit the Red Sox to deal Wong and add depth elsewhere, and try to find another option for a backup catcher ahead of the trade deadline.
It would be an unorthodox move as the Red Sox could just ride out Wong for the rest of the year, but a Narváez injury would spell disaster if Boston does nothing and could lead Breslow to pull the trigger at the deadline.