The Boston Red Sox took their fair share of criticism over their relatively inert trade deadline performance, coming away with nothing more than a lefty middle-reliever in 11-year veteran Steven Matz, and a No. 5 starter in former Los Angeles Dodgers often-injured righty Dustin May.
When the Red Sox came out of the deadline winning five games in a row before finally dropping a decision to the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday, it went a long way toward blunting those attacks.
Nonetheless, the Red Sox had several serious roster holes they failed to fill on July 31. But they finally filled one — at least they hope they did — on Friday when they took a step to address their backup catcher problem.
Actually, with rookie starter Carlos Narvaez suffering what appeared to be a strained knee in Tuesday’s game against the Royals, the Boston catcher position from top to bottom suddenly looks shaky. That’s why, on Friday, the Red Sox claimed 28-year-old Toronto Blue Jays backstop Ali Sanchez off the waiver wire.
Once the annual trade deadline has passed, the waiver wire is the primary way teams can still acquire new players. The Jays designated Sanchez for assignment on Tuesday. The move allowed Sanchez to go through waivers, where the Red Sox put in their claim on him.
That means that the native of Carora, Venezuela, will now join his fifth big league club since he debuted in 2020, when he joins the Red Sox for the start of a six-game road trip in San Diego Friday.
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The Red Sox did not announce any corresponding roster moves. At least as of Friday afternoon, they had not placed Narvaez on the injured list. According to MassLive Red Sox beat writer Chris Cotillo, “there are a few ways the Sox can get Sanchez onto the roster.”
What those ways are was not clear just a few hours before Friday’s game against the Padres, where Sanchez was expected to join the team, which apparently will carry three catchers — at least for the moment.
Red Sox have claimed catcher Ali Sanchez off waivers from the Blue Jays. Plan is for him to join the big league team, per @ChrisCotillo..279/.347/.419/.766 line in 199 PA at AAA. Thrown out 22 runners behind the plate.Narvaez injury makes you worry…pic.twitter.com/UhSHDZalGu
— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) August 8, 2025
While Narvaez is nursing his knee injury, backup Connor Wong has been a disaster at the plate. The 29-year-old has only 17 hits in 119 plate appearances this season, with a disturbing slash line of .160/.235/.179.
Sanchez has appeared in just 46 MLB games since 2020, with the New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals and Miami Marlins before spending 2025 in the Blue Jays organization before the DFA.
His career OPS of .461 appears to put him on about the same level as Wong.
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