It flew a bit under the radar when the Boston Red Sox made a trade with the rival New York Yankees for the second straight offseason, this time acquiring catcher Carlos Narvaez in exchange for Boston's No. 13 prospect, Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz. For the Red Sox, this appeared to be a move to get a suitable backup for Connor Wong. Instead, Narvaez has emerged as one of the best catchers in baseball season, even better than the guy the Yankees chose over him, Austin Wells.
Through 49 games, while obviously splitting time with Wong and Blake Sabol as catchers do in modern baseball, Narvaez has been an absolute stud. Defensively, he's been a maven, leading MLB catchers in Defensive Runs Saved with 8 on the year already (Giants catcher Patrick Bailey is second with 6). What's also stood out, though, is that Narvaez has given the Red Sox more at the plate than perhaps expected.
In 127 plate appearances for Narvaez, he's slashing .278/.346/.443 on the year with four home runs and 11 extra-base hits. Beyond that, he also passes the eye test. He's come up with several clutch hits for the Red Sox but, more importantly, has routinely put together what can best be described as professional at-bats. He's making pitchers work in the zone, going deeper into at-bats, and putting the ball in play more often than not.
He's been a revelation for Boston this season and has seemingly usurped Wong as the No. 1 catcher on the roster. That, in itself, is something that the Red Sox and their fans can hold over the Yankees' head at this point. But it's even sweeter that New York gifted their biggest rivals a catcher who's performing better than the guy they chose over Naravaez in Wells.
Red Sox can already Carlos Narvaez trade over rival Yankees' heads
To be fair, Wells has played well for the Yankees this season. However, it's just not been as good as Narvaez. He has a solid .732 OPS this season with eight homers and 17 extra-base hits while also racking up four Defensive Runs Saved behind the dish. Of course, the OPS is nearly 60 points lower than the catcher they sent the Red Sox and the DRS is still trailing Narvaez as well.
It's worth noting that Cruz-Rodriguez, the prospect the Red Sox sent over the Yankees (along with International Bonus Pool money) in the Narvaez trade, has pitched well to a 3.32 ERA in High-A so far this season. At the same time, both Boston and New York came into this season with playoff expectations. Narvaez is helping that cause for the Red Sox right now, while the Yankees are still a ways away from reaping any major-league benefits from the pitching prospect.
Obviously, the Red Sox still trail the Yankees in the AL East standings after a poor start relative to expectations. At the same time, there's still a little less than three-quarters of the season remaining. Boston can still make a push and, based on the early returns, Narvaez, even as a rookie, looks like he'll figure in as a key cog to any move up the standings this team makes.
The optics of that for the Yankees are a bit brutal. It's not like New York handed over a superstar to their rivals, but the Red Sox ultimately were able to turn a weakness into a strength with the move. If that eventually helps lead Boston to overtake their rivals in the division and push them back into the playoffs after a three-year absence, that's not going to be something that Yankees fans can get over quickly.
Red Sox fans, on the other hand, will have just another aspect of any type of run they make to delight in at the expense of their most bitter rival.