With latest trade, Red Sox continue amassing minor league catching depth

If there s one position the Red Sox have been perilously thin over the past year it s at catcher Outside of Carlos Narvaez and Connor Wong the club really hasn t had anyone else waiting in the wings But since the offseason began that has slowly begun to change Over the past month the Red Sox have swung three trades that brought minor league catchers into the organization Related Articles Cerullo Negro Leagues museum a must see for baseball fans Red Sox business Password to Pirates for RHP Johan Oviedo Boston skyline s iconic CITGO sign will soon be moved and rebuilt New Red Sox pitcher explains why he wouldn t mind allowing a limited more walks Top Japanese free agents for Red Sox fans to keep an eye on The first addition was Ronny Hernandez who came over from the White Sox in exchange for left-hander Chris Murphy The second was Luke Heyman who arrived from the Mariners in exchange for right-hander Alex Hoppe The last was Adonys Guzman who was one of three players acquired from the Pirates Thursday night in the Jhostynxon Garcia deal None of those three are ready to step into a big league role but collectively they ll provide a massive boost to the organization s catcher depth Guzman was a fifth-round pick in this past summer s draft selected at a similar point that the Red Sox landed left-hander Connelly Early back in The -year-old only appeared in one meeting as a professional after being drafted but this past spring he turned in a terrific season at the University of Arizona batting with a OPS in games According to Baseball America Guzman s best asset is his defense with the outlet describing him as possessing plus arm strength and impressive body control along with the ability to control the running championship well Heyman was also drafted this past summer as a th round selection out of Florida The -foot- pound backstop was projected to go much earlier and possesses plus power having hit home runs with a OPS in games in his final season at Florida Those two effectively add two draft picks to the club s haul after the Red Sox surprisingly did not select a catcher instead focusing on pitchers Hernandez was an international free agent signing out of Venezuela who has spent the past two seasons at the White Sox s Low-A affiliate He s shown virtually no power but has solid contact skills and drew more walks than strikeouts during the season Like Heyman and Guzman Hernandez has a lot of evolution ahead of him and likely won t be ready to impact the big league club for at least a couple of years But their arrivals will help shore up a long-term organizational weakness and over time they could provide additional internal options that the club may not have had before