The Boston Red Sox were one of the more active teams in baseball ahead of the trade deadline and could lose a pickup after just a short stint.
Boston was looking to upgrade the backup catcher position and did so by acquiring veteran backstop Danny Jansen in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays. He appeared in 30 games with the Red Sox and didn’t do much offensively but was steady defensively.
He’s a free agent now and it’s unclear if the Red Sox will consider bringing him back, especially with top prospect Kyle Teel knocking on the big league door.
It wouldn’t be shocking to see him end up signing elsewhere. MLB Trade Rumors’ Steve Adams, Anthony Franco, Darragh McDonald, and Tim Dierkes ranked Jansen as the No. 30 free agent this offseason and McDonald predicted he will sign with the Atlanta Braves.
“Danny Jansen: Two years, $20 million,” MLB Trade Rumors posted. “Tim: (Chicago Cubs) / Anthony: (Cleveland Guardians) / Darragh: Braves / Steve: Cubs. Jansen is one of the more difficult players to evaluate right now because his overall track record is quite strong but he’s heading into free agency after the worst three-month stretch of his career. From 2021 to 2023, he hit .237/.317/.487 for a wRC+ of 121.
“His defense was generally considered to be a bit above average. He was limited by injuries to just 228 games in that three-year period but produced 6.1 wins above replacement, in the eyes of FanGraphs.”
The Braves recently turned now veteran catcher Travis d’Arnaud’s option for the 2025 campaign. Could Jansen replace him?
