It was one of the better and more subtle transactions the Red Sox pulled off last season, when the team was uncertain about its catching spot in the immediate and in the long-term. They traded away star prospect Kyle Teel to the White Sox as a centerpiece of the Garrett Crochet package and were in need of a young, win-now option.
So Boston flipped talented pitcher Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz to the Yankees for catcher Carlos Narvaez, a deal that should work out for both teams. Rodriguez-Cruz is just 22 but cruised through the Yankees‘ system this season, and was 12-8 with a 2.58 ERA this year at all three minor-league levels combined.
Narvaez, meanwhile, is shaping up to be Boston’s long-term backstop. Not only did he lead the American League in catching runners stealing, with 32 on the season, but he was tops in the league in defensive WAR (1.9) and hit .241 with 15 homers and a .726 OPS at the plate. And he’s only 26.
Red Sox Announce Knee Surgery This Week
Narvaez, though, did all that while battling a persistent knee problem. On Monday, in the Red Sox’s postseason presser with baseball ops chief Craig Breslow, the team announced that Narvaez would be undergoing surgery on his meniscus.
“Narvy is gonna have his meniscus cleaned up this week,” Breslow said. “Other than that, guys are good heading into the offseason.”
The expectation, Breslow said, is that Narvaez will be ready for spring training. He has played winter ball in Venezuela for the past two years, and it’s not clear whether he will do that this season.
“The exact timeline, I am not sure about,” Breslow said.
Carlos Narvaez Struggled After July
He did, though, praise Narvaez for trying to fight through his injury over the course of the season. Narvaez caught a lot more innings than he had done in his career, so there was concern about general fatigue with him this season.
But the injury made things worse, and he sat out some games in August to help the knee, though he did not hit the IR. Narvaez was hitting .265 on July 26, but batted .188 in 39 games after that.
“There were times during the season when it flared up, one of them pretty obviously to where he missed a little bit of time,” Breslow said. “He deserves a ton of credit for his willingness to play through this, potentially even at a time when others would have maybe bowed out. Because he felt that attached to helping this.
“But this should be a pretty straightforward procedure, we don’t anticipate any issues.”
Red Sox Announce Key Rookie Will Have Surgery