The Red Sox have officially acquired Blue Jays catcher Danny Jansen in a four-player trade, as ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported. In exchange, Boston sent minor league infielders Cutter Coffey and Eddinson Paulino and pitcher Gilberto Batista to Toronto.
To clear room on the 40-man roster for Jansen, the Red Sox designated Triple-A righty Alex Speas for assignment. They’ll need to make another move to add Jansen to the 26-man roster.
Jansen is a right-handed hitter, an area of need for Boston. But he has played no other positions except for catcher and DH during his major league career. And so it’s unclear where he fits with Connor Wong and Reese McGuire already behind the plate for the Red Sox.
Reached via text Saturday night, Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said he’s excited for Jansen to join the Red Sox.
“Danny gives us a right handed bat that should play very well at Fenway,” Breslow said. “He hits the ball really hard and in the air, which is especially advantageous in our ballpark. We liked our catching situation coming into the deadline but saw an opportunity to strengthen that group. We’ll work through how the pieces fit together in the coming days.”
The 29-year-old Jansen has spent his entire career with the Blue Jays who drafted him in the 16th round in 2013. He’s a rental as he is eligible for free agency after the 2024 season. He’s earning $5.2 million this year, leaving the Red Sox on the hook for about $1.75 million the rest of the way. He has four career homers in Boston.
Jansen is batting .212 with a .303 on-base percentage, .369 slugging percentage, .672 OPS, six homers, 13 doubles, 27 runs, 18 RBIs, 25 walks and 42 strikeouts in 61 games (228 plate appearances). He has batted .222 with a .308 on-base percentage, .425 slugging percentage and .733 OPS in 470 major league games over seven seasons.
He has a .244/.373/.293/.665 line in 51 plate appearances against lefties this season. He actually has hit better against righties (.230/.310/.438/.747, 1,137 plate appearances) than lefties (.202/.303/.394/.697, 471 plate appearances) in his career.
Jansen is a strong blocker behind the plate. He’s in the 98th percentile in blocks above average (11). But he’s in only the 38th percentile in framing (-1) and 23rd percentile in pop time (1.99), per Baseball Savant.
Baseball America has Paulino, a 22-year-old infielder, ranked No. 18 in Boston’s system. MassLive ranked him No. 22 in the system entering 2024.
Coffey, who turned 20 on May 21, was a 2022 second round draft pick who Baseball America ranked Boston’s No. 21 prospect entering 2023. But he no longer appears on BA’s Top 30 Red Sox list.
Gilberto Batista, a 19-year-old right-handed pitcher in the Florida Complex League, is a lesser-known prospect who won the organization’s 2023 Latin Program Pitcher of the Year.
The Red Sox already acquired starting pitcher James Paxton from the Dodgers on Friday. Boston is still open to adding another starting pitcher while also pursuing bullpen help and a right-handed bat. The trade deadline is Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Paxton is expected to join the team in Boston on Sunday and make his first start Tuesday. It’s unclear when Jansen will arrive.
