2:04pm: The teams have announced the moves.
1:48pm: The Red Sox have a deal in place to acquire catcher/outfielder Blake Sabol from the Giants, as first reported by Hunter Noll of Beyond the Monster. Boston will send international bonus pool space back to the Giants. Right-hander Chase Shugart is being designated for assignment in order to open a spot on the Sox’ 40-man roster, Noll adds. San Francisco designated Sabol for assignment last week.
Sabol, 27, was the Giants’ Rule 5 pick out of the Pirates system prior to the 2023 season. He stuck on San Francisco’s roster all year, posting a .235/.301/.394 batting line (91 wRC+) with 13 home runs but an ugly 34% strikeout rate. Sabol’s Rule 5 selection came on the heels of a stout .284/.363/.497 slash between Double-A and Triple-A in 2022. With that big performance and a respectable rookie showing in the big leagues, he looked as though he could have a role on the Giants for several years to come.
That, however, was not to be. Sabol spent nearly the entire 2024 season in Triple-A and struggled considerably. He slashed .246/.340/.388 there — about 15% worse than league-average production. He went 10-for-32 in a tiny cup of big league coffee, bringing his career rate stats to .243/.313/.392 in 382 plate appearances. That wasn’t enough to save his spot on the roster following a regime change in the Giants’ baseball operations staff that has seen former NL MVP Buster Posey take over as the department’s president.
Sabol has caught 458 innings in the majors and played 271 innings of left field. He didn’t grade as a plus defender in either spot, though both positions come with a pretty small sample of playing time. The Giants added a bit of first base to Sabol’s defensive repertoire in 2024. He’s now caught 1843 innings, played 943 innings across all three outfield spots and played 172 innings at first base since being selected by Pittsburgh in the seventh round of the 2019 draft. Sabol has a pair of minor league option years and five seasons of club control remaining.
With the Red Sox, Sabol will compete with Carlos Narvaez — and any additional catching depth brought in by the Sox — to see who’ll serve as the backup to starting catcher Connor Wong in 2025.
For the Giants, adding some extra pool space is notable. San Francisco punted on a combined $1MM of pool space last offseason when they signed Matt Chapman and Blake Snell after they rejected qualifying offers. That left them tied with the archrival Dodgers for the smallest international bonus pool in the game, at $5.146MM. Between this swap and the trade of righty Will Kempner to the Marlins, they’ve added to that pool by at least $500K, as international allotments must be traded in increments of $250K. The Giants spent $3MM — more than 58% of their initial pool — on top international signing Josuar de Jesus Gonzalez earlier today, so the extra dollars will help to offset some of that weighty bonus.
Turning to the 28-year-old Shugart, he made his big league debut with the Sox this past season, yielding four runs on eight hits and three walks with eight strikeouts in 8 1/3 innings of relief. He spent the bulk of the 2024 season in Triple-A Worcester, where he logged a 4.46 earned run average, 25.6% strikeout rate and 10.2% walk rate in 70 2/3 innings, mostly out of the bullpen.
Shugart was originally selected by the Red Sox in the 12th round of the 2018 draft. He generally posted solid numbers up through the Double-A level before struggling mightily in his first two seasons of Triple-A ball in 2022-23. This past year was the first in which he’s posted solid numbers at the top minor league level. During his brief big league look, he showed a five-pitch mix — four-seamer, cutter, sinker, slider, changeup — and sat 96.1 mph with his heater. He didn’t induce many swings and misses in the big leagues but turned in a solid 11.7% swinging-strike rate in Worcester.
The Red Sox will have five days to trade Shugart. If not traded by then, he’ll need to be placed on waivers, which is a 48-hour process itself. If he goes unclaimed on waivers, the Red Sox can retain him as non-roster depth in Triple-A and invite him to big league camp this spring. Within the next week, he’ll have some form of resolution on his current DFA status.
Wrong Blake S.
Please don’t bring up Swihart. He should’ve been an all-star but the team botched his development
Snark – Exactly, and Swihart severely injured ERod because Cora had Swihart playing at first base.
Not everyone can play first base, hopefully someday Cora will realize that.
Fever, not only Cora but ownership as well. If Devers could actually play a decent first, it would have been reported. They have to have privately already worked with him. The money is spent and he needs to be a DH for the benefit of the team. Such assumes someone, most likely Yoshida is dealt absent a quick injury. Yaz and Rice did a lot of DHing in addition to left and with Yaz, 1B. Devers can become if he adjusts an even bigger monster at the plate once he accepts the change.
dewey – You could be correct, but hiding numerous workouts at first base would be no easy task. I would think he would need game situations to work on a position change.
John Farrell didn’t like Swihart and used him improperly.
let – I don’t know the situation between the two, but Swihart was not a likeable guy.
If Breslow has a 40 man spot he can open up I’m pretty sure Arias would be on his radar for some cash. Pretty sure he was involved in turning him into a P from an IF. Gonna be interested to see where Arias ends up since Hoyer hasn’t got a clue.
Uncle – Red Sox already have one HOF’er named Arias, we wouldn’t mind if they acquire another!
Kid has Closer stuff he just hasn’t been pitching as long as other guys the Cubs had. He could easily be Jeremiah Estrada 2.0. There were at least 5 guys the Cubs could have dumped instead of this kid.
The last thing the Red Sox need on their roster is a country singer.
With Snell now a Dodger, Giants are no longer running a half-Blaked roster.
Sabol c
Casas 1b
Hamilton 2b
Mayer ss
Devers 3b
Durran lf
Anthony cf
Abreu rf
Yoshida dh
Come July they could have a lineup with all lefties.
Serious question. Has that ever happened in baseball before?
Yes. The Rays did it in 2020.
Interestingly, it was against the Red Sox
stephen – Nothing in 2020 counts.
Interesting. That has to be 2025 bonus pool money. Wonder whom SF has a line on that costs more than they have on hand? If I recall, they have one of the top guys in this year’s class soft-committed to them. I wonder if that kid has shopped around for a better offer and demanded the Giants match it.
Could be someone jilted by whichever team ends up signing Sasaki
Doesn’t have to mean anything. International cash is more valuable than Sabol. If a team is stupid enough to give it to you take it. If you don’t have someone you hve plenty of time to find them. LA guys are signing elsewhere so might not be much of a wait. If he somehow signs with another team even more guys available. No better time to get signing cash on the freaking 1st day of signing period! Giants front office is happy today.
I would suggest nobody, but they might be planning to scoop up “stragglers”
Somewhere in between Meow and Gwynning. Giants might try to get whoever Dodgers or Padres jilt to sign Sasaki.
Sabol is an interesting get to pair with Connor Wong, keeps the LH/RH thing they had with McGuire. I kind of hope he’s not the only other Catcher they bring in (Narvaez) to compete for the backup job but i can see that being the case
I’m glad that they’re addressing the issue, but man is it a steep drop off from Kyle Teel to Varvarz and Sabol.
Sabol’s 0-for-11 in gunning down base stealers doesn’t give you confidence?
Rsox – At least Sabol has shown the ability to hit.
I’m fine with the trade, but it still doesn’t change the fact that the Red Sox have the 2nd-biggest hole in MLB with just 1.2 WAR projected for their catcher position.
And I called Shugart’s DFA a long time ago, no surprise there.
Narvaez isn’t available.
My mistake. Thought you meant Omar.
I have 20 bucks says Cora has him playing 2B by June
DBH – I agree, unless Cora overrules Breslow by signing Bregman.
Narvaez looks like he can hit. I wouldn’t be surprised if he turns out just as good or better than Teel.
Just for context: The Sox spent $5 million on 16 players yesterday on the first day of the new int’l signing period, leaving a bit over $1 milliion for the rest of the year, minus whatever they are now sending to SF.
Baseball America lists the Red Sox among the top 5 most intriguing IFA classes.
Craig Breslow continues to maximize his roster by trading players instead of giving a DFA and loosing current 40-man player for nothing. Shugart was the last man on the 40 who would need to be removed in order to sign a free agent or acquire someone for the MLB Red Sox (the next player would be Sogard). It is also unsurprising that the player acquired 1) has options (can be sent to AAA without passing through waivers) or is on a minor league contract, 2) is a catcher as after Kyle Teel was traded left the organization with very little catching depth. It is definitely a good move rather than loose Shugart for no return!
Shugart was DFA’d by the red sox in this transaction. He wasn’t traded to San Fran and as of yet hasn’t been traded at all.
He has seven days for a trade before he needs to clear waivers. At this point i would be shocked if Sogard is not included in a trade by then.
he might be but you’re jumping the guy saying that they didn’t loose shugart for no return. It hasn’t happened yet.
Carlos Narvaez has been suggested by many as the backup catcher for the Red Sox in 2025 because of superior defense, but Sabol may be looked as competition for that spot on the roster. Whichever of the two loose the competition will be the main catch in Worcester and the first called up in case of injury.
you said that the Sox didn’t loose Shugart for no return. So far the sox haven’t gotten anything back for Shugart. That was my point
Acell10 – Breslow has traded all his ‘DFA’ players this winter….
Cam Booser
Mickey Gasper
Enmanual Valdez
Breslow has a perfect record so far…
we’re arguing semantics at this point. I hope he makes it 4/4
“Scouting report from last year’s Eric Logenhagen SFG top prospects list, where he ranked 15th:
Once a pretty famous high school prospect, Sabol went to USC, where he moved out from behind the plate and to the outfield (including spending a little bit of time in center) after his freshman year. He slashed .268/.333/.375 in college, not great for what had become a corner outfield prospect. Over time, the Pirates moved him back behind the plate, increasing his reps until he was mostly catching (while playing some left field) in 2022. Sabol has raked through the minors, but as an old-for-the-level regular, culminating in a huge 2022: .284/.363/.497 with 51 extra-base hits as a 24-year old at Double- and Triple-A. After a fair Fall League stint, the Pirates decided not to roster Sabol and exposed him to the Rule 5 Draft, which is how (after a trade with the Reds) he ended up with San Francisco, a club often intrigued by guys who can catch and do other stuff.
Sabol’s arm strength is okay, but it takes him so long to get out of his crouch that his pop times often play in the 2.05-2.15 range, which is not good. Among the many changes the Giants made to his approach back there is that he’s more likely to cut it loose from his knees, Erik Kratz style, as a way of avoiding how long it takes to get his huge frame up out of his crouch. Sabol used to be a stiff, one-knee’d receiver, but the Giants have him moving around much more, sometimes starting in a traditional crouch before going to a knee as the ball is in flight (or about to be). It’s a better look than what he was doing with Pittsburgh, but we just won’t know exactly how well Sabol can throw until he gets more reps with his new style. In his big league innings so far, his back-picks to first and his throws on attempted steals of third have been from his knees, whereas he’s gone back to popping out of his crouch on throws to second. The results haven’t been favorable, with the long pop-times to second resulting in a lot of successfully stolen bases. It’s important for Sabol to catch part-time because he likely doesn’t have the hit tool to profile as a corner outfielder. He has thus far performed around league average, albeit with a high strikeout rate, while splitting his time between catching and playing left field. He’s a super cool role player, a backup catcher plus a little more.”
blogs.fangraphs.com/san-francisco-giants-top-49-prospects-2023/
Decent pickup as a backup catcher who can play some outfield.
No superstar, but should give a good battle to Carlos Narvaez for the second roster spot. Not sure either of those two have any options left.
Imiss – According to SoxProspects both Narvaez and Sabol each have two options remaining.
Fun fact! Blake Sabol is the only major leaguer who’s name contains all the letters necessary to spell ‘baseball.’ (as of last season)
with an “OK’ left over. Not bad!
long – Where is the “i” in “beisbol” though? Plus he really needs a 2nd “b”.
I still like Jose Offerman’s anagram the best! All his letters are used.
“Major offense”. Haha. Was true sometimes.
Zen – Offerman was the “High OBP Guy” long before Moneyball ….. Duquette was a revolutionary!
In letting first Manea and now Sabol move on, we let an all-Samoan battery slip right through our fingers.
Makes sense now: Giants sigh Sam Huff as their #3 catcher which left out Sabol. Now they got additional bonus pool money for a player they didn’t need, Then signed #2 international prospect for over half their pool money, then today traded a pitcher who was not in their plans for more bonus pool money. Great moves.
I like the way you think, slogar.
Sabol is a handy guy to have around. Bailey might even think he is ok as a catcher. Good luck to all concerned.
Look at BTM with the scoop. Good for them.
This guy is not a catcher. They can/will run on him at will. Stupid move.
A for Giants
F for Sox. Can’t trade international cash. Especially now. Find a prospect.