The Purple Sox have agreed to minor league offers with catcher Seby Zavala, per the crew’s transaction log at MLB.com. Boston can also be in settlement on a minor league cope with utilityman Nate Eaton, per Jon Morosi of MLB.com. Eaton would earn a $780K base wage if chosen to the 40-man roster. Each gamers will probably be invited to main league spring coaching.
Zavala, a consumer of Headline Sports activities Group, spent the 2024 season within the Mariners group. Seattle acquired him alongside flamethrowing reduction prospect Carlos Vargas within the commerce sending Eugenio Suarez to the D-backs. The hope was that Zavala, a terrific defender behind the plate, may maintain down the backup job to workhorse catcher Cal Raleigh.
Issues didn’t pan out that approach, nonetheless. The 31-year-old Zavala has by no means hit a lot, however final yr’s .154/.214/.282 slash (in a tiny pattern of 43 plate appearances) was too anemic for the M’s to abdomen. Zavala was designated for project three totally different instances however opted to stay with the M’s by way of outright project every time. He grew to become a minor league free agent at season’s finish.
Zavala has appeared in 194 massive league video games. He’s a profession .205/.271/.342 hitter in that point. He’s proven satisfactory energy for his place and in addition displayed some pop within the minors, however Zavala has punched out in a staggering 35.9% of his 557 massive league plate appearances. That lack of contact leaves him with virtually no hope of manufacturing at even a median degree.
Defensively, it’s one other story. Zavala frequently posts elite framing marks and attracts above-average grades for his capacity to dam pitches within the grime, per Statcast. He posted a below-average caught stealing price in 2023 however was inside one proportion level of league-average in each 2024 and 2022. The Purple Sox at present solely have two catchers on the 40-man roster: Connor Wong and Mickey Gasper. Including some skilled depth is a wise endeavor.
Eaton, 28 subsequent month, is a consumer of Gaeta Sports activities Administration. He didn’t play within the massive leagues this previous season however logged 72 video games and 178 plate appearances for the Royals from 2022-23. He batted solely .201/.266/.283 in that point, however the versatile right-handed hitter has a much better observe report within the higher minors. In components of three seasons in Triple-A Omaha, he’s a .261/.320/.455 hitter with 40 homers and 60 steals in 255 video games (1060 plate appearances).
Eaton has performed primarily third base in his skilled profession however has no less than 600 innings at every of the three outfield slots along with one other 350 frames at second base and 60 at shortstop. Statcast credited him with 97th percentile dash velocity in his two massive league seasons, measuring him at a blazing 29.6 ft per second.
Boston’s bench ought to have some spots up for grabs. Utilityman Rob Refsnyder, one other right-handed bat, figures to have one spot locked down, and Gasper does as effectively in the interim, at present profiling because the backup to Wong. Romy Gonzalez, Nick Sogard, Enmanuel Valdez and Vaughn Grissom may all be within the combine for spots as effectively, however all of them have minor league choices remaining. Eaton’s versatility may earn him a glance within the majors with an enormous spring or a robust early displaying with the Sox’ Triple-A affiliate in Worcester.
