C Connor Wong
Age on Opening Day: 29
2023 Salary: $720,000
2024 Salary: $760,000
2025 Salary: $790,000
2026 Salary (Projected): $1,600,000
Background
Connor Wong is the lone piece leftover from the Mookie Betts trade. After a breakout 2024 season, Wong was seen as the potential catcher of the future for the Red Sox. He made his debut with the club in 2021 and took over the full-time catching role in 2023, the first full season after veteran catcher Christian Vazquez was traded to the Astros. He slugged 13 home runs in 2024 and there was a lot of hope entering the 2025 season that another uptick in power was coming. Unfortunately, that didn’t come to pass for the immediately-veteran backstop.
2025 Season
The 2025 season was one to forget for Connor Wong. He fractured his hand on a catcher interference call early in the season and then subsequently lost his starting job to rookie phenom Carlos Narvaez. Once Wong returned to the roster as a backup and Brayan Bello’s personal catcher, he struggled mightily on offense. For the season, Wong slashed .190/.262/.238 with only eight extra-base hits. He posted a 39 wRC+ to go along with an abysmal -0.7 WAR. Defensively, Wong showed promise behind the dish to kick off the season. His framing was better thanks to a new stance he worked on during the offseason and his defensive metrics all saw improvement. Then, as the season began to wane, so did Wong’s defensive metrics. His once all-red defensive Baseball Savant page turned an icy blue to close the season.
Organizational Catching Depth
MLB: Carlos Narvaez, Connor Wong
AAA: Nathan Hickey, Enderso Lira, Chadwick Tromp, Seby Zavala, Jason Delay
Summary:
The glaring issue with the catching position for the Red Sox is that, behind Narvaez, the depth is paper thin. Wong makes the most sense out of all the names currently on the roster, including recently-signed free agent Jason Delay. He knows the pitching staff and the hope throughout the organization has to be that 2025 was an anomaly in his career and not the start of a dramatic downturn. Wong getting a start every five days isn’t the worst scenario for the Red Sox, but he was pretty much a guaranteed out every time he stepped up to the plate at the bottom of the order. The fact that he didn’t catch Bello’s lone playoff appearance is more telling than not; he doesn’t have the trust of the coaching staff.
Why the Red Sox Should Offer Him a Contract:
Positional depth, that’s it. Connor Wong will likely never be the catcher many had once hoped he was, but he makes for a passable backup to Narvaez. He will be budget-friendly since he’s in his first year of arbitration—just $1.6 million according to MLB Trade Rumors. There’s still untapped potential in his bat, and if his defensive metrics improve and sustain throughout an entire season, then he’s worth the minimal salary he will possibly receive.
Why the Red Sox Should Not Offer Him a Contract
Just take a look at those numbers from the 2025 season above. In short, Wong stunk all season. He anthem at the bottom of the lineup and, somehow, seemed to regularly find his way to the plate in meaningful situations where he would either strikeout or ground into a rally-killing double play. There’s bound to be better catchers on the open market who would come at similar prices to Wong’s projected arbitration salary. If the Red Sox are actually in ‘win-immediately’ mode, trotting Wong out every five days puts them in a position to play from behind when he’s on the field.
Projection
I’m not totally convinced the Red Sox will even get to arbitration with Connor Wong this offseason. While $1.6 million isn’t a ton of money in Major League Baseball, it could be better served to be spent elsewhere on the roster. I think there’s at least some likelihood that Connor Wong will be non-tendered and will seek employment with another organization for 2026 and beyond. He’s not far removed from his breakout performance in 2024, but his 2025 campaign was so terrible that the team appears to have lost almost all faith in him. Simply put, Wong doesn’t have much benefit to this organization, especially as they eye another playoff run in 2026.
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