Sandy Leon is officially the odd man out among Boston Red Sox catchers, but the veteran backstop is staying in the organization — for now.
The Red Sox intended to trade a catcher this offseason, but a move never came to fruition. With Opening Day looming, Boston had to make a move, opting to put Leon on waivers. He went unclaimed, and now Leon is accepting the assignment to Triple-A Pawtucket, the team announced Tuesday.
While Leon certainly would prefer to play at the big league level, accepting the assignment allows him to make his nearly $2.5 million salary in full this season.
Leon lost the catcher competition to Blake Swihart and Christian Vazquez, who are expected to break camp as the club’s two catchers. Leon was far too ineffective at the plate last season, and his .177 batting average to go along with a .511 OPS weren’t enough to justify his lauded game-calling ability. He produced at a slightly higher level this spring, hitting .233 with a home run in 16 spring training games, but the Red Sox clearly felt more comfortable with the risk of losing Leon than Vazquez or Swihart, who are both out of minor league options.
