The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox don’t make trades. At least not many.
Following the turn of the century all the way up to 2020, the two teams made just a single deal: swapping infielders Kelly Johnson and Stephen Drew in a one-for-one move at the 2014 trade deadline. It was the first trade between the two rivals in over 15 years.
The last trade before that took place in 1997. Brian Cashman was named general manager in 1998, meaning it was Cashman who waited those 15-plus years before authorizing his first deal with the Red Sox.
That changed in 2021. Needing to shed salary, the Yankees dumped reliever Adam Ottavino to the Red Sox along with prospect Frank German for cash considerations. Two years later, the Yankees made a minor but still notable move early in the 2023 season to reacquire outfielder Greg Allen, who was on a minor league deal with Boston, for prospect Diego Hernández.
The biggest swap yet came prior to 2024, when Boston shipped former fan favorite Alex Verdugo to the Bronx in exchange for reliever Greg Weissert and pitching prospects Richard Fitts and Nicholas Judice.
Verdugo struggled at the plate in his one season in pinstripes but was a defensive juggernaut in left during the Yankees’ World Series run. Weissert developed into a key member of the Red Sox bullpen, while Fitts debuted before being part of the Cardinals’ return in the Sonny Gray deal earlier this offseason.
While that was the first trade with lasting impact on the franchises since arguably the Sparky Lyle trade in 1972, it may end up residing in the shadow of the most recent deal between New York and Boston.
On Dec. 11, 2024, the Red Sox acquired Carlos Narváez from the Yankees in exchange for Elmer Rodríguez and international signing bonus pool money.
For the Red Sox, the need for a catcher was blatant. Connor Wong received the bulk of the playing time in 2024 for the second straight season. The then 28-year-old, the final direct piece of the Red Sox return in the 2020 Mookie Betts trade, showed offensive improvement. He lifted his batting average up 45 points and hit a career-high 13 home runs.
Still, Wong’s defense regressed from 1.9 dWAR in 2023 all the way to –0.5 in 2024 and hit about 50 points lower against right handers than he did lefties. His backup, Danny Jansen, was largely a non-factor after arriving from the Toronto Blue Jays at the trade deadline and hit free agency at season’s end.
Narváez made his debut in 2024, receiving a six-game cup of coffee due to injuries at the major league level.
Narváez, who had been with the Yankees since signing as an international free agent in 2015, had just 15 major league plate appearances to his name at the time of the trade but had a long track record of minor league success.
Across 497 career minor league games over eight seasons, Narváez batted an even .250 with an OPS of .746. However, his main calling card was his major-league-ready defense. Widely regarded as an above average framer, he represented a higher-ceiling defensive alternative to Wong.
The Yankees were trading from an organizational strength. Former first-rounder Austin Wells had just posted a 2.5 WAR in his full season in the big leagues with Ben Rice also making his debut. Upper-level prospects Rafael Flores, Jesús Rodríguez and J.C. Escarra were also waiting in the wings.
Defensive specialist Jose Trevino was still on the roster at the time, though he was traded just over a week later to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for reliever Fernando Cruz (Rodríguez’s current Team Puerto Rico teammate in the World Baseball Classic).
At the time, Cashman told Yankees reporters, including Bryan Hoch of MLB.com, that teams were inquiring about that log jam.
“Our development system has produced a lot of catching,” Cashman said. “We’ve had a lot of people hit us on our catching. It doesn’t mean we’ll do anything or not, but it’s nice. We’re definitely having people ask us about it.”
In Rodríguez, the Yankees were acquiring a 2021 fourth rounder who had eclipsed 20 appearances and 80 innings for the first time in his career in 2024. The right hander reached High-A for the first time that year, making seven starts to a 3.77 ERA.
A season later, the long-term consequences of the trade are still not yet known, but the results look promising for both teams.
Narváez claimed the everyday catcher spot for Boston thanks to both an exceedingly poor season from Wong and an impressive first half at the plate for himself.
In his rookie season, Narváez hit .241 with 42 extra base hits. He was at his best prior to the All-Star weekend, slashing .273/.347/.439 prior to the break and .187/.233/.387 following. He was also worth 1.7 dWAR on the year.
Rodríguez transformed into a top 100 prospect, working to a 2.58 ERA over three levels 150 innings, making it all the way to Triple-A. The now 22-year-old came in at No. 82 on MLB Pipeline’s preseason top 100 prospect list.
The pair almost got the chance to face each other on the field for the first time last week, as the Red Sox and Team Puerto Rico played an exhibition game in preparation for the tournament. Rodríguez got the start, while Narváez was slated to start at DH. While Narváez got scratched due to a back spasm, according to Tim Healy of the Boston Globe, both teams will be hoping for the sake of their own player that they will have plenty more chances to face each other.
Rodríguez may be hoping for that himself.
“Yeah, it would have been fun,” Rodríguez said to Mac Cerullo of the Boston Herald. “You don’t see that often, we play against each other like that, and it will probably be my first time facing him, but we’ll probably face each other in the long end.”