Red Sox sign former top catching prospect

The Red Sox signed catcher Jorge Alfaro to a major league deal, tweets Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. He’s already in the clubhouse and will be active for Thursday’s game. MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo adds that Caleb Hamilton has been designated for assignment in a corresponding move.

Alfaro, 30, began the season in the Red Sox organization on a minor league deal and raked with the Triple-A club in Worcester, batting .320/.367/.520 but never receiving a call to the majors before exercising an opt-out in his deal. He became a free agent and signed another minor league deal with the Rockies, who selected him to the major league roster after just three Triple-A games.

Things didn’t go particularly well for Alfaro in Colorado. The veteran backstop appeared in 10 games, tallied 32 plate appearances and batted just .161/.188/.387 before being designated for assignment. The Rockies passed him through outright waivers, but as a player with five-plus years of service, Alfaro had the ability to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency. The Rockies never publicly confirmed that outcome, but Thursday’s news makes clear that’s precisely the route Alfaro took. He’ll now head straight to the Red Sox big league roster, supplanting Hamilton and pairing with Connor Wong behind the dish.

Formerly one of the top catching prospects in the sport, Alfaro has appeared in parts of eight seasons but hasn’t seen his on-field production line up with the fanfare he received prior to his debut. In 1,690 plate appearances as a big leaguer, he’s a .254/.302/.396 hitter. Defensively, he’s never been regarded as a premier defender, which led the Marlins to try him in left field for a bit back in 2021. He’s primarily been a catcher and designated hitter in the minors this year, though the Sox did give him a pair of starts at first base as well.

Hamilton, 28, appeared in four games with the Sox but went hitless in six plate appearances. He was hitting .180/.285/.310 in 116 Triple-A plate appearances prior to his promotion to the big leagues and is a lifetime .206/.316/.377 hitter in parts of four seasons at that level. The Red Sox will have a week to trade Hamilton, pass him through outright waivers, or release him.