Last year on Opening Day the Boston Red Sox were thin at the catcher position. It's a completely different story this year now that the club has Blake Swihart, Christian Vazquez, Ryan Hanigan and Sandy Leon as options heading into the 2016 season.
It's unknown if the Red Sox are receiving trade inquiries being that a number of MLB teams aren't nearly as satisfied with their catching depth, but that wouldn't be unreasonable to assume, especially since Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski is an aggressive and open-minded front office executive.
If it so happens he's taking calls, here are three MLB teams that might have interest in acquiring one of Boston's backstops.
Houston Astros
The Astros recently lost backup catcher Max Stassi to wrist surgery and he'll miss six weeks of action. Additionally, although it hasn't been his primary position in a while, Evan Gattis is recovering from sports hernia surgery and he's only taken minor-league at-bats up until this point in spring training. Luhnow said Gattis would get some work at catcher to see if he was a viable option behind Jason Castro, but he has yet to log a game in big league camp (and the last time he played catcher was 2014).
As a result, the Astros may not be ready to head into 2016 without a backup catcher. Depending on their reliance on Stassi as their future catcher, the Astros might be interested in Hanigan, Leon or Vazquez. Hanigan and Leon would provide an immediate backup option and can serve that role beyond 2016 (Castro will hit free agency after the season), or they could acquire Vazquez and have him split time with Castro and then take over the starting job in 2017 (if they don't view Stassi as their long-term option).
Texas Rangers
General manager Jon Daniels said this weekend that he's "not going to change for change's sake" regarding the catcher position. However, it's clear the team's catching situation with Robinson Chirinos as the starter is not preferred, especially since the Rangers were said to be inquiring about the Padres' Derek Norris and the Brewers' Jonathan Lucroy recently.
The asking prices on those two (as well as their salaries) are probably higher than Daniels would prefer, so Boston could be a potential fitting trade partner. Vazquez would be a good target for Texas because he's under club control and the the Rangers might be able to get him for cheaper than previously expected since he's coming off Tommy John surgery and has played only 55 career MLB games. Still, he profiles as a good defensive backstop although his bat needs some improvement.
Pittsburgh Pirates
No, this isn't something the Pirates need to address immediately, but Francisco Cervelli is more than likely to hit free agency after 2016 and he said the team has yet to open contract extension talks with him. If that's the case, the Buccos needs to figure out who will be their main backstop in 2017 unless they'reg going to work out a deal with Cervelli during the season.
This gives them limited options when trading with Boston because Swihart is more than likely untouchable while Hanigan and Leon are backup options that won't be suitable after this season.
But why not trade for Vazquez? Have him play under Cervelli's tutelage for 2016 and then put him at the post to start 2017. Vazquez has been away from the game for quite a while. Cervelli provides good veteran experience and is a good hitting catcher, so those aspects could help the youngster immensely.
