Red Sox sign former Cardinals, Rockies to minor league contract

The Boston Red Sox on Tuesday signed veteran backstop Andrew Knizner to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Worcester.

The 31-year-old became available after being released by the Colorado Rockies organization on June 18 when he exercised an opt-out clause in his deal following a productive run with Triple-A Albuquerque.

Knizner arrives with parts of seven major league seasons on his resume, spending most of his career with the St. Louis Cardinals before later appearing for the Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants. Across 323 MLB games and 975 plate appearances, he owns a .211/.281/.316 slash line with 19 home runs and 90 RBIs. His best offensive campaign came with the Cardinals, when he hit .241/.288/.424 with 10 home runs and 31 RBIs in 70 games.

Although his time in the majors with the Giants last season didn’t go smoothly (.221/.299/.299 over 33 games), Knizner has been far more impressive in Triple-A this season. In 33 games with Albuquerque, he recorded a .279/.371/.590 slash line with a .961 OPS, 10 home runs and 22 RBIs over 140 plate appearances. Even after accounting for the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League environment, his offensive production graded 24% above the league average by weighted runs created plus (wRC+).

Defensively, Knizner has shown improvement in recent seasons. While his framing metrics rated below average earlier in his career, Statcast has evaluated him more favorably over the last two years. He has also received positive reviews for his blocking ability, although his career 19.6% caught-stealing rate remains slightly below league average. He has also been highly successful on automated ball-strike (ABS) challenges in the minors.

Boston’s move comes despite already carrying Carlos Narvaez, Connor Wong and Mickey Gasper on its major league roster, while Jason Delay, Matt Thaiss and Nathan Hickey are also with Triple-A Worcester. The Red Sox have not gotten much offense from the catching position this season. Narvaez is batting .197/.270/.283 with two home runs and four RBIs in 44 games after compiling a .241/.306/.419 line with 15 home runs and 50 RBIs during his 2025 rookie campaign. Wong has been more productive offensively, hitting .256/.344/.354 in 31 games, while Gasper has earned increased playing time behind the plate.

The Athletic previously reported that chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has been exploring the trade market for Boston’s catchers, particularly Wong. Though Knizner’s signing does not necessarily indicate an immediate roster move, it strengthens the organization’s catching depth and provides another experienced option should changes be made later in the season.

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