With the winter meetings coming to an end, the Yankees made some minor deals. Today they teamed up again with Jonathan Loáisiga and just announced another deal: They’re sending catcher Carlos Narváez to the Red Sox in exchange for minor league pitcher Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz and international bonus money.

Narváez was on the 40-man roster and ranked third on the team’s catching depth chart last season. He performed well at Triple-A Scranton, posting a .782 OPS in 96 games and got a brief cup of coffee in the summer when Jose Trevino went on the injured list with three singles and went 3-of-13.

In return, the Yankees received Rodriguez-Cruz, a 21-year-old right-hander who spent the 2024 season with Boston’s A-Ball affiliate. As a starter, he posted a 2.91 ERA with a 10.2 K/9 and a 4.3 BB/9 in 89.2 innings. He was ranked No. 13 in the Red Sox’ farm system, with MLB Pipeline describing Rodriguez-Cruz as having a solid arsenal:

Rodriguez-Cruz drove at speeds of 94-96 mph and reached a top speed of 98 mph in April of this year while doing some arm side running and keeping his heater on. His slider has also gained some speed… He also uses an upper-70s curveball, which he locates well, and has developed an upper-80s splitter, which he uses for variety.

The Yankees also received an undisclosed amount of IFA money, which could theoretically be useful if they draft NPB phenom Roki Sasaki. It appears to be a decent return for Narváez, who worked his way up the minor league ranks over an eight-year period but has become redundant on the team’s 40-man roster, which also includes Austin Wells, Trevino and JC Escarra filling the roster. The latter’s promotion to Triple-A, where he posted a .930 OPS in 51 games last year, likely made Narvaez expendable.

That could be the end of the Yankees’ business at these winter meetings, although we’ll of course keep you posted if anything changes. It’s been a busy week with a few explosions and now a few smaller moves to ponder.