The Red Sox have acquired catcher Reese McGuire and a player to be named later or cash considerations from the White Sox in exchange for left-hander Jake Diekman, the club announced Monday evening.
On the eve of the trade deadline, the Sox have parted ways with one of their highest-paid relievers in order to bolster their catching depth in the wake of reportedly trading Christian Vazquez to the Astros.
Diekman, 35, was just four-plus months into his Red Sox tenure after signing a two-year, $8 million deal with Boston that also included a $4 million team option for 2024 back in March.
In 44 relief appearances for the Sox, Diekman posted a 4.23 ERA and 4.97 FIP with 50 strikeouts to an unsettling 30 walks over 38 1/3 innings of work. The native Nebraskan proved effective when he had command of the strike zone, but that often was not the case.
According to MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith, the White Sox will pay the remainder of Diekman’s salary through 2023. So the Red Sox will be off the hook for $4 million in terms of average annual value next season.
McGuire, meanwhile, is a former first-round draft pick of the Pirates who broke in with the Blue Jays in 2018 and spent the first four seasons of his major-league career in Toronto. He was dealt to the White Sox in exchange for fellow backstop Zack Collins back in April.
On the south side of Chicago, the left-handed hitting 27-year-old batted .225/.261/.285 with nine doubles, 10 RBIs, 12 runs scored, six walks, and 33 strikeouts over 53 games (166 plate appearances). He also threw out 11 of a possible 36 base stealers while splitting time behind the plate with Yasmani Grandal and Seby Zavala.
A Seattle-area native, McGuire is earning $722,400 this season and is slated to become eligible for arbitration for the first time next year. He is therefore under club control through the end of the 2025 campaign.
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