Yasmami Grandal Granted Release By Boston Red Sox, Weighing Retirement

Yasmani Grandal has been released by the Boston Red Sox before ever joining the big league roster, WooSox manager Chad Tracy told reporters Tuesday afternoon.

The 36-year-old catcher had been batting .256 with two home runs, 16 RBIs, 13 walks and a .770 OPS through 23 games with Triple-A Worcester this season. Despite that relative success at the plate, Tracy relayed that Grandal is weighing retirement.

“It was his choice,” Tracy said, per the Worcester Telegram & Gazette’s Tommy Cassell. “We talked yesterday … and his response was ‘It’s time to be dad.’”

The Red Sox signed Grandal to a minor league deal back on April 10, just after catcher Connor Wong suffered a fractured finger. Grandal had a chance to opt out of his contract on May 1, at which point Wong had recovered, but he elected to remain in the organization.

If this is indeed the end for Grandal, he managed to string together a solidly productive 13-year career in the majors.

Grandal was a two-time All-Star, earning spots in the Midsummer Classic in 2015 and 2019. He spent three seasons with the San Diego Padres, four with the Los Angeles Dodgers, one with the Milwaukee Brewers, four with the Chicago White Sox and one with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Across 72 games with the Pirates in 2024, Grandal hit .228 with nine home runs, 10 doubles, 27 RBIs, a .704 OPS and 0.6 WAR. From July 5 on, though, Grandal hit .296 with a .982 OPS.

Grandal's most productive campaign this decade came with the White Sox in 2021, when he hit .240 with 23 home runs, 62 RBIs, a .939 OPS and a 3.7 WAR in just 93 games.

For his career, Grandal was a .236 hitter with a .769 OPS, averaging 24 home runs, 73 RBIs and a 2.5 WAR per 162 games. From 2014 to 2021, Grandal ranked second among MLB catchers with 163 home runs, trailing only Salvador Perez.