The Red Sox offseason roster shuffle is already underway.
Less than a week after the end of their regular season, the Red Sox Wednesday claimed catcher Caleb Hamilton on waivers from the Minnesota Twins. To make room for Hamilton on the 40-man roster, the Sox designated outfielder Abraham Almonte.
The moves came up on the MLB Transaction Log.
Hamilton, 27, was a 23rd-round pick of the Twins in 2016. While playing at Triple-A St. Paul this season, Hamilton slashed .233/.367/.442 for an 808 OPS. He had 11 homers and 43 RBI in 62 games.
Called up to the parent club, Hamilton got in 22 games and was 1-for-18 with one RBI.
At the team's season-ending press conference, Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, asked about his end-of-season catching duo of Reese McGuire and Connor Wong, noted that the team wanted to add to the catching position in the offseason.
At the very least, Hamilton provides another option and some additional competition for McGuire and Bloom. The team also has Ronaldo Hernandez on the current 40-man roster.
Almonte was acquired in a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers in early August when the team's organizational outfield depth ran dangerously low. He was promoted to the big league club in September and appeared in 15 games, slashing .257/.297/.400 with a homer and two RBI.
He would have been eligible for salary arbitration had he remained with the Red Sox.