caleb hamilton – Blogging the Red Sox

Red Sox outright Caleb Hamilton to Triple-A Worcester after catcher clears waivers

Red Sox catcher Caleb Hamilton has cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A Worcester, according to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo.

Hamilton and reliever Jake Reed were both designated for assignment on Tuesday so that the Red Sox could create space on their 40-man roster for the additions of Chris Murphy, Brandon Walter, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu, and David Hamilton. Those five prospects needed to be added in order to receive protection from next month’s Rule 5 Draft.

While Reed was claimed by the Dodgers on Friday, Hamilton cleared waivers and was sent outright to Worcester. The 27-year-old backstop did not have the ability to refuse the assignment since he only made his major-league debut for the Twins this past July.

Minnesota originally selected Hamilton in the 23rd-round of the 2016 amateur draft out of Oregon State University. The Washington state native spent parts of seven seasons in the minor-leagues before finally breaking in with the Twins over the summer.

In 22 games with Minnesota, the right-handed hitting Hamilton went just 1-for-18 (.056) at the plate with one home run, one RBI, five runs scored, four walks, and 14 strikeouts. The 6-foot, 185-pounder appeared in six games as a first baseman in addition to 11 games at catcher.

At the Triple-A level this year, Reed batted .233/.367/.442 with 10 doubles, 11 homers, 43 runs driven in, 34 runs scored, one stolen base, 43 walks, and 67 strikeouts across 62 games (251 plate appearances) with the St. Paul Saints. He also threw out six of 32 base stealers from behind the plate.

While catcher has served as his primary position in pro ball, Hamilton came up as a utility player of sorts in college and has past experience at every defensive position in both the infield and outfield.

It is unclear when the Twins removed Hamilton from their 40-man roster, but the Red Sox claimed him off waivers from Minnesota on October 11. His run on Boston’s 40-man roster lasted a little more than a month.

Hamilton, who turns 28 in February, should now provide the Sox with upper-minors catching depth in Worcester alongside Ronaldo Hernandez and Kole Cottam, among others.

(Picture of Caleb Hamilton: Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images)

Red Sox designate Jake Reed, Caleb Hamilton for assignment

The Red Sox have designated right-hander Jake Reed and catcher Caleb Hamilton for assignment, the club announced earlier Tuesday evening.

Boston came into the day with 37 players on its 40-man roster. Ahead of Tuesday’s Rule 5 protection deadline, the club needed to clear two spots in order to add the prospect quintet of Chris Murphy, Brandon Walter, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu and David Hamilton. They did so by designating two recently-acquired players in Reed and Hamilton.

Reed, 30, was claimed off waivers from the Orioles on October 13. The righty had posted a 6.35 ERA in eight relief appearances (5 2/3 innings) with Baltimore after the O’s claimed him off waivers from the Dodgers in early September.

Up until that point in the year, Reed had split the 2022 season with the Dodgers and Mets, pitching to a 7.36 ERA with eight strikeouts to seven walks over 10 appearances (11 innings pitched) between the two clubs through the end of August.

A native of Arizona, Reed was originally selected by the Twins in the fifth round of the 2014 amateur draft out of the University of Oregon. He reached minor-league free agency at the end of the 2020 season and signed a minors pact with the Angels that November.

After appearing in eight games for the Halos’ Triple-A affiliate in Salt Lake City to begin the 2021 campaign, Reed was released last May. He inked a minors pact with the Dodgers shortly thereafter and made his major-league debut for Los Angeles in July.

Since then, Reed has been designated for assignment by the Dodgers, claimed and designated for assignment by the Rays, claimed and designated for assignment by the Mets, claimed and designated for assignment by the Dodgers, claimed and designated for assignment by the Orioles, and claimed and designated for assignment by the Red Sox.

It has certainly been an interesting journey for Reed, who now owns a lifetime 5.47 ERA and 4.33 FIP with 23 strikeouts to 10 walks across 26 2/3 innings at the big-league level. The fact that he possesses a unique delivery and has one minor-league option remaining could make him appealing to other teams.

Hamilton, meanwhile, was claimed off waivers from the Twins on Oct. 11. The 27-year-old backstop was originally selected by Minnesota in the 23rd round of the 2016 amateur draft out of Oregon State University. He spent six years in the minors before making his major-league debut in July.

In 22 games with the Twins this season, the right-handed hitting Hamilton went just 1-for-18 (.056) with one home run, one RBI, five runs scored, four walks, and 14 strikeouts. He also logged 38 innings behind the plate and 19 innings at first base.

At the Triple-A level this year, Hamilton batted .233/.367/.442 with 10 doubles, 11 homers, 43 runs driven in, 34 runs scored, one stolen base, 43 walks, and 67 strikeouts in 62 games (251 plate appearances) with the St. Paul Saints. Though catcher is his primary position, the 6-foot, 185-pounder has past experience at every other defensive position.

Hamilton, who turns 28 in February, has two minor-league option years remaining. So, he, too, could be of interest to opposing clubs. The Red Sox will have the next seven days to either trade, waive, or release Hamilton and Reed.

Neither Hamilton nor Reed has been outrighted before in their careers, so the Red Sox could look to retain both as non 40-man roster players if they clear waivers in the coming days.

By adding Murphy, Walter, Rafaela, Abreu, and Hamilton and subtracting (Caleb) Hamilton and Reed, Boston’s 40-man roster is back at full capacity. With the non-tender deadline looming on Friday, though, that status could soon change.

According to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo, the likes of Franchy Cordero, Ryan Brasier, Josh Taylor, and Darwinzon Hernandez are all candidates to be let go before Friday’s deadline. Cotillo notes that the Red Sox are “considering options” when it comes to Cordero, so he could be on the immediate chopping block.

(Picture of Jake Reed: Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)

Red Sox claim Caleb Hamilton off waivers from Twins, designate Abraham Almonte for assignment

The Red Sox have claimed catcher Caleb Hamilton off waivers from the Twins. In order to create space for Hamilton on the 40-man roster, outfielder Abraham Almonte was designated for assignment, per the team’s transactions log.

It is not clear when Hamilton was removed from the Twins’ 40-man roster. The 27-year-old was originally selected by Minnesota in the 23rd round of the 2016 amateur draft out of Oregon State University. He made his major-league debut in August and went 1-for-18 with one home run, one RBI, five runs scored, four walks, and 14 strikeouts over 22 games.

From behind the plate, Hamilton logged 38 innings at catcher and did not throw out any of the six baserunners who attempted to steal off him. The 6-foot, 185-pounder also made six appearances at first base and has experience at every other defensive position in the minor-leagues.

At the Triple-A level this season, Hamilton appeared in 62 games for the St. Paul Saints. The right-handed hitter batted .233/.367/.442 with 10 doubles, 11 homers, 43 runs driven in, 34 runs scored, one stolen base, 43 walks, and 67 strikeouts across 251 trips to the plate. He made 29 starts at catcher and threw out six of 32 base stealers.

Hamilton, who turns 28 in February, has two minor-league options remaining. The Washington state native becomes the fourth catcher on Boston’s 40-man roster, joining the likes of Reese McGuire, Connor Wong, and Ronaldo Hernandez.

During the team’s end-of-season press conference at Fenway Park earlier this month, Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom indicated that catcher would be one position group the club explores making external addition at over the winter.

“This is one of the areas I fully expect that we’re going to explore additions,” Bloom said. “It’s nice to know that we have two guys (McGuire and Wong) that are familiar with how we do things, that showed a lot of good things. But we owe it to ourselves and everybody who cares about this team to look to get better and catcher is certainly not going to be an exception to that.”

It is no sure thing that Hamilton will stick on the Sox’ 40-man roster through the off-season, but the fact that he is versatile and posted a 1.027 OPS against left-handed pitching at Triple-A this season certainly makes him intriguing if he is given an opportunity to fight for a spot on Boston’s Opening Day roster in the spring.

Almonte, meanwhile, was acquired from the Brewers in exchange for cash considerations towards the end of July. The well-travelled 33-year-old appeared in 32 games for Triple-A Worcester before having his contract selected on September 7.

In 15 games with the Red Sox, the switch-hitting Almonte slashed .257/.297/.400 to go along with two doubles, one home run, two RBIs, seven runs scored, one stolen base, one walk, and 12 strikeouts over 37 plate appearances. He saw playing time at all three outfield positions.

If Almonte goes unclaimed and clears waivers in the coming days, the native Dominican has the ability to refuse an outright assignment to the minor-leagues since he has already accrued more than five years of big-league service time.

Following Tuesday’s series of moves, the Red Sox’ 40-man roster is back at full capacity. Expect the team to make an announcement on Wednesday morning since they are not allowed to do so during postseason games.