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On November 18, the Red Sox acquired infielder Tristan Gray in a small trade with Tampa Bay and made him their first 40-man roster addition of the offseason. Now, he’s on the move again.
The Red Sox have swung a minor trade to send Gray to the Twins for minor league catcher/first baseman Nate Baez, sources said Wednesday. The move was made to clear a 40-man spot for free agent addition Ranger Suárez, who will be announced as the newest member of the club at an 11:30 a.m. press conference at Fenway Park.
Gray was acquired from the Rays for reliever Luis Guerrero earlier in the offseason and was expected to compete for a utility role in spring training. Instead, he’ll be in camp with Minnesota as the Red Sox give an extended look to utility options Kristian Campbell, Nate Eaton, Romy Gonzalez, David Hamilton and Nick Sogard. The club remains active in its efforts to upgrade at second base and third base to fill out an infield that is projected to include Willson Contreras, Trevor Story and (most likely) Marcelo Mayer. Gray was viewed as part of the next tier of depth options and originally intrigued the Red Sox because he has the ability to be optioned to the minor leagues freely.
Gray, a 29-year-old left-handed hitter, appeared in 30 games for the Rays in 2025. He batted .231 with a .282 on-base percentage, .410 slugging percentage and .693 OPS, three homers and five doubles in 86 plate appearances. He has major league experience with the Athletics and Marlins as well. Gray was in attendance for Fenway Fest in Boston earlier this month and attended Trevor Story’s camp for teammates in the Dallas area as well.
Baez, who turns 25 in May, reached Double-A in 2025, hitting a combined .278 with eight homers, 54 RBIs and a .794 OPS across two levels (High-A Cedar Rapids and Double-A Wichita). He hit much better at High-A before being promoted. An Arizona State product, Baez was Minnesota’s 12th-round pick in the 2022 draft. He split time between catcher and first base last year while also seeing at-bats as a designated hitter. In four minor league seasons, he has logged 932-⅔ innings behind the plate and 684-⅔ at first base.
Baez, who was not ranked among Baseball America’s top 30 Twins prospects, is the latest minor league catching option the Red Sox have acquired this winter, in which doing so has been a bit of a priority. The club also obtained Adonys Guzman, Ronny Hernandez and Luke Heyman in trades while signing veteran Jason Delay to a minor league contract.
Boston’s 40-man roster was full, so the club needed to make a move to accommodate the addition of Suárez, whose five-year, $130 million contract will soon be official. Suárez passed his physical in Boston on Tuesday.