FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Sandy Leon has yet to so much as put a Red Sox uniform on, but he already holds a distinct advantage over Humberto Quintero
in the battle to be the Red Sox' backup catcher.
Leon, obtained earlier Monday from the Washington Nationals in exchange for cash considerations, is already on the 40-man roster and is out of options, meaning the Red Sox would have to expose him to waivers in order to send him to Pawtucket.
Quintero, meanwhile, is a non-roster spring training invitee and isn't on the 40-man roster. Quintero does, however, have an opt-out clause in his minor league deal that comes due Tuesday. At that point, the Red Sox would have to either add him to the 40-man roster, pay him a $100,000 retention bonus to start the season in the minors or release him altogether.
Presented with the various contactual and roster variables that clearly favor Leon, manager John Farrell said: "I can't deny that that's a factor. That's a factor in all of this, particularly when you look at trying to build depth.''
The Sox have yet to see anything definitive on Christian Vazquez, who will see Dr. James Andrews Wednesday. But Monday, in order to make room for Leon on the 40-man roster, the Sox shifted Vazquez to the 60-day DL, the surest sign yet of how serious the elbow injury is.
Knowing that, surgery or not, Vazquez is out for some time, the Sox made the move for Leon.
"This is a guy, given Christian's situation,'' said Farrell, "we felt like we needed to build some depth at the position. He was available because of being out of options and he's someone we've always graded fairly high on the receiving end of things. The remaining days (in camp) we'll take advantage to take a look here.''
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Farrell said Quintero "has done a solid job'' in camp to date.
"He's got a feel for game-calling,'' said Farrell, "He's got a feel for the full pitch mix. He's done everything we could have anticipated from the start of camp.''
Meanwhile, as the Sox evaluate the merits of Quintero and Leon, it's a sure sign that the club intends to have Blake Swihart start the season at Triple A to continue his development path.
"The view is that, with a young player like Blake,'' said Farrell, "we'd prefer to get him on a little bit of a roll at the minor league level before they come to us. There's also the need to continue to refine the receiving sign of things. He's gotten quite a bit of opportunity here in camp and he's shown well, but in the big picture, I think we can all benefit from playing every day and continuing to work on those developmental issues that are there.''
Another long-term concern is how much of a workload Hanigan can handle. Just once in his career has Hanigan caught more than 100 games in a season.
"We're well aware of that,'' said Farrell of Hanigan's history. "That's where building depth at the position is a current priority and that's being addressed.''
