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Report: Red Sox place Sandy Leon on waivers

Michael Reaves / Getty Images Sport / Getty

The Boston Red Sox appear to have solved their catching conundrum by placing Sandy Leon on waivers Sunday, a source told Evan Drellich of WEEI.

The move to waive Leon clears up what had been an intense battle featuring three backstops - Leon, Christian Vazquez, and Blake Swihart - jockeying for two spots on Boston's Opening Day roster. After running with three catchers for most of last season, Boston wanted to break camp with just two on its roster in 2019, according to Drellich.

Vazquez and Swihart are the only other catchers besides Leon that are currently on Boston's 40-man roster. Veteran Juan Centeno, who attended camp as a non-roster invitee, was reassigned to minor-league camp on Saturday.

Leon always appeared to be the odd man out of the catching trio. Earlier this week, ESPN's Buster Olney and Marly Rivera reported that the Red Sox were actively discussing trades involving the seven-year MLB veteran. Although he's now on waivers, there's still a chance that Leon could be dealt before Opening Day.

The 30-year-old Venezuelan got into 89 games last year, and posted a .177/.232/.279 slash line with five home runs, while throwing out 26 would-be base-stealers. This spring, Leon hit .233 (7-for-30) with a homer, seven walks, and seven strikeouts in 16 Grapefruit League contests.

He will clear waivers if he's not claimed within 48 hours, and does not have any minor-league options remaining, according to Roster Resource.

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