Red Sox sign veteran catcher Mark Kolozsvary to minor-league deal
For the second time in as many weeks, the Red Sox signed a veteran catcher to a minor-league contract.
After adding two-time Gold Glove Award winner Roberto Perez last Wednesday, Boston inked Mark Kolozsvary to a similar minors pact on Friday, according to ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel. Like Perez, Kolozsvary also received an invitation to major-league spring training.
Kolozsvary, 28, broke in with the Reds last April after originally being selected by the club in the seventh round of the 2017 amateur draft out of Florida. The right-handed hitter appeared in 10 games across four separate stints for Cincinnati, going 4-for-20 (.200) with two doubles, one home run, three RBIs, three runs scored, one walk, and nine strikeouts.
The Reds designated Kolozsvary for assignment last October before losing him on waivers to the Orioles. Baltimore, in turn, successfully outrighted the Florida native in November to keep him in the organization without occupying a spot on its 40-man roster.
Kolozsvary served as upper-minors catching depth for the first three months of the 2023 season. His contract was then selected from Triple-A Norfolk on June 13 as a corresponding move for Ryan Mountcastle hitting the injured list with vertigo. He made his Orioles debut that same night but did not register a plate appearance, instead serving as a defensive replacement for Adley Rutschman in the ninth inning of an 11-6 win over the Blue Jays at Camden Yards.
The following afternoon, Kolozsvary was designated for assignment by the Orioles. He cleared waivers shortly thereafter and elected free agency in lieu of an outright assignment to the minor-leagues, which he had the right to do after already being outrighted once before in his career. Kolozsvary then signed a minors pact with the Twins on June 20 and spent the rest of the year at Triple-A St. Paul.
