The Boston Red Sox officially announced a two-year deal with free agent catcher David Ross on Wednesday, but what role he’ll play next season remains unclear.
The team did not reveal terms of the contract, though multiple media outlets reported that the deal is worth $6.2 million.
Ross and the Red Sox reached an agreement Saturday before the deal was finalized.
The past four years, Ross served as a backup to the Atlanta Braves’ All-Star catcher, Brian McCann. Ross, 35, hit .256 with nine home runs and 23 RBI in 62 games for Atlanta this year.
In Boston, he joins Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Ryan Lavarnway in providing the team with depth behind the plate.
Saltalamacchia started 104 games at catcher this year, and he batted .222 with 25 homers and 59 RBI.
The Red Sox gave a late-season look to Lavarnway, who played nearly every day at catcher or designated hitter the final four weeks. However, but he failed to produce the kind of offense that got him to the major leagues, hitting .157 with two homers and 12 RBI in 46 games with Boston.
Lavarnway, 25, displayed an ability to hit for average and power in Triple-A the past two years.
Ross could wind up as the backup to either Saltalamacchia or Ross, with the other getting dangled on the trade market in an attempt to find help at another position.
Ross appeared in eight games for the Red Sox in 2008. He also played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres and Cincinnati Reds in his 11-year career.