Daniel

Palka

Palka will head to Triple-A Syracuse after being released by the Red Sox earlier this month. The 31-year-old slugger hasn’t appeared in the majors since the 2019 season.

Palka signed a minor league contract with the Red Sox back in late February and never wound up making it to Fenway Park. The 31-year-old journeyman slugger clubbed 12 homers in 79 games this season for Triple-A Worcester. He hasn’t appeared in the majors since the 2019 campaign.

No one here had a chance of making the Red Sox unless players started getting hurt. There’s still some hope that Hernández, 25, could emerge as a solid No. 2 catcher at some point, but he’s fourth or fifth on the depth chart at the moment.

Palka, 31, hasn’t appeared in the majors since 2019 as a member of the White Sox. He hit .263/.344/.506 with 26 homers in 109 games with the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate last season and will give Boston some solid upper-level depth.

Palka possesses gargantuan over-the-fence pop, but hasn’t been able to make contact consistently enough to even carve out a part-time role in the majors in recent years. The 30-year-old slugger, who launched 27 round-trippers with the White Sox back in 2018, spent the entire 2021 campaign at Triple-A Rochester with the Nationals where he slashed a robust .256/.364/.472 and also clobbered 18 homers in 420 plate appearances. He’s certainly an intriguing low-risk lottery ticket for the Mets.

Palka slugged 27 homers for the White Sox in 2018 but then batted an embarrassing .107/.194/.179 for them over 30 games in 2019. He spent 2020 in Korea.

He’d be replacing Tyler Saladino, who is out with a back injury. Palka is the perfect type of player to try his chances overseas as a “Quad-A” slugger.

The 28-year-old was designated for assignment earlier in the week to free up a spot on the 40-man roster for Yasmani Grandal. After slugging 27 homers during a breakout 2018 season, Palka came crashing back to earth in 2019 -- slashing just .107/.194/.179 with two homers and four RBI in 93 plate appearances.

The move opens up a roster spot for catcher Yasmani Grandal, who has agreed to a four-year, $73 million free agent contract with Chicago. Palka, 28, batted just .107/.194/.179 over 93 plate appearances at the MLB level in 2019. He has flashed good power in the past but is a detriment defensively and strikes out a ton.

He connected off starter Aaron Civale in the fourth inning and took reliever James Hoyt deep in the sixth. Those were his first two dingers of the season. Palka came into the game with seven hits in 86 plate appearances this year and had just one hit in his first 62 plate appearances -- now that is an epic slump. Despite that incredibly poor stretch, Palka has been a quality hitter throughout his professional career. He hit well at Triple-A Charlotte this year (27 homers in 106 games) and bashed 27 longballs for the White Sox last year. He has a good enough bat to be a quality major league hitter but his woeful defense makes it tough to keep him on the team, even in the American League.