Padres Have Another Trade Option at Catcher in Twins' Ryan Jeffers

[Randy Holt]

At this point in the winter, the need for another catcher on the San Diego Padres' roster is well known. While the active roster does, officially, feature the required two bodies prepared to get work behind the plate, the logistical side is screaming for a third. 

The team acquired Freddy Fermin at last year's trade deadline to give them some medium-term stability at the position. He's not a free agent until 2030 and offers decent-enough blocking and run game skills that compensate for his more average skill set as a framer. He's the presumptive starter. 

Behind Fermin, though, the Padres are lacking in clarity with their No. 2. Luis Campusano is a longtime member of the organization, but there has been an apparent reluctance to let him get regular work behind the plate. After nearly 700 innings in the field in 2024, the team employed each of Elías Díaz and Martín Maldonado last year instead of having Campusano work in alongside one of the two. 

Unfortunately for Campusano, that reluctance is fairly justified. Despite some offensive upside, he sat in the sixth percentile in blocks above average (-10), the eighth in caught stealing above average (-4), and the ninth in framing (-8). His brief time at the top level via injury in 2025 featured only 27 plate appearances in 10 games, all of which came as a designated hitter or serving as a pinch hitter in the later innings. While the team has yet to acquire a viable backup in his stead, those prior outcomes lead to the easy assumption that they'll, at some point, make another addition to provide some competition. 

We've already discussed the idea of the Chicago Cubs' Carson Kelly serving as one option. With a 1A/1B situation between Kelly and Miguel Amaya — in addition to the fact that the team is right up against the first luxury tax threshold — there's a possibility that the team could be willing to part with the veteran. Should the Padres seek such an addition via the trade market, there is another midwestern team that might be willing to part with another high-upside catcher.

The Minnesota Twins recently signed Padres' old friend Victor Caratini to a two-year contract. Already employing each of Ryan Jeffers and an out-of-options Alex Jackson, there's now a bit of a logjam behind the plate for a team in a bit of a rebuild. As an impending free agent with a franchise that moved many of their veteran players at last year's deadline, are the Twins now in a position to further bolster their development system by moving Jeffers? 

Jeffers offers a fascinatingly-similar case to that of Kelly among potential Padres targets. In addition to playing out the last year of his contract, he was 11th among catchers with at least 300 plate appearances in wRC+ (113) and has a history of occasional power at the position, topping out at a .213 ISO back in 2023. The difference is that he's less effective as a blocker (13th percentile) and in run prevention (5th percentile) than either of Kelly or Fermin. He does, however, represent roughly the same level of adequate framing that either one brings to the table. What he is, though, is a sizable upgrade over what the team would be getting in Campusano's defensive work. 

Another difference lies in the trade package. The Cubs are in a position where they're set to contend, potentially for a division title. They don't need to feel in any way compelled to move Kelly if they want to keep the position fortified between he and Amaya. For the Twins, who could very well be in for a last-place finish in the American League Central, parting with Jeffers might be a simpler calculation. Which means that the trade cost might not be as high as it would be for someone like Kelly, who's also coming off something of a miniature breakout.

It's also possible that the Twins hold onto Jeffers for now, roll out Caratini as their backup, and try to sneak Alex Jackson through waivers as organizational depth. But considering their organizational situation against the Padres' clear need for an upgrade in matters of a backup backstop, he may very well represent a more realistic name to monitor against someone like Kelly in the weeks ahead.

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