A.J. Preller's Lesser Blockbuster: The Freddy Fermin Trade Has Been A Disaster for Padres

[Steve Drumwright]

When the San Diego Padres acquired Freddy Fermin at last year's trade deadline, they were acquiring a 30-year-old backup catcher who had the potential to be a starter.

To be clear: The Padres were desperate for an upgrade behind the plate. At the time, they were running with Elias Diaz and Martin Maldonado as their catching tandem. They were pretty bad offensively and not much better defensively. Turns out that Maldonado, once a defensive whiz, was in his last MLB season. Diaz ended up signing a minor-league contract in the offseason with the Kansas City Royals, Fermin's former team.

Fermin was supposed to be a stabilizer at catcher for not just the final couple months of the 2025 regular season as the Padres made a postseason push, but for at least 2026 and perhaps 2027 as the Friars awaited the development of top prospect Ethan Salas.

What did it cost the Padres to acquire such a catcher from the Royals? Apparently a lot. President of baseball operations A.J. Preller sent not just one young pitcher to the Royals, but two right-handed starters. In hindsight, that seems like a lot when other teams were sending out a lower-level top-30 prospect to acquire a backup catcher like the Milwaukee Brewers did when they picked up Danny Jansen at the trade deadline.

Alas, the Padres sent right-handers Stephen Kolek and Ryan Bergert to the Royals. Kolek was 28 at the time and had made 14 starts for the Padres to decent results (4.28 FIP, 4.18 ERA, 7.7% walk rate, 16.7% strikeout rate), while Bergert was 25 years old and had made his MLB debut that year, starting seven of his 11 games and showing promise (4.28 FIP, 2.54 ERA, 12.1% walk rate, 22.8% strikeout rate). Kolek had been a Rule 5 selection whom the Padres used in a relief role as he made his MLB debut in 2024, while Bergert had been the Padres' No. 7 prospect at the time of the deal.

Perhaps Preller didn't see an MLB future for either Kolek or Bergert like the Royals did, with Kolek in particular. After injuries prompted a call-up, Kolek has made five starts for the Royals and posted a 4.22 FIP (3.48 ERA). His highlight was a four-hit shutout of the Seattle Mariners on May 23. Bergert, who like Kolek saw time with the Royals after the trade, is out for the season after undergoing reconstruction surgery on his right UCL. He made just three starts at Triple-A before being hurt.

That leads us to Fermin. Known as a good defender with a bit of potential with the bat, Fermin has managed to produce a meager .130/.233/.170 slash line through 43 games. For reference, Diaz and Maldonado both finished 2025 with a .204 average with the Padres. Fermin's defense has been good, ranking in between the 81st and 89th percentile in blocks above average (83rd), caught stealing (81st) above average and pop time (89th).

Fermin's offense is the bigger concern, though. In four seasons with the Royals as Salvador Perez's backup, Fermin had a .268/.314/.383 slash line. Not fantastic, but acceptable for a catcher in today's day and age. He did play more than 100 games each of the last two seasons, so you can't exactly blame it on the workload. New manager Craig Stammen has done a nice job of splitting the catching duties, with Fermin usually getting three of the five starts each turn through the rotation. That left the other two for Luis Campusano, whose bat has always been his better attribute over his glove.

No longer having to deal with Mike Shildt, who left as manager after last season, Campusano has flourished offensively, putting up a .288/.362/.596 slash line with three homers and 10 RBIs in 18 games. But a broken left big toe nearly a month ago has kept Campusano sidelined. That opened the door for 11-year minor-league veteran Rodolfo Duran to take over as the No. 2 catcher. Other than hitting a homer for his first MLB hit, Duran has done very little offensively. In fact, he has just two hits in 13 games for a .087/.250/.217 slash line. But Duran has drawn rave reviews from Stammen and the pitchers for his defensive work.

Fermin's offensive woes have led to speculation that Duran should be kept over Fermin when Campusano returns. That's probably a step too far, but the fact that these conversations are taking place, with Stammen being asked about retaining Duran, says a lot about where Fermin is and how much of a disaster that trade has been. The Padres would certainly love to have had Kolek and Bergert in camp this spring instead of possibly banking on MLB veteran Marco Gonzales, coming off left flexor tendon surgery that caused him to miss all of 2025, to be in line for major-league innings. Unfortunately, Gonzales has struggled mightily at the Triple-A level and likely won't be a given a chance in the bigs.

It's a painful truth in a season in which MLB-caliber starters have been hard to come by, but the Fermin trade is partly responsible for the Padres' woes on both sides of the ball.

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