The Padres are hoping to improve their offensive manufacturing behind the plate because the July 31 commerce deadline approaches, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic writes. It’ll possible be a skinny marketplace for accessible catchers, which complicates their search.
San Diego has leaned solely on Elias Diaz and Martin Maldonado behind the plate this 12 months and obtained just about no manufacturing on the offensive aspect of issues. That veteran duo has mixed for a feeble .205/.268/.328 batting line in 296 plate appearances. The ensuing 70 wRC+, which signifies they’ve been 30% worse than common on the plate, ranks twenty seventh within the majors.
Sadly for the Friars, few of the clear sellers across the sport have catching assist on the market. The White Sox (Kyle Teel, Edgar Quero), Marlins (Agustin Ramirez) and Rockies (Hunter Goodman) all have younger catchers having fun with good seasons — and all are controllable at the very least 5 years past the present marketing campaign. Pittsburgh’s Joey Bart makes some sense on paper, however he hasn’t been capable of replicate final 12 months’s breakout. The A’s would make one other good speculative match, however Rosenthal stories that they don’t have any intention of buying and selling Shea Langeliers. He provides that even even with Drake Baldwin ascending in Atlanta, a Sean Murphy commerce over the subsequent 4 weeks isn’t possible.
There are some bubble groups who might ultimately have catching depth to spare, however it’s not but clear whether or not any of these groups will promote. The Reds solely management Tyler Stephenson by the 2026 marketing campaign, and fellow catcher Jose Trevino’s latest three-year extension (plus a membership choice) offers them a bit extra stability long-term. Equally, the Twins and Rangers solely have Ryan Jeffers and Jonah Heim underneath membership management by 2026, though the latter is having a very down season on the plate. If the Orioles wind up promoting, previous good friend Gary Sanchez can be a logical commerce chip, as an impending free agent whose bat is heating up in latest weeks.
On high of the possible lack of provide, the Padres will presumably have monetary limitations. San Diego was identified to be low on spending energy late within the offseason, therefore the inventive construction of Nick Pivetta’s four-year deal and the bargain-bin additions at catcher (Diaz, Maldonado), in left discipline (Jason Heyward, Connor Joe, Gavin Sheets) and for the pitching employees (Kyle Hart). The Padres are nicely into luxurious tax territory — an estimated $263MM value of obligations, per RosterResource, places them within the second tier of penalty — so any additions would include a further 30% tax on high of their remaining annual wage.
The Padres even have wants within the outfield corners — neither Joe nor Heyward continues to be with the membership — and will use some further rotation assist with Michael King on the shelf and Yu Darvish but to make his season debut. Juggling all these wants, with doubtlessly restricted monetary flexibility and a farm system that has been thinned by years of aggressive win-now trades, might show a tall order.
The truth that San Diego is each reported to covet catching assist and utilizing Diaz and Maldonado solely additionally speaks to the style through which former high prospect Luis Campusano has fallen out of favor within the group. The 26-year-old is hitting .315/.432/.613 in 224 Triple-A plate appearances however hasn’t gotten a lot of a glance within the majors this 12 months. He’s struggled on either side of the ball prior to now, hitting .241/.295/.374 in 589 main league plate appearances whereas posting sub-par defensive grades. Campusano looks like a change-of-scenery candidate who may very well be on the transfer between now and the top of the month.
