The Minnesota Twins have been trying to get involved in the trade market this winter but as the catching market continues to weaken, it could be enough to make a deal involving Christian Vázquez in the coming weeks.
The Athletic’s Chad Jennings analyzed the catching market as part of his MLB All-Free-Agent-Team v. 2.0 on Tuesday morning and while this year’s market didn’t have a clear name at the top of the list, many have already found new homes as the calendar turned to January.
“This market never had a can’t miss everyday catcher, but it did have a handful of useful known commodities behind the plate,” Jennings wrote. “That’s really not the case anymore. Already, [Travis] d’Arnaud, Danny Jensen, Carson Kelly, Kyle Higashioka, Gary Sánchez and Jacob Stallings have signed leaving [Elias] Diaz, [James] McCann and maybe Omar Narváez as the best catchers available.”
Jennings also mentioned that the lack of viable options could lead to teams testing the trade market. While he mentioned San Francisco’s Tom Murphy as a possibility, he also mentioned Vázquez as someone that teams could come calling for.
Twins rumors: San Diego Padres could be interested in Christian Vázquez
The Twins have been trying to trade Vázquez as he enters the final year of a three-year, $30 million contract signed before the 2023 season. Vázquez was signed with the intent of becoming the everyday catcher but he has struggled at the plate, hitting .222/.265/.322 with 13 home runs and 59 RBI over the first two years of the deal.
While Vázquez’s bat has allowed Ryan Jeffers to take over as the everyday catcher, his defense hasn’t slipped with seven defensive runs saved last season. It’s why teams could look to acquire Vázquez in a trade instead of overpaying on the market and The Athletic’s Eno Sarris noted that he could be a good fit for the Padres as a replacement if Yasmani Grandal departs in free agency.
“If the Padres don’t want to bring Grandal back, or if they can’t afford to, they’re in trouble,” Sarris wrote. “They could maybe get the Twins to pay some of [Vázquez’s] salary in a stopgap move.”
Sarris also mentioned that Luis Campusano is another option for San Diego but his defense has been horrific behind the plate with -17 defensive runs saved in 86 games last season.
Again, a move would likely require the Twins to eat salary – something that may be difficult as the team remains steadfast on operating around $130 million next season – but its a sign that there will be options whenever they decide to move on from the 34-year-old.