Blue Jays: Which teams could come calling for a catcher?

Will there be interest from the AL Central?

I thought I’d stick with the American League to start, and I’m going to move to the Central next, which was the weakest division in the AL this season.

To begin with, I’ll acknowledge that any of these teams could change their plans, especially if a top five prospect like Moreno, or the American League’s All-Star starting catcher from 2022 like Kirk were made available. However, for the sake of keeping things simple I’m really going to focus on the need as of now. With that in mind, here’s what I’m thinking:

Cleveland Guardians:  They could have some interest, but with Canadian-born Bo Naylor waiting in the wings as the likely catcher of the future in Cleveland, I don’t really see an easy match here. That said, Naylor has been playing at other positions as he’s continued his development, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility either. Until we know for sure what the plan with Naylor is, I can’t see a huge move like this going down.

Kansas City Royals:  The presence of Salvador Perez and MJ Melendez makes this among the least-likely fits in baseball. The two clubs linked up for a late deal ahead of the deadline that sent Whit Merrifield to Toronto in exchange for Max Castillo and Samad Taylor, but I don’t see another trade lining up here.

Minnesota Twins:  The Twins could be a fit, but it’s always hard to predict what they’re going to do. At the moment they have Ryan Jeffers and Gary Sanchez on the depth chart, but the latter is scheduled to be a free agent. On paper, interest from the Twins actually makes a fair bit of sense, but I’m not sure I see an easy trade fit here, at least not for a controllable catcher like Moreno or Kirk. Maybe the Twins line up on a Jansen trade since he only has two seasons before he’ll be a free agent, but even then, they’d have to give up some of their favourite arms to entice the Blue Jays enough. At least I would hope so.

Chicago White Sox:  One team I see as a dark horse for this kind of trade is the White Sox, who I would argue have as great of a need behind the plate as anyone, at least if they intend on competing for a playoff spot in 2023. Yasmani Grandal hasn’t been able to stay healthy or do much catching, and other options like Carlos Perez and Seby Zavala aren’t all that exciting either. The White Sox probably have the pitching depth to have legitimate talks with the Blue Jays about a swap here, but will they? My gut says they’ll look elsewhere since the Blue Jays should have a high asking price.

Detroit Tigers:  If I were to pick a team that was mostly likely to line up with the Blue Jays from the Central, I might go with the Tigers. They’re starting to build something in Detroit these days with talented youngsters like Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson, and a young catcher like Moreno or even Kirk could be a pretty good fit for them. That said, I do think the Blue Jays could see better offers than what the Tigers could put on the table, at least with Tarik Skubal’s status up in the air after an August surgery on a flexor tendon. The need is there in Detroit though, with minor leaguer Dillon Dingler probably being their brightest hope for the future, but they may not have the chips to make the best offer at this stage.

All in all, I think there will be some interested teams from the Central, but I believe there will be stronger offers coming elsewhere.

Rounding out the American League

Despite the fact that both the Angels and Rangers had disappointing seasons in 2022, I believe there’s more talent in this division than we saw on paper this past season. I also think there’s potential for the West to become a more competitive division in the coming years, even if the Astros have had a stranglehold on things for a while now.

Houston Astros:  Speaking of Houston, I figured I’d talk about them first since they’re the class of the division. That said, I don’t think I see a trade match here, even if the Astros could have the pitching depth to make a strong offer. My guess is they’ll look to retain one or more of Christian Vazquez, Martin Maldonado, or even Jason Castro, who are all scheduled to be free agents after the World Series is over. They do also have a former top 100 prospect in the system in Korey Lee, so my gut tells me they’ll allocate their resources elsewhere.

Seattle Mariners:  Do I see the Blue Jays striking up a deal with the team that eliminated them in the playoffs this year? Not likely. As far as talking about a trade for a catcher, I’m sure the Mariners are confident going forward with Cal Raleigh as their main starter, so we can move on pretty quickly here.

Oakland A’s:  Oakland started a full-on rebuild last offseason when they traded their stars including Matt Olson to the Braves, and of course, Matt Chapman to the Blue Jays. While I could see them having interest in a talented youngster like Moreno, I don’t see a fit here either. They should be pretty well set up for the future between Shea Langeliers and Tyler Soderstrom, so it won’t be Oakland that the Jays are pulling another blockbuster with, at least not for a catcher.

Los Angeles Angels:  There could be a fit in L.A. for a big trade involving a catcher, but that likely depends on how high the Angels are on Logan O’Hoppe, who MLB.com rates as their top prospect. My guess is that unless something actually develops with a Shohei Ohtani trade market, there’s probably not much discussion to be had between the two clubs.

Texas Rangers:  Last but not least would be the Rangers, who I believe are a team that we shouldn’t sleep on in the future. As far as a trade partner is concerned for one of the Blue Jays backstops, I think they’ll likely stick with Jonah Heim for the time being, and look to boost their roster in other ways.

I’m not really that surprised, but a deeper dive into the rest of the AL didn’t really bring me any closer to a good trade idea for one of the Blue Jays’ catchers. Let’s see what the National League has to offer.

National League East

Other than the AL East, their counterparts in the NL might have had the most competitive division to navigate in 2022, with three teams ultimately making the playoffs in the Mets, Braves, and Phillies, and the latter is still standing in the World Series.

Atlanta Braves:  I figured we can get this one out of the way pretty quickly, even if the Braves have an enviable treasure trove of talented young players. The Braves have Travis d’Arnaud under contract for one more year, and a club option with him for 2024 as well, and William Contreras isn’t even arbitration eligible yet. I don’t think there’s a fit here, even if Alex Anthopoulos likes to be creative about how to improve his roster.

Philadelphia Phillies:  The Phillies have J.T. Realmuto under contract through the 2025 season. Even with the DH added to the National League, I don’t see a fit here.

Washington Nationals:  The future behind the plate in Washington looks to be pretty safe with Keibert Ruiz. I’d be surprised if the Nationals were interested at this early stage of their rebuild.

New York Mets:  Like the Nationals, the Mets have a talented young catcher of the future in Francisco Alvarez. They are very much in a win-now mode though, so I suppose we can’t completely rule it out if they’re not confident in handing the reigns to Alvarez next season. James McCann still has two years left on his deal as well, and there’s always Tomás Nido, so I’m guessing the Mets roll with what they’ve got, and they should be a in strong position anyway.

Marlins:  Now we’re finally getting to a team that could match up well with the Blue Jays while looking for a catcher of the future. The Marlins have a need for the present and the next few seasons, as they don’t really have an obvious answer in their minor league pipeline. 19 year old Joe Mack rates as their #9 prospect according to MLB.com, and that would be the closest I can come up with. What the Marlins do have is a very strong depth chart of rotation arms, and while I don’t think Sandy Alcantara is going anywhere, others like Pablo Lopez, Trevor Rogers, Jesus Luzardo, or Edward Cabrera could be deemed as expendable in the right trade. We heard Lopez’s name coming up plenty enough during this past trade deadline, and don’t be surprised if the Marlins’ rotation is a big focus of the offseason again, including for the Blue Jays.

Other than the Marlins, there probably aren’t a lot of great fits for the Blue Jays in the NL East, at least in terms of maximizing the value of one of their biggest trade chips.

Is there a need for catching in the NL Central?

There wasn’t a lot to be found outside Miami over in the East, but the Blue Jays could receive a few more calls from the teams in the Central division.

Pittsburgh Pirates:  It’s possible that the Pirates could be interested in a catcher, but I’m guessing they’ll stand pat and wait to hand the reigns to Henry Davis in another year or two. I’m not sure I see a fit here anyway.

Cincinnati Reds: The Reds could make some sense based on need, but at this early stage of their rebuild I doubt there’s a match to be had here. I’m guessing Tyler Stephenson is the guy here for at least the time being.

Chicago Cubs:  Whether or not the Cubs are a potential fit all depends on what happens with Willson Contreras, and that’s a hard thing to predict. Many of us believed that the Cubs would trade him sometime over the last year or so, but they continued to keep him in Chicago and they might have plans to keep him around. He’s still a premium catcher and should have gas left in the tank at 30 years old, but we’ll see what free agency brings for him. Since they didn’t trade him in July, you’ve gotta think the Cubs make a strong offer. However, if they fall short of retaining their long-time backstop, don’t be surprised if calling the Blue Jays is one of their back-up plans.

Milwaukee Brewers:  The Brewers are another interesting possibility, especially because they frequently operate like a “small market” club that looks to shed salary. If you don’t believe me, see that swap they made to trade Josh Hader to the Padres despite their pursuit of a playoff spot. As far as their catching situation goes, Victor Caratini has one more year of arbitration eligibility left, and Omar Narvaez is a free agent. They could look to bring back the latter on a relatively cheap deal, or they could try to find a frugal option that could help them compete now, and save some money on the payroll. We might be wading into blockbuster territory with a name like Brandon Woodruff or something here, but I wouldn’t write it off as a possibility if someone like Moreno or even Kirk is involved. The Brewers make a ton of sense if they’re going to build their roster in a similar way to how they have in recent years.

St. Louis Cardinals:  Over the weekend I wrote an article about how I could see there being a trade fit between the Blue Jays and Cardinals. As I suspected, both the majority of Blue Jays fans, and Cardinals fans that I came across weren’t all that wild about the idea. Without giving it all away, I had proposed a swap that would send Gabriel Moreno to St. Louis, and I think the idea is something to watch out for as the Cardinals look to replace a retiring future Hall of Famer in Yadier Molina. It’s possible they give Andrew Kizner and Ivan Herrera a shot to take over, or maybe they take a swing at a free agent like Contreras, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the Cardinals were ringing Atkins’ phone with regularity over the winter.

A few more decent fits

Rounding things out today is another very competitive division in the NL West. It might sound odd to say it’s competitive when the Dodgers have dominated for so long, but they’re far from the only relevant team going forward, as the Padres just showed us in the playoffs.

Los Angeles Dodgers:  As much as the Dodgers are seemingly in on any premium player that becomes available, I don’t anticipate them getting involved here. Will Smith is under club control for at least three more seasons, and I don’t expect that to change.

San Diego Padres:  I wouldn’t completely write off the Padres as a possibility, but they should be set up fairly well for next season and beyond as far as catchers go. Austin Nola will be arbitration eligible for the first time this offseason, Jorge Alfaro has one more trip through the process before he’ll be a free agent, and they have a top 100 prospect in Luis Campusano waiting in the wings.

Colorado Rockies:  Who can predict what the Rockies might do, but I’d be surprised to see a trade that made sense for either party here. The Rockies should be rebuilding with plans to hand the gig to Drew Romo in another year or two, but they might just chase the top free agents instead. I’d be surprised to see a trade with the Blue Jays though.

Arizona Diamondbacks: The Dbacks might be a sleeper team as far as a trade for a Blue Jays catcher is concerned, but they definitely have the young talent to get creative this winter if they want to. They do have Carson Kelly under club control for two more years, and Dalton Varsho is also capable of strapping on the catching gear, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Diamondbacks were interested in a young receiver like Moreno or even Kirk. They’re a few years away from being contenders, but they have a ton of talent in their outfield, including the likes of Varsho, Corbin Carroll, Alek Thomas, Jake McCarthy, Dominic Fletcher, and their first round pick from this past year in Druw Jones. It wouldn’t be an easy trade to get across the finish line, but there could be something here.

San Francisco Giants:  Last but not least would be the Giants, who I could see as being very interested in a young catcher to replace Buster Posey, who retired after the 2021 season. The heir to his throne was supposed to be Joey Bart, but that didn’t work out so well in 2022, and I’d be surprised if they didn’t have at least some interest in one of the Blue Jays three talented catchers. Moreno in particular strikes me as the type of player they would target, especially as they may be transitioning into a rebuild or even a quick re-tool.

Now that I’ve taken a quick review of all of the teams across baseball, I feel like I have a bit better idea of what the Blue Jays could be dealing with as far as the catching market is concerned. Admittedly, things could change in a hurry throughout the offseason as free agent contracts are signed and trades start getting finalized, and that’s especially the case when you’re talking about premium talent like the Blue Jays’ catchers.

With one of the strongest trade chips the Blue Jays have flexed in years, Atkins and company are going to have to make sure they maximize their return, regardless of which catcher they ultimately trade. That is, assuming that a trade is made at all, which even though I think it’s all but inevitable, I’ll admit that it’s still possible the Blue Jays could keep all three.