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

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.