The Los Angeles Dodgers have officially moved on from catcher Diego Cartaya, trading the former top prospect to the Minnesota Twins for minor-league right-hander Jose Vasquez.
It’s been just two years since Cartaya ranked as Keith Law’s No. 6 prospect in baseball in The Athletic, with the backstop seen as a potential future cornerstone for the Dodgers’ plans of extending their title window into perpetuity. Now, the franchise has locked up one of its other former top catching prospects to a 10-year deal (Will Smith), has another seemingly on the way in Dalton Rushing, and announced it had designated Cartaya for assignment last week when making another splashy acquisition, signing Korean infielder Hyeseong Kim to a three-year deal.
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Cartaya’s fall has been stark, and quick.
A history of back injuries have kept him off the field for spurts, and when healthy he’s struggled to produce with the bat like he had through the lower levels of the minor leagues. He was still on Law’s list of prospects who “just missed” the Top 100 a year ago, but then produced a .686 OPS in 400 plate appearances between Double A and Triple A in 2024. The problems matched the critical parts of his initial scouting report, with Cartaya striking out nearly 30 percent of the time while not providing enough consistent power to make up for it.
Just 23 years old, Cartaya remains an intriguing talent, but there wasn’t a path for him anymore in Los Angeles.
Vasquez is a rookie-ball right-hander who spent the past two years in the Dominican Summer League, posting a 4.99 ERA with 45 strikeouts against 15 walks in 30 2/3 innings there last season.
He wasn’t in consideration for The Athletic’s recent Twins top 40 prospects list, but did improve his fastball velocity to the mid-90s, and the 20-year-old has some upside as a low-minors flier for the Dodgers’ player development group.
Minnesota ended last season with three catchers on the 40-man roster and has since traded for Cartaya and Mickey Gasper to go with holdovers Christian Vázquez, Ryan Jeffers and Jair Camargo.
Gasper’s defensive reputation behind the plate is shaky enough that it might be a stretch to consider him a catcher rather than a first baseman who also catches, but either way it’s noteworthy that the Twins are stockpiling depth at the position while trade rumors continue to swirl around Vázquez.
Camargo has been stuck at Triple A the past two seasons and Cartaya is something of a lottery ticket at this point, but the odds of the Twins carrying five — or even 4 1/2 — catchers on the 40-man roster when spring training begins are low.
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Vázquez is owed $10 million in the final season of a three-year deal and the Twins’ current $142 million payroll is roughly $10 million higher than the expected budget handed down from ownership. It’s getting harder not to connect some dots.
(Photo of Diego Cartaya in 2022: Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)
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