The Twins have acquired former high catching prospect Diego Cartaya from the Dodgers in alternate for minor league right-hander Jose Vasquez, per bulletins from each golf equipment. Cartaya was designated for project earlier within the week. Minnesota had an open 40-man roster spot, and their roster is now full.
As not too long ago as two years in the past, Cartaya was a consensus top-20 prospect in all the sport. He’s nonetheless simply 23 years previous, however the Venezuelan-born backstop’s offensive improvement has stalled out within the higher minors. Again in 2022, Cartaya slashed a mixed .254/.389/.503 with 22 homers and a 14.3% stroll price throughout two Class-A ranges. He’s adopted that with lackluster performances in each Double-A (.204/.303/.379 in two seasons) and Triple-A (.208/.293/.350 in 208 plate appearances final yr).
Although his bat hasn’t progressed, scouting studies in latest seasons have praised improved glovework from the 6’3″, 219-pound Cartaya. Each Baseball America and MLB.com famous of their 2024 midseason studies on Cartaya that he made notable positive aspects along with his framing, receiving and blocking. He’d already been touted for plus arm energy, although shaky accuracy has led to a roughly common 20% caught-stealing price in his 5 minor league seasons.
If nothing else, the instruments are there for Cartaya to be a strong defender behind the plate and a affected person, OBP-focused hitter within the batter’s field. He did flip in a strong .247/.370/.377 slash towards lefties final yr, although that got here in simply 92 plate appearances and he struggled immensely versus southpaws in an identical pattern a yr prior. Cartaya nonetheless has one minor league choice yr remaining, so the Twins can ship him to Triple-A to start the season while not having to move him by means of waivers.
The Twins have already got an above-average starter in Ryan Jeffers and a dear, glove-first backup in Christian Vazquez. Catcher Jair Camargo and catcher/first baseman Mickey Gasper (acquired from the Crimson Sox final month) are each on the 40-man roster as effectively. Minnesota has been hopeful of buying and selling Vazquez and a portion of his $10MM wage as they search to reduce payroll. There might effectively be a market in the event that they’re prepared to eat round half that sum, and the addition of Cartaya creates some additional depth within the occasion that they do certainly transfer Vazquez (or, extra surprisingly, hearken to presents on Jeffers).
In return for Cartaya, the Dodgers will decide up a venture right-hander. Vasquez, listed at 6’4″ and a 200 kilos, signed with the Twins out of the Dominican Republic as a part of their 2022 worldwide class. He’s spent the previous two years — his age-18 and age-19 seasons — pitching for Minnesota’s affiliate within the Dominican Summer season League. The underside-line outcomes aren’t a lot to have a look at, as Vasquez has been tagged for a 8.05 ERA in 57 innings. A part of that was a sky-high ERA north of 11.00 in 2023, nevertheless. He pitched to a extra palatable 4.99 mark in 30 2/3 frames this previous season.
Command was a significant problem for Vasquez in ’23, evidenced by a ghastly 21.9% stroll price. He made main strides in 2024, nevertheless, slicing that mark in half (10.7%) whereas practically doubling his strikeout price from 17.8% to 32.1%. He was a bit older than the typical DSL participant final yr and figures to move to one of many Dodgers’ full-season associates in 2025. There’s some apparent bat-missing potential for the lanky right-hander, however he’ll must make additional positive aspects along with his command and discover a technique to get left-handed opponents out. Vasquez held righties to an terrible .203/.309/.290 output in 2024 however was scorched for a .314/.407/.392 line towards southpaws.
