The Twins have acquired former top catching prospect Diego Cartaya from the Dodgers in exchange for minor league right-hander Jose Vasquez, per announcements from both clubs. Cartaya was designated for assignment earlier in the week. Minnesota had an open 40-man roster spot, and their roster is now full.
As recently as two years ago, Cartaya was a consensus top-20 prospect in the entire sport. He’s still just 23 years old, but the Venezuelan-born backstop’s offensive development has stalled out in the upper minors. Back in 2022, Cartaya slashed a combined .254/.389/.503 with 22 homers and a 14.3% walk rate across two Class-A levels. He’s followed that with lackluster performances in both Double-A (.204/.303/.379 in two seasons) and Triple-A (.208/.293/.350 in 208 plate appearances last year).
Though his bat hasn’t progressed, scouting reports in recent seasons have praised improved glovework from the 6’3″, 219-pound Cartaya. Both Baseball America and MLB.com noted in their 2024 midseason reports on Cartaya that he made notable gains with his framing, receiving and blocking. He’d already been touted for plus arm strength, though shaky accuracy has led to a roughly average 20% caught-stealing rate in his five minor league seasons.
If nothing else, the tools are there for Cartaya to be a solid defender behind the plate and a patient, OBP-focused hitter in the batter’s box. He did turn in a solid .247/.370/.377 slash against lefties last year, though that came in just 92 plate appearances and he struggled immensely versus southpaws in a similar sample a year prior. Cartaya still has one minor league option year remaining, so the Twins can send him to Triple-A to begin the season without needing to pass him through waivers.
The Twins already have an above-average starter in Ryan Jeffers and a pricey, glove-first backup in Christian Vazquez. Catcher Jair Camargo and catcher/first baseman Mickey Gasper (acquired from the Red Sox last month) are both on the 40-man roster as well. Minnesota has been hopeful of trading Vazquez and a portion of his $10MM salary as they seek to scale back payroll. There could well be a market if they’re willing to eat around half that sum, and the addition of Cartaya creates some further depth in the event that they do indeed move Vazquez (or, more surprisingly, listen to offers on Jeffers).
In return for Cartaya, the Dodgers will pick up a project right-hander. Vasquez, listed at 6’4″ and a 200 pounds, signed with the Twins out of the Dominican Republic as part of their 2022 international class. He’s spent the past two years — his age-18 and age-19 seasons — pitching for Minnesota’s affiliate in the Dominican Summer League. The bottom-line results aren’t much to look at, as Vasquez has been tagged for a 8.05 ERA in 57 innings. Part of that was a sky-high ERA north of 11.00 in 2023, however. He pitched to a more palatable 4.99 mark in 30 2/3 frames this past season.
Command was a major issue for Vasquez in ’23, evidenced by a ghastly 21.9% walk rate. He made major strides in 2024, however, cutting that mark in half (10.7%) while nearly doubling his strikeout rate from 17.8% to 32.1%. He was a bit older than the average DSL player last year and figures to head to one of the Dodgers’ full-season affiliates in 2025. There’s some obvious bat-missing potential for the lanky right-hander, but he’ll need to make further gains with his command and find a way to get left-handed opponents out. Vasquez held righties to an awful .203/.309/.290 output in 2024 but was scorched for a .314/.407/.392 line against southpaws.
Fun trade for the Twins. Catchers take FOREVER to develop. Maybe they got a real gem here.
Unless their name is Cal Raleigh, he only took about a year to breakout.
And his name sounds like a university. I had options of Cal Poly and Cal State Fullerton, but ultimately chose Cal Raleigh to continue my education.
As a double major with a focus on engineering and poetry I enrolled at Cal Poly Raleigh
Projected to be a backup catcher at best
In AA.
Reynaldo’s –
Still worth the small price the Twins paid with some upside despite what you say.
Wonder how many gems the dodgers dfa on avg…im thinking not many
The reason the 40 man is so large is to hold the guys that are not gems, the ones that are not stars but fill the roles that teams need in order to function. He could be a fine defensive AAAA catcher that hangs out waiting for someone to break a finger or pull a hammy. It’s the equivalent of the 5.00 ERA swingman and the banjo hitting utility guy, people who know how to act on a major league diamond and can be counted on to be who they are even if we all know they are headed back down when the better option comes back.
Would love to see him flourish with the Twins.
As a Dodgers fan I’d love this too. I really wanted to see Cartaya do well.
I like this for the Dodgers and the Twins. Give Cartaya a real chance to bloom. With Smith and Rushing behind him, it really gave Cartaya no room
Found Dr. Suess’ burner
well….no need in rushing Rushing now.
Hey, for once I actually called it!!!
Cartaya can spend most of the year in St. Paul and get a runway to prove that he can backup Jeffers.
Thoughts to all the Dodger fans and LA residents today. Hope you and your families are safe.
Thank you. Very thoughtful.
How about to Angels fans, just for being fans? J/k. But I am an Angels fan in LA (we do exist) and praying for the thousands of people being affected. A good buddy of mine lost his house to the fires and is already in AZ.
Good move for them. Hoped he went to the Reds system as they don’t have many catching prospects on the farm but glad he is going to another small market.
I called it! Hope he can serve as some good depth after Vazquez departs. Would love to see this turn out to be a steal.
It would have been nice for Toronto to make this move but I am sure they called to say “Hi” just so they can say they were “in it”.
Dodgers are just giving away players for nothing special
Cartaya is turning out to be “nothing special”….
Too bad the Dodgers didn’t trade him when his value was sky high. But that happens with prospects. Can’t win with every player. I believe in Friedman and Co. simply masters at their craft. Good luck Diego
Wow, what once was the golden prospect traded straight across for a coin flip. Tells you all you need to know about what the Dodgers felt about Cartaya’s future.
I think Christian Vasquez would make a ton of sense in San Diego if Minnesota can eat like half of what is owed to him. Catching market is pretty empty at this point and the Twins don’t really need 5 catchers on their 40 man.
Wow, seems like the Dodgers got lesser return talent on this deal. I was thinking/hoping they could package him with 1 or 2 more players for a lot better return.
I’ve been checking MLBTradeRumors everyday to see if the Marlins went for him. Haha.
This is what it’s like to be a Marlins fan. Make this low risk high reward for nothing for a team that doesn’t spend for do anything make sense? Being a GM cannot be that hard.
The Marlins could have had Estrada, Baddoo, and Cartaya for bupkiss while they have trash sitting in the Minors, the. They get rid of guys like Bleday, Stone Garrett, Nasir Nunes, Nicholas without giving them an opportunity and then they slightly flourish when given an opp. Surreal.
case of million dollar talent meets ten cent head. he believed his own hype and can’t make adjustments. has to be a lost cause for the team to just dump him. hope he figures things out before the dream ends.