Padres Catching Shift Could Clear A Path For A Trade

The San Diego Padres had an interesting season with their catchers. They started the season by giving Freddy Fermin an opportunity to start, but that didn’t work at all, as Fermin hit well below .200 during most of his time as the starter. He was also nicked up early, with a couple of stints on the injured list. 

Luis Campusano stepped in and did a nice job. The Padres have been waiting for Campusano to emerge, and he was much better defensively this time around. The Padres have always known that Campusano can hit, and he got some big home runs down the stretch. 

Then came Ethan Salas. Salas has been plagued by injuries throughout his minor league career, but he was finally able to stay healthy this year, and he blazed a path through the team’s minor league system. 

Salas’s stint with the Padres at the end of the year was brief, but he more than showed he’s ready. He set a couple of offensive records for a 20-year old receiver, and while he occasionally looked overwhelmed, Salas has shown that he’s ready for a full-time job. 

The Padres now have an abundance of riches at catcher, and that represents an opportunity of sorts. Fermin looks very expendable at 31, but he still has value defensively, and his current arbitration deal of $2.1 million is in line with what backup catchers typically make. 

The dynamic and tradeoffs between Campusano and Salas is far more intriguing, though. The safe thing to do would be to start Campusano and work Salas into the mix, which would maintain the Padres’ strength at the position. 

But GM A.J. Preller isn’t exaclty known for playing it safe, and Campusano represents an asset that could be moved to fill other needs, which are abundant going into the offseason. Campusano is coming off a one-year deal that payed him just $900K, and he’s under team control until 2029. 

Would Preller trade Campusano and give Salas the starting job? It’s a high-risk move that would expose the Padres if Salas can’t stay healthy, but this would also be exactly the kind of move Preller  would probably make if he sees a deal he likes. 

The new ownership group will have a lot to say about this, of course. We still don’t know whether they’re going to be willing to spend going forward, but Salas is a marketable future star, and putting him front and center would play as part of this possibility.