The San Diego Padres have started making some minor moves, and the ones that address their current catching situation indicate that the team basically considers catcher Freddy Fermin a short-term placeholder.
Which is too bad, really, because Fermin is one of the few Padres who actually performed in the playoffs. While most of his teammates were getting handcuffed by Chicago Cubs pitchers, Fermin came through with multiple clutch hits. He doesn't excel in any one specific area, but he has proven to be a very solid player.
That’s not enough, though, at least not according to Brandon Glick of FriarsOnBase.com. He relied on former GM Jim Bowden of The Athletic to sum up the catching market, and Bowden has the Padres among the interested parties.
"I find the catching market interesting as the Nationals have joined the Rays, Padres, Astros, Brewers and Rangers in making calls to improve their depth at the position," Bowden wrote. "The teams getting the most calls and texts about catchers are the Orioles (on Adley Rutschman), the Royals (on prospect Blake Mitchell), the White Sox (on Edgar Quero) and the Mariners (on prospect Harry Ford)."
It’s hard to imagine the Padres going big on a catcher like Rutschman, but the Pads have already made one minor move, signing former catching prospect Luis Campusano to a one-year deal. Campusano isn’t the kind of defensive backup San Diego would love to have, but he does represent a flyer who could become a trade piece.
Several of the other names on Bowden’s laundry list are intriguing, however. The Chicago White Sox are actually operating from a rare position of strength when it comes to backstops, and while catcher Kyle Teel is probably beyond the Padres’ reach, Quero is an interesting name to watch.
The Padres could also go for a developmental player they trust more than Campusano given that they have Fermin under team control for for more years, so that’s another possibility to monitor.
All of this is basically a muddle until GM A.J. Preller gets extended, and it’s fair to wonder why that’s taking so long. Yes, the ownership situation is confusing, but the Padres obviously aren’t going to make a major move at GM, and the winter GM meetings are just over two weeks away.
There may be a couple of other minor moves between now and then, but the Padres need to lift the cone of silence here and get things settled so the fan base has some idea of what’s going on.