The Minnesota Twins have been rather quiet this offseason, but in the face of a potential ownership change, that isn't all that surprising.
The team has now finally made a notable move, landing former Top-25 prospect Diego Cartaya in a surprising deal with the Dodgers.
We have acquired C Diego Cartaya in the following trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers: pic.twitter.com/XmK04g68EK
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) January 9, 2025
Cartaya, an international prospect who received a $2.5 million signing bonus to join the Dodgers, was once considered the top catching prospect in all of baseball. Los Angeles DFA'ed him last week to make room for free agent signing Hye-Seong Kim.
In exchange, the Twins are sending Jose Vasquez to the Dodgers. The 20-year-old right hander has a 8.05 ERA in 57.0 career minor league innings, including a 4.99 mark in 30 2/3 innings in 2024.
Dodgers continue giving away former top prospects ahead of 2025 season
It may be hard to believe, but Cartaya isn't the only former Top-50 prospect the Dodgers have given away for little compensation in the past week.
A few days before this deal, Los Angeles swung a trade with the Reds that saw Gavin Lux head eastward to Cincinnati. In exchange, the Dodgers received Mike Sirota, the Reds' third-round pick in the 2024 MLB Draft (and a former draft pick of the Dodgers out of high school).
Sirota certainly possesses more upside than Vasquez, though it's worth noting that Lux had established himself at the MLB level prior to an ACL tear in 2023 that hurt his production last year.
In addition, Lux was merely a luxury after the Kim signing. Cartaya, on the other hand, was DFA'ed to make room for the KBO star, which means that the Dodgers were subject to lose him for nothing if they didn't complete a trade after Cartaya's time on waivers was up.
From the Twins' perspective, this deal makes a lot of sense, as they are taking a low-risk, high-reward flier on a prospect who was considered to be a surefire star behind the plate not even two years ago.
Notably, the Twins' 40-man roster is full and features four catchers (Cartaya, Ryan Jeffers, Jair Camargo, and Christian Vázquez).
The team cannot bank on their latest addition to be their catcher of the future after a down season in 2024, though he does make Vazquez or Jeffers even more expendable than they already were. Unless the team plans to carry three catchers on their major league roster in 2025, a follow-up move shouldn't be far behind.