Twins acquire catcher Diego Cartaya from Dodgers; arbitration eligible players all agree to contracts

Only two years ago Diego Cartaya was considered one of the top catching prospects in all the minor leagues, and now the Twins are accepting the task of trying to fix him.

The Twins acquired Cartaya in a trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday for minor league righthander Jose Vasquez. Cartaya was designated for assignment last Friday, giving the Dodgers a week to trade him or place him on waivers.

Cartaya, 23, played 95 games between Class AA and AAA last year, batting .221 with 11 homers, 52 RBI and 113 strikeouts. The Dodgers made him expendable because they have All-Star catcher Will Smith signed to a long-term contract and he was surpassed by another catcher prospect Dalton Rushing.

Named the Dodgers Minor League Player of the Year in 2022, Cartaya’s star began to dim after he struggled at Class AA Tulsa in 2023. He hit .189 with 117 strikeouts in 344 at-bats while recording 19 homers and 57 RBI. He’s always shown good power — Baseball America rated him as the Dodgers’ No. 1 prospect before the 2022 and ’23 seasons, and he played in the 2022 MLB Futures Game — but his strikeout rate spiked once he reached the upper levels of the minor leagues.

Vasquez, 20, hasn’t pitched above the Dominican Summer League level. He had a 4.99 ERA in 30 innings last year with 45 strikeouts and 15 walks.

Cartaya, a Venezuela native, filled the last open spot on the Twins’ 40-man roster. The Twins now have five catchers on their 40-man roster: Cartaya, Ryan Jeffers, Christian Vázquez, Jair Camargo and Mickey Gasper. Without any changes, Cartaya and Camargo are lined up to receive the bulk of the catching opportunities at Class AAA while Gasper is a utility player who can catch.

The Twins reached one-year contracts with all eight of their remaining arbitration-eligible players Thursday, so they will avoid any arbitration hearings, and they have a more complete picture of their current payroll.

The Twins have $122.1 million committed to 17 players for the upcoming season, which includes all their players on long-term contracts and arbitration-eligible players who settled earlier in the offseason. The Twins, one of eight clubs who have yet to sign a major league free agent this winter, currently have an estimated Opening Day payroll close to $130 million. The Twins are expected to keep their payroll at the same level as last year, which was $130 million.

Among the eight arbitration-eligible players who reached deals Thursday, Castro, a 2024 All-Star, is the only one set to become a free agent after the coming season.

The Twins contemplated moving Jax to the starting rotation, a move that yielded success for several converted relievers around the league last year, such as Garrett Crochet, Reynaldo López and Seth Lugo.

“Our plan is to keep Griff in the bullpen for 2025,” Jeremy Zoll, the new Twins general manager, said on the team’s “Inside Twins” radio show Wednesday. “Obviously, he was tremendously valuable in 2024. We feel like he’s one of the best relievers in the game and feel really good about that role and plan for the upcoming year. We know Griff is excited about that as well.”