NEWSLETTER
The San Diego Padres loaded up aggressively over the past two years, pushing themselves into position for a serious multi-year run. Good on them. Unfortunately you cannot assume that every addition will work out, or stay healthy, as they saw with Mike Clevinger’s almost immediate injury upon acquisition from the Indians. He’ll miss this year after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
Another of the Padres’ acquisitions last year was catcher Austin Nola, a later-breaking-out player with the Mariners, and set to be the team’s top catcher this year, paired with new back-up Victor Caratini. Unfortunately, he is also now hurt:
Austin Nola has a fractured middle finger. He took a foul tip off his glove hand during yesterday's game. Jayce Tingler said Nola will undergo a couple days of treatment before the Padres determine a plan going forward.
— Dennis Lin (@dennistlin) March 14, 2021
New Padres starting catcher, Victor Caratini?
The Padres have big-time catching prospect Luis Campusano on the 40-man roster, though it’s not clear that he’s seen as ready for the big leagues yet, having played at High-A in 2019 (it would be like Miguel Amaya coming up this year and making starts for the Cubs in April). The Padres also have a trio of non-roster catchers in camp, though I can’t say I’m familiar with them (Juan Fernandez, Webster Rivas, and Wynston Sawyer). So, then, it makes me wonder if the Padres will try to make an external addition quickly.
There aren’t many teams out there where I’d even question whether they’d consider adding another catcher in mid-Spring Training, but with the Padres, you just can’t rule much out. It’s tough to get a new catcher into camp at this point, working with your pitchers, and getting things sufficiently comfortable that you’re in a good spot for April. But the Padres just kinda do things a little differently than most clubs. Heck, they’re the team that put together a monster trade for Craig Kimbrel some years ago on Opening Day.
Odds are good, even if Nola is going to miss a lot of time, the Padres will simply pick up the best available veteran back-up, and pair him with Caratini for a while. But if Nola is ultimately expected to miss a lot of time? The Padres will have to decide how aggressive they want to be, given all that they’ve invested in their near-term window.
As for certain old rumors: no, I don’t think the Padres will come calling about Willson Contreras. That just seems like too massive of a change to the very core of your roster, at this stage of Spring Training, based on a broken finger (which is to say nothing of the Cubs’ transition from sell mode to competing mode). Sure, the Padres have been aggressive before, and sure, there were past rumors about interest in Contreras. But I do not see a deal realistically coming together at this stage that the Padres would push and the Cubs would accept.
At last check, Tyler Flowers and Matt Wieters were still out there in free agency if the Padres wanted to quickly make an addition.
