I guess the Pedro Severino PED suspension came along at just the right time for the Padres.
With the Brewers suddenly in need of a capable big league back-up, and with the Padres having a major glut at catcher, there was a natural fit for a trade, bringing an old friend back to the NL Central:
The Padres have traded catcher Victor Caratini to the Brewers.
Logic dictates that means Jorge Alfaro has made the club.
Padres get a couple prospects in return.— Kevin Acee (@sdutKevinAcee) April 6, 2022
Caratini, of course, was part of the Yu Darvish trade last year, but had a rough go of it in San Diego (.227/.309/.323, 72 wRC+, slightly below average defense overall). He’ll now try to right the ship as the Brewers’ back-up (and they’ll figure out what to do when Severino returns at mid-season). I can’t wish ill on Caratini, but, I mean, I guess I don’t hope for him to save the Brewers’ season or anything?
As for the trade return, it’s not much:
The Padres are getting Korry Howell and Brett Sullivan from Milw for Caratini
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) April 6, 2022
Howell is 23 and struggled at Double-A, and Sullivan, 28, was one of the back-up, back-up catcher options the Brewers clearly didn’t want to lean on. Since Caratini was sufficiently rough last year that he was a debatable non-tender candidate, this makes sense, to be fair.