If the Twins come up empty in the free-agent catcher market, the Padres may be the team to call.
That’s the uncomfortable winter scenario Minnesota could be staring at. Ryan Jeffers might leave for a long-term deal, while Tyler Stephenson and Carson Kelly could land stronger offers somewhere else. Those three sit at the top of DiamondCentric’s free-agent catcher rankings, and if the Twins miss on all of them, the position suddenly looks thin.
Minnesota could chase a bigger swing in the trade market, with Hunter Goodman and Shea Langeliers among the names that have been floated in rumors for a while. But after letting Jeffers walk, it’s hard to imagine the Twins diving into that upper tier. Even with Victor Caratini already under contract, they’d still need at least one more catcher for the 2027 season, and maybe beyond.
That’s where San Diego enters the picture. The Padres have a catching logjam after one of their top prospects was called up to start behind the plate, and that could make Freddy Fermin or Luis Campusano available if the Twins need to pivot.
Fermin would be the cleaner defensive fit. Acquired from the Royals at the 2025 deadline, the 31-year-old hit .217/.276/.323 with six home runs in 404 plate appearances over his season and a half in San Diego.
The bat isn’t the selling point. The glove is.
In 2026, Fermin posted a Fielding Run Value of 9, which ranked eighth among catchers and well ahead of Caratini’s 19th-place mark. He also landed in the 86th percentile or better in blocks above average, caught stealing above average and pop time, while grading out as a well-above-average framer.
For Minnesota, that would mean a steady veteran behind the plate, even if the offense stays light.
Campusano brings the other side of the equation. He put together a .265/.363/.433 line with 8 homers in 248 plate appearances last year, and his 122 OPS+ outpaced Caratini’s 77, as well as Kelly’s 97 and Stephenson’s 101.
The former top prospect has never quite put it together over seven major-league seasons, but with Salas up and, as the source notes, ostensibly ready to be the future of the position in San Diego, Campusano could be the odd man out. He wasn’t as strong defensively, finishing with -3 FRV last season, a little worse than Jeffers.
Even so, he’d offer the Twins a more dangerous bat than Caratini and, if they can’t land a more established major-league catcher, more upside in the box.
The Padres, though, aren’t exactly waving the white flag on their catching depth. A.J. Preller made that clear Tuesday in Las Vegas.
"You think you have some catching, then there's an injury, which can happen at that spot, and all of a sudden, now you're searching for catching," Preller said, when asked how hard it would be to move any of his three backstops. "We've built up that spot.
We have three players that we feel like you can win in the playoffs with at that position. So we don't take that lightly."
Preller also pushed back on the idea that Salas has already locked down the job, saying the rookie still needs to show up to spring training and compete while also pointing to shortcomings he showed as a receiver and in handling the pitching staff. At the same time, he acknowledged that other teams have already checked in on the Padres’ catchers, so the door isn’t shut.
That means neither Fermin nor Campusano would come cheap. A trade for either one would require something in return, even if the price is relatively modest.
For the Twins, the appeal is simple: this doesn’t have to be a forever solution. Minnesota has catching prospects on the way, led by Vahn Lackey and Eduardo Tait, with Lackey potentially arriving as early as the end of the 2027 season. Fermin or Campusano would be bridge pieces, the kind of stopgap that could hold the position together for a year or two without forcing the club to spend big or empty out the farm system.
If the free-agent market dries up and the bigger trade targets stay out of reach, San Diego could give the Twins a workable answer until their own young catchers are ready.
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