Getting the catcher position right is crucial for any Major League Baseball team that wants to be a World Series contender.
The Minnesota Twins have struggled to find a consistently impactful catching tandem since Mitch Garver (3.9 fWAR) and Jason Castro (1.1 fWAR) played off each other in 2019. Minnesota’s catchers ranked as the third-highest total fWAR in baseball that year.
Minnesota has always wanted a catching tandem that shares the plate. It allows those playing a physically demanding position to be well-rested and better impact their hitting and fielding.
Ryan Jeffers and Christian Vazquez had successful stretches. However, they have struggled to produce consistently, especially simultaneously.
After their collapse at the end of the 2024 season and the same payroll limit expected for 2025, assuming that the Twins shake up certain parts of the roster is reasonable. Fans could see them overhaul their catching room during the winter, especially considering Minnesota’s catchers only compiled 2.3 fWAR, which was 16th best in baseball as a position. Re-shuffling the catcher’s room sounds much easier on paper.
Jeffers has put together stretches of excellent production at the plate while improving his defense each season. Last year, Jeffers experienced his highest highs and lowest lows. Jeffers was on an All-Star path through May 31. He smashed 12 home runs and slashed .256/.345/.547 with a 150 OPS+ in his first 51 games of 2024.
However, Jeffers only mustered a .615 OPS and a 74 wRC+ in Minnesota’s final 71 games. As a result, they moved Jeffers from the primary catcher to the backup.
The Twins Vazquez brought in on a three-year, $30 million contract to stabilize the backstop unit at Target Field. His first season in Minnesota was a disappointment with a .598 OPS, a 65 OPS+, and 0.9 fWAR over 102 games played. Minnesota likely regretted that contract after his first season, and it got worse last year. He was worse statistically with a .575 OPS, 60 wRC+, and a 0.8 fWAR over 93 games in 2024.
So, the simplest option seems to be dumping Vazquez. The Twins would get out of the contract, save some money, and open up a spot to improve the catching room for 2025 with Jeffers.
However, any move to get rid of Vazquez will likely be one-sided. The Twins would have to eat most of that remaining $10 million, something unappealing for a team on a budget. Minnesota’s prospect return would be minimal, creating a potential sunk-cost fallacy. Is Vazquez that bad that he’s worth paying him to play against them? It was reasonable to think Vazquez will bounce back. A .686 OPS and 93 wRC+ after June 1 couldn’t save him from a worse year than in 2023. After back-to-back seasons of regression and Vazquez’s age-35 season coming in 2025, the team should not run it back.
Trading Jeffers would meaningfully shake up the roster. The return for Jeffers would be more valuable than Vazquez, whose contract comes off the books in 2026. Jeffers may have the stronger bat, but the Twins could decide that his full potential will never come to pass and trade while his value is still high.
It would be similar to when the Twins traded Garver to the Texas Rangers. They traded Garver to make room for Jeffers. However, Minnesota doesn’t have anyone on the depth chart waiting for a starting spot behind the plate this year.
It seems unlikely they would move Jeffers. MLB Trade Rumors projects him to make $4.7 million in 2025, compared to Vazquez’s $10 million. He’s also under team control until 2027.
By trading Jeffers, the Twins would admit that they believe he can’t improve his production. It also would mean that whoever comes back would almost certainly be a catcher like Jeffers. The gamble of Jeffers figuring it out compared to trading for someone similar to Jeffers with likely the same question marks isn’t wise. Trading Jeffers would be a shakeup, but little more than that.
Getting rid of either Major League catcher would be easier if Minnesota had more internal catching depth. There are a couple of internal prospects, such as MLB.com’s No. 15 prospect Ricardo Olivar and No. 27 prospect Khadim Diaw. However, both are expected to reach the big leagues sometime in 2026 or 2027. The Twins want to win now and can’t wait for either.
Jair Camargo is the closest minor-league catcher to make an impact for the Twins. However, Minnesota doesn’t seem to trust him behind the plate. They called him up multiple times during the 2024 season, but Rocco Baldeli rarely used him.
In four career big league games, Camargo has two appearances at DH with two starts, while he has no starts at catcher with only two appearances behind the plate. Camargo’s .143 OPS isn’t enough for the Twins to move on from Jeffers or Vazquez and make him their franchise catcher.
The Twins must have another major-league-ready option to trade Jeffers or Vazquez. Minnesota could pursue some options in the free-agent market.
Travis d’Arnaud had a .738 OPS and an 89.9 MPH exit velocity in 2024 with the Atlanta Braves. He likely won’t get above the $8 million he made in 2024 because the club declined his 2025 club option for that same price for a man who will be 36 next Opening Day.
Yasmani Grandal could be another option. He made $2.5 million in 2024, and the 35-year-old is unlikely to demand more this year. He had a .704 OPS, a 91.1 MPH average exit velocity, and a .704 OPS with the Pittsburgh Pirates last year. His defense could be a huge swing for Grandal. Baseball Savant put him in the 86th percentile for pitch framing last year. As a switch hitter, Grandal could also play a role in Minnesota.
The math comes down to this: Does a potential free-agent catcher come to Minnesota and be noticeably more consistent than Jeffers or Vazquez?
If you’re already paying Vazquez and a different catcher, and that catcher underperformed Vazquez, the move would have no value. And it’s not just at the plate. Vazquez was in the 84th percentile of pitch framers while averaging plus-4 run value in 2023. His contract is an albatross. Still, the solution for getting out of the deal isn’t a simple situation for the Twins.
While catchers are not the most important position in the lineup, they are an extremely valuable piece to any contending team. The Twins are in a spot where the catching tandem of Jeffers and Vazquez might not be back together again in 2025. However, moving either might not be in the club’s best interest. Nobody would blame the team for jumping ship on the Vazquez contract, but the grass might not be greener on the other side from a value perspective.
