The Twins have sent catcher Diego Cartaya outright to Triple-A Saint Paul, per Dan Hayes of The Athletic. There was no previous indication that he had been removed from the roster but it appears the club quietly put him on waivers recently. Their 40-man roster count drops to 39.
The Twins may have some specific plan for the roster spot they just opened but it’s also possible they just figured now was a good time to get Cartaya through waivers unclaimed. Once a top prospect, his stock was already at a low point to start this year, thanks to some subpar numbers at the plate in 2023 and 2024. He’s out to a horrendous start here in 2025, with a .080/.207/.200 line through seven Triple-A contests. He has struck out in 18 of his 29 plate appearances, an awful rate of 62.1%.
As of a few years ago, Cartaya was in the Dodgers’ system and one of the top prospects in the league. Baseball America had him as high as #18 overall going into the 2023 season. At that point, he had a combined .269/.380/.502 batting line and 136 wRC+ in his minor league career. He battled a number of injuries in that time, particularly in his back, but the results were clearly there when he was on the field.
But it’s been a downhill slide since then. Over the 2023 and 2024 seasons, he hit .205/.300/.371 in the minors for an 81 wRC+. The Dodgers, who had added him to their 40-man in November of 2022, designated him for assignment in January of this year when they signed Hyeseong Kim. He was flipped to the Twins for minor league right-hander Jose Vasquez.
As of a few months ago, his stock was down enough that he lost his roster spot with the Dodgers, but there was evidently still enough league-wide interest that the Twins gave up a minor leaguer to skip the waiver queue. But after his dreadful start this year, it appears the league’s view of him has dropped even further. 29 teams passed on the chance to grab him off waivers and stash him in Triple-A.
For the Twins, they have Ryan Jeffers and Christian Vázquez as their big league catchers. Should an injury situation pop up, Jair Camargo is still on the 40-man and playing at Triple-A. Cartaya will give them some non-roster depth and try to play his way back into a spot. Players need a previous career outright or three years of service time to have the right to reject an outright assignment. Cartaya has no major league service yet and this is his first career outright, so he’ll have to stick with the Saints.
Photo courtesy of Chris Tilley, Imagn Images