SF Giants reportedly sign former Dodgers top prospect to minor league deal

The SF Giants have reportedly added some more catching depth to the organization. According to Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase, they have signed former top Dodgers prospect Diego Cartaya to a minor league deal.

SF Giants reportedly sign former Dodgers top prospect to minor league deal

You can never have enough catching. The Giants have experienced pretty much running out of catching depth at various points in recent seasons. There was a brief point this season where the depth had run bare, as the Giants dealt with injuries on the major league roster.

They want to avoid being in a spot where they have to call up another team to sign a catcher from one of their minor league affiliates. That happened last season, when they reunited with Curt Casali while the rest of the team's catching depth had been stretched thin.

Diego Cartaya joins Logan Porter, Sam Huff, Austin Barnes, Onil Perez, and Adrián Sugastey as catchers in the upper minors. Max Stassi has been on the injured list with the Sacramento River Cats for the much of the season.

The Los Angeles Dodgers originally signed Cartaya as an international free agent out of Venezuela during the 2018 cycle. He was regarded as one of the top prospects, along with Marco Luciano, in that signing cycle. Cartaya received a $2.5 million signing bonus.

For years, the young backstop was regarded as one of the top prospects in baseball, ranking as high as No. 14 according to MLB.Com prior to the 2023 season. His best season came in 2021, when he hit .298/.409/.614 (158 wRC+) with 10 home runs, 31 RBI, and 31 runs in 137 plate appearances with the Dodgers' Low-A affiliate.

Overall, the right-handed bat has posted a .230/.335/.422 line across six minor league seasons. This includes an 11.4 percent walk rate, 28.2 percent strikeout rate, and .192 ISO. He had struggled in recent seasons, leading to a trade to the Minnesota Twins this past offseason. Cartaya struggled badly with the Twins organization, recording a .353 OPS and 40 strikeouts in 69 plate appearances. He was released by the Twins last week, but could be a nice buy-low option for Sacramento to finish out the season.