The Rays Swap Out Their Catchers as the Brewers Add Depth Behind the Dish

The Rays have shuffled up their catchers just a few days before the trade deadline, first sending their starter Danny Jansen to the Brewers along with some cash in return for infielder Jadher Areinamo. Then, Tampa Bay followed it up with a second swap, this time bringing in Nick Fortes from the Marlins for outfielder Matthew Etzel.

While Jansen’s bat has fallen off significantly from his 2021-2023 seasons, when he posted a 120 wRC+ over 754 plate appearances for 6.0 WAR, he’s still an adequate part of a catching tandem and provides the occasional round-tripper. He’s slashing .204/.314/.389 with 11 home runs and a 98 wRC+ this season. His framing numbers have been down considerably the last few years, as well, enough to knock off just under a WAR per season or so from his overall value. Considering the Rays were practically certain to pay out Jansen’s $500,000 buyout rather than pick up their side of a $12 million mutual option, this looks like them getting what they can while the getting was good.

Areinamo’s swing is fascinating to watch, something that my colleague Eric Longenhagen discussed in his Rays prospect rundown. To me, his swing looks a bit like a cross between someone swinging a claymore in a Game of Thrones battlefield scene and Super Macho Man setting up a punch in the original Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! for the Nintendo.

He’s an aggressive slap hitter who will find an occasional homer, and he’s received significant time at the three non-first base infield positions. Milwaukee has been really slow to promote him, sending him back to High-A despite a really solid 2024 offensive line. He’s not an impressive defender, but the Rays have a good record of finding ways to use these Island of Misfit Toys-type players.

Areinamo actually gets a very young Jose Altuve as his no. 2 comp statistically, but also a lot of players who are far, far inferior to Altuve — Tommy Helms, Miguel Cairo, and Luis Rivas are probably the best of the rest of the top 20.

The Brewers, meanwhile, brought in Jansen to bolster their catching depth for the stretch run of the season. This is important considering the starter, William Contreras, has seen his bat disappear in his age-27 season, likely in large part because he’s been playing all year with a broken finger. Despite the pain, he’s still leading all catchers in defensive innings. At this point, there’s no reason to believe Contreras is going to stop playing because of that finger; even so, Jansen represents a major upgrade over current backup Eric Haase and should provide quality innings behind the plate whenever Milwaukee decides to give Contreras a break. Jansen doesn’t directly aid the Brewers in their battle with the Cubs, but he’s a pretty low-risk player who is worth having around.

The Rays, who remain in the thick of the AL Wild Card race, wasted no time in picking up Fortes from the Marlins. He is of similar value to Jansen but comes in a bit of a different package: Fortes provides a lot less offense but way more defense.

Crucially, because these are the Rays, he also comes with a lighter salary and three more years of club control before he hits free agency. It’s unlikely that Fortes will assume the starting job, as Tampa Bay will probably use him and Matt Thaiss in a relatively even timeshare. I also suspect that neither catcher will be on the roster next year. Instead, I think there’s a good chance the organization will take a serious look at Dominic Keegan in 2026, at least as the head of a catching tandem. Keegan’s no elite prospect, but he looks like he’ll stick at catcher, even if he probably won’t collect any Gold Glove awards. He’s hit wherever he’s been since the Rays drafted him in the fourth round in 2022, and he has a 118 wRC+ for Triple-A Durham across 140 plate appearances this year. Problem is, he also missed most of the first two months of this season with an elbow injury. Considering this, it makes more sense to give him as much development time as possible in a full-time role in the minors this year, rather than calling him up to be a part-time player in the majors. Fortes isn’t an inspiring catcher, but the Rays know what they’ll get from him, and he’s precisely the type of player they need as they balance contending in the short term with long-term success.

The Marlins don’t like to spend money, especially not when they’re in the early stages of a rebuild, and Fortes was increasingly looking like the odd man out and a possible non-tender candidate this fall. Miami has a lot of problems, but catching isn’t really one of them. With the Marlins going nowhere this season, they are rightly interested in giving the power-hitting Agustín Ramírez as many opportunities as possible behind the plate to see if he can handle catching at the major league level. Joe Mack is right behind Ramírez, and there’s no question that he can handle the defensive requirements of the position. And behind Mack is Ryan Ignoffo in Double-A, who looks like a highly competent defensive catcher whose offense has yet to hit a wall as he gets promoted through the minors.

Heading to the Marlins for Fortes is outfielder Etzel, a 2023 Orioles draft pick who was traded at least year’s deadline, along with two other prospects, to the Rays for Zach Eflin. Etzel is a bit of a long shot as a full-time starter, as his power hasn’t really developed, and for a player who relies on having a solid batting average, he has rather mediocre contact numbers. But he does boast above-average speed and can at least credibly play center field even if it’s not his forte. It’s not out of the realm of possibly that he shows up for the Marlins in a few years and gets some playing time as a reserve outfielder.