*Photo from Marlin Maniac*
With two catchers who didn't have the best production, the San Diego Padres went searching for an upgrade, which took them to South Florida. The Padres have acquired C Jorge Alfaro from the Miami Marlins in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations, according to Craig Mish of SportsGrid. Both teams have confirmed the deal.
The acquisition of Alfaro is a familiar tune for Padres president of baseball operations AJ Preller. He was originally signed by the Texas Rangers in 2010, as an amateur free agent. It's more notable when you see that Preller was with the scouting department with the Rangers at the time, so he has more information on Alfaro then meets the eye.
With the trade for Alfaro, the Padres improve a position that had poor production in 2021. Projected starting catcher Austin Nola dealt with injuries all season and didn't get as much playing time as anyone expected. Victor Caratini, suddenly dealing with the lions share of the workload, didn't perform as well as hoped, with the Padres catchers combining for a 76 wRC+ and a -0.2 WAR last season, per FanGraphs.
In his 3rd season with the Marlins last year, Alfaro hit for a .244 batting average and a .625 OPS, slugging .342 and hitting just 4 home runs, driving in 30 runs while stealing 8 bases, playing in 92 games for the Marlins in 2021. Alfaro possesses hard contact, one of the highest rates in baseball, but also continually has high strikeout rates while hitting, something the Padres would love to cut back on.
Across 6 big league seasons split between the Marlins and Philadelphia Phillies, Alfaro has a career .258 batting average and .707 OPS, hitting 40 home runs and driving in 154 runs, playing in 396 career regular season games. In just two playoff games, Alfaro has failed to get on base in 3 plate appearances, coming in the 2020 NLDS.
By acquiring Alfaro, the Padres will have to shuffle playing time between the 3 of Alfaro, Nola, and Caratini. Alfaro does have experience in left field, and Nola can play first base, as well as some other infield. The universal DH is also expected to be in effect in 2021, giving another potential spot for either Nola, Caratini, or Alfaro, with top catching prospect Luis Campusano waiting in the wings, likely to start at Triple A with now 3 big league caliber catchers ahead of him.
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