Two Trade Proposals to Send Twins Catcher Ryan Jeffers to the San Diego Padres

[Cody Christie]

Ryan Jeffers seems like a player who is part of the Twins' long-term plans, but sometimes, the front office must shake up the team’s core. Here are two trade proposals for sending Jeffers to the San Diego Padres.

Image courtesy of © Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

Few front offices are as aggressive or creative regarding trades as AJ Preller's San Diego Padres. After an offseason filled with bold moves and big contracts, the Padres are now in a peculiar spot. They need to shed payroll while addressing glaring roster needs, with catcher sitting near the top of that list. While Christian Vázquez has been a popular name linked to San Diego, another Twins catcher checks all the Preller boxes: Ryan Jeffers.

Jeffers is young, cost-controlled, and still carries significant upside. In many ways, he’s an ideal target for a Padres team trying to remain competitive while managing its finances. An argument can also be made for Minnesota to try to extend him. The Twins must find some wiggle room in their payroll to make additions, particularly if they can address a bullpen need or bolster their farm system in the process. Here are two trade scenarios that could make sense for both sides.

Proposal 1: A Cash-Neutral Swap for Wandy Peralta
The Padres have made it clear they’re looking to trim payroll (currently projected at over $200 million), but they can’t do so at the expense of roster functionality. Wandy Peralta is a veteran lefty who landed in San Diego before last season via free agency. He signed a four-year, $16.5-million contract, but each year is a player option for over $4 million per season. The Twins’ front office tends to avoid spending money on the bullpen, but Peralta’s track record might change their opinion. 

Peralta is a reliable bullpen arm with a knack for generating ground balls and neutralizing left-handed hitters (.649 career OPS vs. LHH). Still, he is a potential candidate to be moved if the Padres can find value in a different position. Last season, Peralta posted a 3.99 ERA with a 1.20 WHIP in 46 appearances. His most significant issue in recent seasons has been his propensity to allow home runs. Peralta’s home run rate has surged from 0.3 per nine innings in 2022 to 1.2 in 2023 to 1.4 in 2024. Perhaps the Twins can find a way for him to get back to his previous levels. 

In this scenario, the Twins send Jeffers straight-up to the Padres, for Peralta. The deal is cash-neutral, since Jeffers is projected to make $4.7 million in arbitration this year, but it provides both teams with something they need. The Padres get a youngish, controllable catcher, while the Twins add a dependable lefty to their bullpen, something the club is missing.

From Minnesota’s perspective, this deal may seem light in terms of return for Jeffers, but the Twins are in win-now mode, and acquiring a proven bullpen arm could pay immediate dividends. Meanwhile, the Padres shore up their catching situation without adding to their payroll, a win-win for Preller’s front office.

Proposal 2: A Multi-Team Deal with Salary Relief and Young Talent
If the Padres want to make a bigger splash, a three-team deal could be the answer. Let’s say the Padres want Jeffers and need to offload a chunk of their salary to stay under their own budget limit. Enter a third team, perhaps the Reds or Athletics, willing to absorb a contract like that of Luis Arraez or Dylan Cease in exchange for prospects.

The Padres receive Jeffers and cash relief in this scenario, by moving a mid-level salary. The Twins, meanwhile, could target one of the Padres’ intriguing young arms, like Henry Baez, Isaiah Lowe, or Victor Lizarraga. The third team gets involved by taking on salary, while picking up a low-level prospect or two from the Padres.

This trade offers long-term upside for the Twins by adding controllable pitching talent, while San Diego upgrades at catcher and clears some breathing room on the payroll. It’s the kind of outside-the-box maneuvering that Preller is known for, and could satisfy all parties involved.

Why Jeffers is a Fit for San Diego
Jeffers represents everything the Padres covet: youth, affordability, and potential. He’s coming off a season in which he posted a .791 OPS while playing in a career-high 122 games. Over the last two seasons, he has been worth -15 runs defensively, but he performed better in CS Above Average and Pop Time last season. While Vázquez might be the more obvious trade choice given his expiring contract, Jeffers’s age (27) and contract status make him an appealing medium-term piece.

Multiple contending teams would likely want to add Jeffers, but the Padres are a natural fit. Whether it’s a straight swap for immediate help (like Peralta) or a more complex deal involving multiple teams, there are paths to making this work. Twins fans, stay tuned: this could get interesting.

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Which trade proposal makes the most sense for the Twins? Should the front office attempt to trade Jeffers? Leave a comment and start the discussion. 

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[gmwannabe]

Neither! Who's catching to replace him?

[Cory Engelhardt]

I don't hate this thinking. I do think the Padres would have to send a prospect WITH Peralta to make that work, but I'd be open to this. More moves would be coming, but something like this would definitely help the bullpen

[DJL44]

4 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

I don't hate this thinking. I do think the Padres would have to send a prospect WITH Peralta to make that work, but I'd be open to this. More moves would be coming, but something like this would definitely help the bullpen

They have more relievers than they can fit on the roster already. Why would they trade their starting catcher for an expensive relief pitcher? If they want an expensive reliever they can just sign one as a free agent.

[Cory Engelhardt]

1 minute ago, DJL44 said:

They have more relievers than they can fit on the roster already. Why would they trade their starting catcher for an expensive relief pitcher? If they want an expensive reliever they can just sign one as a free agent.

I agree with you, I'm saying IF this move is made, San Diego would have to attach a good prospect with Peralta to make it work. I don't think at all that it's a fair 1-1.

[Twins GFP]

I stopped reading when you suggested trading a young, reliable starting catcher for a reliever.

Amazing some of the thought processes out there.

[Byrdman]

I know Twinsdaily readers hate Jeffers but he is part of the core of this team.  This trade would leave a big giant hole at catcher for this year and after 2025 when Vazquez leaves.  Jeffers will not get traded unless we some how find another catcher. I want the Twins to extend him for 4-5 years. You will not find a better catcher in the FA world for the cost. 

[Parfigliano]

1 minute ago, Byrdman said:

I know Twinsdaily readers hate Jeffers but he is part of the core of this team.  This trade would leave a big giant hole at catcher for this year and after 2025 when Vazquez leaves.  Jeffers will not get traded unless we some how find another catcher. I want the Twins to extend him for 4-5 years. You will not find a better catcher in the FA world for the cost. 

I don't hate Jeffers.  Extend him.

[chpettit19]

Better be the 2nd of 2 trades because you can't trade your only MLB quality catcher without having first brought in another one.

[hitterscount]

Thank the stars you are not a GM,…  

[tony&rodney]

All of us seeking to improve the current roster need to be cognizant of positional needs. We can suggest a trade of any pitcher or position player who stands in fair territory and know there is someone else to slide into the moved guy's spot even if at a reduced performance.  We cannot suggest a trade of a catcher that leaves the team with only one catcher. The game of baseball requires a catcher and it might not be reasonable to expect Vazquez or anyone to catch all 162 games. The Twins do not have anyone right now in their minor league system who can fill in. No, Gasper and Camargo do not qualify. So this article is flawed on the front end. Make a suggestion for how the Twins can acquire a catcher before any consideration of removing one currently in place.

[Rod Carews Birthday]

Trading Jeffers means at the end of this year you have no MLB catchers signed past the end of this year (unless they trade for someone else).  I suppose it’s a clean slate, but I’m not sure it’s one I want to deal with.  

[Doctor Gast]

I like your thinking that we need a high-leverage LHRP & SD has a need for a catcher. We need these ideas to brainstorm what we should do. But the trade is a huge overpay. Jeffers has a much higher trade value over Peralta & his high salary even if you include all those promising arms. IMO our greatest need is our catching depth. IMO SD will try to unload Arraez not only because of his salary but like Jeffers, Boras is his agent so they wouldn't be able to afford his extension. So your idea to trade Jeffers has merit. But I'd use Jeffers to lure a trade to obtain a young promising MLB-ready future catcher away from a win-now team. I'd also target a 2nd promising young MLB-ready catcher because we also need a viable 3rd catcher. And soon we'll be w/o Vazquez & Jeffers or worse yet, they extend Jeffers to a ridiculous contract. 

BTW, I'm not a Jeffers hater & I'm not a Julien hater. My opinion on both Jeffers & Julien last year is the same, If the Twins are determined to misplace Julien at 2B (when we had better options there) it's better to trade him when his trade value is high. Last year when the Twins misplaced Jeffers as the primary catcher it was better to trade him because we don't have a long-term future primary catcher who can catch the majority of games, his trade value was very high & it doesn't make sense to extend him to a ridiculous extension or not extend him & let him go for nothing. This year their trade values have dropped considerably but it's still prudent to trade both.

[Whitey333]

Let's dump Lopez and Vasquez to the Braves for their top three prospects as proposed elsewhere.  I'm not sure how Jeffers is rated so highly when he only plays half the games.  No I don't dislike him.  I'm just saying I think he is probably over hyped.  I kind of like your ideas.

[tony&rodney]

2 minutes ago, Whitey333 said:

Let's dump Lopez and Vasquez to the Braves for their top three prospects as proposed elsewhere.  I'm not sure how Jeffers is rated so highly when he only plays half the games.  No I don't dislike him.  I'm just saying I think he is probably over hyped.  I kind of like your ideas.

The top three prospects, on MLB.com, are pitchers and their fourth highest guy is a shortstop. Every team needs two catchers. Think of actions to bring in a catcher before thinking of any ideas to deal a catcher.

[KnoblauchWasFramed]

For comedic value I give this article a 10/10.  Well done!  

[CRF]

I suppose you guys have to write about something...

[Jocko87]

Quote

Jeffers represents everything the Padres covet: youth, affordability, and potential. 

[Riverbrian]

I don't see the virtue in becoming what the Padres are currently at the catcher position. I don't see the virtue of digging the same hole that you are helping the Padres fill. This is targeting the Padres for a trade because they have need and ignoring that we will be creating the same need for ourselves but even worse.   

These trade ideas would leave the Padres with Jeffers and Campusano while the Twins have Vazquez and ???

IMO... I'd take Campusano over Vazquez so they would have two catchers better than anything we currently have.      

I do not recommend trading a catcher until the Twins show that they can develop a replacement. The Twins will not show development of a replacement as long Camargo sits and watches Vazquez OPS .575 

One last thought on this whole mess. Ryan Jeffers's trade value was sky high following the 2023 season. He was one of the best hitting catchers in the game with an OPS of .858 that year. Last off-season was the time trade Jeffers. 

Trading him for financial reasons this off-season after a drop to .732 OPS in 2024. That would show everyone that the front office has the inability to time the market... Selling Low instead of Selling high.

By waiting until this off-season to trade him, not only will you get less for him but you will also force yourself to over pay for a catcher the following year because Vazquez will also be gone leaving you with ZERO. This is why Camargo on the bench watching Vazquez OPS .575 last year was a huge deal. This increases the odds that the Twins spend payroll they don't have to acquire another Vazquez type talent. 

If the Twins have to move a catcher this year... Vazquez is the only one that makes sense  because he is a drain on resources and he can't hit. While acquiring Vazquez will make very little sense to the other teams because he is a drain on resources and he can't hit.  

They need to let Camargo show that he can be a viable option in 2026 by being a viable option in 2025. I'm not to comfortable with that after they just by-passed 2024 for unchallengeable, irreplaceable .575 OPS.  

They have chosen to put all of their catcher eggs into the Jeffers Vazquez basket. I'm afraid that they must lie in the broken yolks of the basket they made. 

 

[Cory Engelhardt]

So the Twins just got Diego Cartaya from the Dodgers for low level minor league pitcher Jose Vazquez.

Just throwing this on here, as they did add decent depth to the catching in the organization today. Hopefully Cartaya can find his bat again. 

[jud6312]

I'm glad you're not working in the front office.

[sweetmusicviola16]

10 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

So the Twins just got Diego Cartaya from the Dodgers for low level minor league pitcher Jose Vazquez.

Just throwing this on here, as they did add decent depth to the catching in the organization today. Hopefully Cartaya can find his bat again. 

Nice pickup. Maybe Zoll is listening in on our discussions. 

[sweetmusicviola16]

In  looking at both of these proposals, no. I'm not against trading Jeffers but we'd need to get an ML ready Catcher in return. It would likely need to be a 3 team deal then. Trade Jeffers alone then you're left with Vazquez as the starter. No.

[Riverbrian]

6 hours ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

So the Twins just got Diego Cartaya from the Dodgers for low level minor league pitcher Jose Vazquez.

Just throwing this on here, as they did add decent depth to the catching in the organization today. Hopefully Cartaya can find his bat again. 

Huge News - I don't know anything about Vazquez... but I don't care.

This is a very necessary dice roll in consideration of our catching depth system wide.

Cartaya may go down in flames because he's been a rolling stone downward to get him to this price point but, they got to give him every opportunity to become something of value... so toss them dice.  

The ceiling is potentially huge for the Twins, the floor is a temporary waste of a 40 man roster spot.

In the meantime, 2026 is going to need a catcher on the roster. 

Cartaya has just become a Twins player who will get a decent sized portion of my fingers crossing, wishing on a shooting star allotment. 

  

[bean5302]

These proposals reflect an extremely negative outlook on Jeffers or what I consider to be an indefensibly positive outlook on Wandy Peralta. Jeffers has proven to be a solid starting catcher who is making a very friendly $5MM in arbitration this year, and who is still under team control for what looks like a favorable $8MM-ish next year? Conversely, Wandy Peralta is a consecutive year negative WAR player with 2 additional player options beyond this year. Peralta is an aging, mostly neutral to negative WAR pitcher throughout his stunningly lengthy career.

BTV has Peralta as -9.7 in value, Jeffers as a +16.2 in value. In order to make the deal whole, the Padres would have to throw in a top 50 MLB prospect just to balance this out. It's a truly stunning trade proposal.

Assuming the Twins would be willing to part with their only likely MLB caliber catcher on the roster, I expect this trade would be possible if the Padres included Luis Campusano AND Kavares Tears.

[Charleo]

The Twins are in "win-now" mode?     If you say so.....

[In My La Z boy]

3 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

The top three prospects, on MLB.com, are pitchers and their fourth highest guy is a shortstop. Every team needs two catchers. Think of actions to bring in a catcher before thinking of any ideas to deal a catcher.

Whitey was proposing trading Vazquez not Jeffers. I've been reading articles for months on trading Vazquez and NOT for a catcher. I don't understand this comment. I like the idea of trading Vazquez and giving Jeffers 135 games.

[tony&rodney]

3 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

  3 hours ago, Whitey333 said:

Let's dump Lopez and Vasquez to the Braves for their top three prospects as proposed elsewhere.  I'm not sure how Jeffers is rated so highly when he only plays half the games.  No I don't dislike him.  I'm just saying I think he is probably over hyped.  I kind of like your ideas.

Suggested SP Lopez + C Vazquez for 3 top prospects from Atlanta.

13 minutes ago, In My La Z boy said:

3 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

The top three prospects, on MLB.com, are pitchers and their fourth highest guy is a shortstop. Every team needs two catchers. Think of actions to bring in a catcher before thinking of any ideas to deal a catcher.

Whitey was proposing trading Vazquez not Jeffers. I've been reading articles for months on trading Vazquez and NOT for a catcher. I don't understand this comment. I like the idea of trading Vazquez and giving Jeffers 135 games.

No mention of Jeffers in my reply. Nothing changes because the Twins cannot trade either catcher if there is not an MLB ready replacement already in place via done deal or in fact agreement.

Jeffers cannot catch 135 games any more than a starting pitcher goes 250-300 innings. Catching is brutal.

[Trov]

This idea just seems odd.  We are stuck on payroll, so we are going to take on payroll from a team that is looking to dump payroll as well? 

[In My La Z boy]

21 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

Suggested SP Lopez + C Vazquez for 3 top prospects from Atlanta.

No mention of Jeffers in my reply. Nothing changes because the Twins cannot trade either catcher if there is not an MLB ready replacement already in place via done deal or in fact agreement.

Jeffers cannot catch 135 games any more than a starting pitcher goes 250-300 innings. Catching is brutal.

That's silly. 8 catchers played over 135 games last year, and we cannot afford a 10M back up catcher.
Jason Kendall played 15 seasons and AVERAGED 135 games per year. The article was about trading Jeffers which is crazy. Trading Vazquez, as TD has written repeatedly about, isn't about needing another catcher in return, it's about salary relief, and he's not that good anymore obviously.