Twins Trade Jhonny Pereda to Seattle Mariners

[Cody Christie]

On Tuesday, the Minnesota Twins sent catcher Jhonny Pereda to the Seattle Mariners for cash considerations. Pereda was designated for assignment on Friday as the club managed a crowded catching situation from several offseason moves.

Pereda joined the Twins as experienced depth and did exactly what the organization asked of him when injuries and roster needs created an opening last season. The Venezuelan-born catcher appeared in 28 games with Minnesota and the Athletics in 2025, slashing .246/.325/.333 (.658 ) with an 84 OPS+. Across his major league career, he has appeared in 48 games, compiling a .241 average in 118 plate appearances.

While the offensive production at the major league level has been modest, Pereda has long been valued internally for his defensive reliability and work with pitching staffs. He owns a strong arm and a solid overall defensive reputation, traits that have helped him carve out a lengthy professional career. In the upper minors, he has been a consistently productive hitter, slashing .296/.392/.419 (.811) across nearly 1000 Triple-A plate appearances.

The reality for the Twins is that the catching picture changed significantly this winter. The signing of Victor Caratini to a two-year deal gave the club a veteran complement to Ryan Jeffers. New manager Derek Shelton expects Jeffers to handle close to 100 games behind the plate this season. Caratini provides flexibility with the ability to contribute at first base or designated hitter,

Earlier this winter, the Twins traded for Alex Jackson, another catcher, from the Orioles in exchange for minor league infielder Payton Eeles. Jackson doesn’t have any minor league options, so it might be a situation where the Twins carry three catchers. However, it's hard to imagine any team surrendering a valuable bench spot to a catcher who would be used sparingly.

With Pereda, the numbers simply did not work on the 40-man roster. Moving him now allows another organization to benefit from his depth and experience while giving the Twins additional roster clarity heading toward spring training.

Pereda’s career reflects perseverance. Signed internationally by the Cubs in 2013, he spent over a decade in the minors, passing through several organizations before reaching the majors in 2024. His journey has earned respect and trust in the clubhouse.

As camp nears, the Twins will keep evaluating roster fit, especially behind the plate. Moving Pereda reflects a logjam from offseason additions, not his ability. More adjustments may come as Minnesota fine-tunes the roster for Opening Day.

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[jorgenswest]

Cardenas or Olivar or maybe Winkel could be battling for third catcher. I don’t know if any of them are close to ready to be a number 2 catcher but the AAA innings behind the plate are best used developing them.

[Riverbrian]

10 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

Cardenas or Olivar or maybe Winkel could be battling for third catcher. I don’t know if any of them are close to ready to be a number 2 catcher but the AAA innings behind the plate are best used developing them.

I get the 40 man pressure. Someone has to go. Having 4 catchers on the 40 man roster is a little on the high side. Pereda probably doesn't matter but Seattle grabbed him because he's a cheap third catcher. The Twins may need one of those.  

 

[nicksaviking]

10 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

I get the 40 man pressure. Someone has to go. Having 4 catchers on the 40 man roster is a little on the high side. Pereda probably doesn't matter but Seattle grabbed him because he's a cheap third catcher. The Twins may need one of those.  

 

This just looks like compounding the mistake of trading for Jackson. The best feature of a 3rd catcher is if he has options. Or even better yet, is not rostered at all and can hang out in AAA all year if unneeded. 

They should have acknowledged the Jackson mistake and just cut him loose now. I mean, no other team is going to want an out of options 3rd catcher, and how many teams would he even be their second catcher? He may have easily cleared waivers.

They're already setting up this season for another round of roster mis-management.

[Riverbrian]

1 minute ago, nicksaviking said:

This just looks like compounding the mistake of trading for Jackson. The best feature of a 3rd catcher is if he has options. Or even better yet, is not rostered at all and can hang out in AAA all year if unneeded. 

They should have acknowledged the Jackson mistake and just cut him loose now. I mean, no other team is going to want an out of options 3rd catcher, and how many teams would he even be their second catcher? He may have easily cleared waivers.

They're already setting up this season for another round of roster mis-management.

Yeah... that is certainly a major factor in my concern. 

Concern over Pereda by himself isn't worth losing sleep over. The allocation spent on the Catcher position might be worth losing sleep over. Pereda as our #3 stashed in St. Paul isn't a bad place to be. 

Eeles may be worthless, he may be worth something. However, he is minor league depth that doesn't require a roster spot at a position that currently has Gray, Kreidler and Arcia fighting for a 26 man spot. 

Jeffers catching over 100 games puts Caratini at 1B and DH nearly an equal amount as catcher or we are paying 7 million for a 62 game or less at catcher. We have also invested 7 million in Bell. Bell will have to yield playing time in order for Caratini to get non-catcher AB's.

Offensively... Caratini is not statistically better than Larnach. 

If Jeffers isn't traded... We are using a catcher to improve our offense at key offensive positions at the expense of Bell and possibly Larnach. Where have we gained by spending a total of 15 million on the catcher position.

Pereda could have helped manage these expenses.  

 

[jorgenswest]

20 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

I get the 40 man pressure. Someone has to go. Having 4 catchers on the 40 man roster is a little on the high side. Pereda probably doesn't matter but Seattle grabbed him because he's a cheap third catcher. The Twins may need one of those.  

 

Absolutely true. Now they are stuck trying to finish developing one in AAA. This is a win if Cardenas or one of the others is that capable third catcher the next three or more years. Maybe with the opportunity the advance to number 2. It is a risk also. They could lose Jackson at the end of spring and then get an April injury to a catcher. I am OK with the risk. 

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

26 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

This just looks like compounding the mistake of trading for Jackson. The best feature of a 3rd catcher is if he has options. Or even better yet, is not rostered at all and can hang out in AAA all year if unneeded. 

They should have acknowledged the Jackson mistake and just cut him loose now. I mean, no other team is going to want an out of options 3rd catcher, and how many teams would he even be their second catcher? He may have easily cleared waivers.

They're already setting up this season for another round of roster mis-management.

This front office has an uncanny ability to double down on mistakes.

[nicksaviking]

11 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

Absolutely true. Now they are stuck trying to finish developing one in AAA. This is a win if Cardenas or one of the others is that capable third catcher the next three or more years. Maybe with the opportunity the advance to number 2. It is a risk also. They could lose Jackson at the end of spring and then get an April injury to a catcher. I am OK with the risk. 

Everybody should be OK with this, because Jackson is a 30-year-old journeyman. He's likely the exact same player you're going to get off of the waiver wire if you are forced to fill the hole that way.

[Riverbrian]

18 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

Absolutely true. Now they are stuck trying to finish developing one in AAA. This is a win if Cardenas or one of the others is that capable third catcher the next three or more years. Maybe with the opportunity the advance to number 2. It is a risk also. They could lose Jackson at the end of spring and then get an April injury to a catcher. I am OK with the risk. 

I am also OK with the risk because... Damn it... Someone has to raise up from the minor league system and hold down the catching position for a lower dollar figure.

3 years of Vazquez staying for the most part healthy and getting equal playing time while draining 10 million every year from the budget is a bill that we are still paying for. 

The average catcher had an OPS of .694 in 2025. Designated Hitter produced an average OPS of .784. Are we really going to use a catcher to fill that position and expect the needle to move.

We have two catchers who exceed .694 to the tune of 15 million dollars. The budget allocation suggests that we are trying to improve our OFFENSE with TWO decent hitting catchers while catcher is the historically the lowest offense producing position on the spectrum.

If a catcher is at least decent defensively... Jeffers, Jackson and Pereda could have held the fort down while money was applied to a position that actually hits the ball... moves the needle. 

I don't have any problem with Caratini... I have a problem with the allocation toward the position. All these moves made and we end up in the same position. Relying on a Cardenas when the time comes. When the truth is that a Cardenas should have arrived 3 years ago, 2 years ago, last year. 

Catchers are over pays for a team with a limited budget. We are over paying. Perada could have helped control costs.       

[Parfigliano]

20 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

I am also OK with the risk because... Damn it... Someone has to raise up from the minor league system and hold down the catching position for a lower dollar figure.

3 years of Vazquez staying for the most part healthy and getting equal playing time while draining 10 million every year from the budget is a bill that we are still paying for. 

The average catcher had an OPS of .694 in 2025. Designated Hitter produced an average OPS of .784. Are we really going to use a catcher to fill that position and expect the needle to move.

We have two catchers who exceed .694 to the tune of 15 million dollars. The budget allocation suggests that we are trying to improve our OFFENSE with TWO decent hitting catchers while catcher is the historically the lowest offense producing position on the spectrum.

If a catcher is at least decent defensively... Jeffers, Jackson and Pereda could have held the fort down while money was applied to a position that actually hits the ball... moves the needle. 

I don't have any problem with Caratini... I have a problem with the allocation toward the position. All these moves made and we end up in the same position. Relying on a Cardenas when the time comes. When the truth is that a Cardenas should have arrived 3 years ago, 2 years ago, last year. 

Catchers are over pays for a team with a limited budget. We are over paying. Perada could have helped control costs.       

They didn't stand still.  They made off-season moves.  🤪

[Dman]

As others have said not a huge deal as Pereda has gone through this before.  I think mainly because of his defense.  Still he hit fairly with the Twins and it was nice to have a bat from the left side.  He had an option left and seemed like a really nice third catcher option.

This move does confuse me though.  Why risk losing Pereda when they almost certainly have to run Jackson through waivers?  Do they feel Jackson has trade value?  Are they lying about Jeffers and looking to trade him?  They had to trade for Jackson so they must know for sure he won't pass through waivers. Still not sure I understand the move as they can't keep three catchers.

I agree with @jorgenswestthat Cardenas is a viable option if needed.  He had OK numbers at AAA.  It looked like he might be working on tapping into more power which has been his main weakness.  He likely is a better defender than Pereda so maybe they felt they didn't need Pereda that much anyway.  Hard to say.  I just thought they would let go of Jackson first

[ashbury]

1 hour ago, Riverbrian said:

Seattle grabbed him because he's a cheap third catcher. The Twins may need one of those.  

If so, they will do it cheaply.  The way he was acquired in the first place.

[Riverbrian]

2 minutes ago, ashbury said:

If so, they will do it cheaply.  The way he was acquired in the first place.

True

I'd like Eeles back.

Never met him but I'd like him back. 

[ashbury]

8 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

True

I'd like Eeles back.

Never met him but I'd like him back. 

That's not Pereda. 

If the Twins prefer one catcher's athletic stylings over the other, and paid the price of a very marginal prospect, I'm okay with that.  I'm glad if they got anything at all for Eeles.

That's not to say I have a whole lot of confidence in the FO's talent assessment.  But I don't have an independent insight telling me that Pereda is Jackson's equal.  So I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

They got Pereda for nothing, off the waiver wire, except the cost of his salary to be on the 26-man roster.  Then they turn around and sell his services for a non-zero amount of cash.  On the small, granular scale, I consider that a positive outcome.  On the bigger scale, it annoys the hell out of me that they waste whatever limited FO resources on engineering these "wins."

[Cris E]

They went through a month of no Jeffers last summer and it was very bad. Going into a season with the same weakness would have been stupid (at least Vasquez could play defense.)  This way they ease into a post-Jeffers world, they have a viable backup in case one of their catchers gets hurt, and they finally acknowledge how lucky they've been with regard to catcher injuries over the past four years. 

Jackson was a dumb pickup, but Eeles was never a real candidate to make this team because he's not really a SS. And there's a good chance that Jackson can make it thru waivers at the end of camp once everyone has established rosters because he's just another AAA journeyman who had a good half season at the age of 30. He was far worse in much more time the year before and chances are that's who he really is. 

[Riverbrian]

54 minutes ago, ashbury said:

That's not Pereda. 

If the Twins prefer one catcher's athletic stylings over the other, and paid the price of a very marginal prospect, I'm okay with that.  I'm glad if they got anything at all for Eeles.

That's not to say I have a whole lot of confidence in the FO's talent assessment.  But I don't have an independent insight telling me that Parades is Jackson's equal.  So I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

They got Pereda for nothing, off the waiver wire, except the cost of his salary to be on the 26-man roster.  They they turn around and sell his services for a non-zero amount of cash.  On the small, granular scale, I consider that a positive outcome.  On the bigger scale, it annoys the hell out of me that they waste whatever limited FO resources on engineering these "wins."

I'm easily misunderstood. I don't know if Peredes is worth anything at all. I don't know if Eeles is worth anything at all. I won't lose sleep over either. 

Basically... my point... weak or strong is that it's quite possible that this catcher merry-go-round will just end up in the same place that we started. Needing Cardenas or whoever to step up as the third catcher because Jackson was just picked off waivers. Jackson could sail through waivers... probably will... no idea. 

Where Peredes could simply hold that spot. A reported decent defensive catcher with decent hitting stats in the minor leagues.

Meanwhile we have nearly 14 million invested into Jeffers and Caratini. Only 4 teams have that much invested in the position... all of them because of one contract to one player that exceeds that number.

Then I'll throw in the MINOR point that we don't have Eeles... who again may not be worth anything but he does play a position where we will probably hand a 26 man roster spot to Gray, Kreidler or Arcia.    

We agree on the overall concerns and everything I'm saying can placed into this single overall concern. The allocation of limited resources to a single position.  

[Richie the Rally Goat]

3 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

This just looks like compounding the mistake of trading for Jackson. The best feature of a 3rd catcher is if he has options. Or even better yet, is not rostered at all and can hang out in AAA all year if unneeded. 

They should have acknowledged the Jackson mistake and just cut him loose now. I mean, no other team is going to want an out of options 3rd catcher, and how many teams would he even be their second catcher? He may have easily cleared waivers.

They're already setting up this season for another round of roster mis-management.

Unless they trade Jeffers

[nicksaviking]

2 minutes ago, Richie the Rally Goat said:

Unless they trade Jeffers

Caratini hasn't caught more than 60 games since 2022, I don't think anyone views him as a primary catcher. 

[DocBauer]

Just really poor asset and roster decisions made by the FO. I didn't like the trade for Jackson as he seems like a waiver wire pickup, not someone you trade for. The odds are against Eeles ever being a viable. Contributing ML ballplayer. But he has a shot. And at worst, he gave St Paul some depth and versatility. But OK, fine, they set a floor for an experienced, good defense backup catcher. 

Meanwhile, you already have Pereda on your 40 man as a decent, #3 catching option who has an option left. THEN they go ahead and sign Caratini...who they undoubtedly liked all along...to be the actual #2 catcher behind Jeffers. And I really like the move. And I don't have a major issue with $13-$14M to have one of the better catching duos in MLB. The position is undervalued, IMO. (I understand limited payroll and $ allocation, but that's not what I'm discussing here).

But now Jackson is a #3 with ZERO options? There is NO ROOM for a third catcher on the roster, especially for a team that already has a limited bench. And maybe you can waive Jackson and nobody wants him for $1.3M and he ends up sitting and waiting in St Paul in case he's needed.

But if he IS needed, now you need a 40 man spot for him, so more unnecessary roster shuffling. And then if you don't need him any longer, it's repeat the while waiver wire process again and see if someone grabs him THAT time. 

Meanwhile, you could do whatever with Jackson...maybe trade him...and just keep Pereda, already on the 40 man, and with an option so he can be moved up and down without playing any 40 man games. 

Doesn't that make a whole lot more sense? But at the end of the day we are still talking about a #3 catcher that we hopefully never need. And honestly, with a little more HIT improvement, I think Cardenas might be the best #3 option after a couple more months of AAA. But it's still poor roster planning, IMO. And that bothers me more than anything. 

 

[bunsen82]

17 minutes ago, DocBauer said:

Just really poor asset and roster decisions made by the FO. I didn't like the trade for Jackson as he seems like a waiver wire pickup, not someone you trade for. The odds are against Eeles ever being a viable. Contributing ML ballplayer. But he has a shot. And at worst, he gave St Paul some depth and versatility. But OK, fine, they set a floor for an experienced, good defense backup catcher. 

Meanwhile, you already have Pereda on your 40 man as a decent, #3 catching option who has an option left. THEN they go ahead and sign Caratini...who they undoubtedly liked all along...to be the actual #2 catcher behind Jeffers. And I really like the move. And I don't have a major issue with $13-$14M to have one of the better catching duos in MLB. The position is undervalued, IMO. (I understand limited payroll and $ allocation, but that's not what I'm discussing here).

But now Jackson is a #3 with ZERO options? There is NO ROOM for a third catcher on the roster, especially for a team that already has a limited bench. And maybe you can waive Jackson and nobody wants him for $1.3M and he ends up sitting and waiting in St Paul in case he's needed.

But if he IS needed, now you need a 40 man spot for him, so more unnecessary roster shuffling. And then if you don't need him any longer, it's repeat the while waiver wire process again and see if someone grabs him THAT time. 

Meanwhile, you could do whatever with Jackson...maybe trade him...and just keep Pereda, already on the 40 man, and with an option so he can be moved up and down without playing any 40 man games. 

Doesn't that make a whole lot more sense? But at the end of the day we are still talking about a #3 catcher that we hopefully never need. And honestly, with a little more HIT improvement, I think Cardenas might be the best #3 option after a couple more months of AAA. But it's still poor roster planning, IMO. And that bothers me more than anything. 

 

Jackson can be traded for someone with options and more upside than Pereda.   

[nicksaviking]

1 hour ago, bunsen82 said:

Jackson can be traded for someone with options and more upside than Pereda.   

I don't know, just because the TWINS did it, doesn't mean another team would do it. 

The closer we get to spring, the more teams are going to consider the 26-man implications of having this guy on their team. 

I'd guess he doesn't pass through waivers initially because other teams would try to claim him then try to pass him through too, but ultimately, I suspect he won't be on anyone's 40 man come opening day. Your back up catcher situation would have to be really bad to hand it to him.

[bunsen82]

12 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

I don't know, just because the TWINS did it, doesn't mean another team would do it. 

The closer we get to spring, the more teams are going to consider the 26-man implications of having this guy on their team. 

I'd guess he doesn't pass through waivers initially because other teams would try to claim him then try to pass him through too, but ultimately, I suspect he won't be on anyone's 40 man come opening day. Your back up catcher situation would have to be really bad to hand it to him.

You have 4 teams that still need a backup.  Let alone any team that has injuries during spring training.   

[nicksaviking]

12 minutes ago, bunsen82 said:

You have 4 teams that still need a backup.  Let alone any team that has injuries during spring training.   

Well the Cubs just signed Reese McGuire to a MiLB contract. So teams are able to sign better 2nd or 3rd catchers than Jackson AND keep them off of the roster until needed.

Also still available are Jonah Heim, Elias Diaz, MJ Melendez, Austin Barnes, Tom Murphy and old friends Gary Sanchez and Christian Vazquez. All of who at this point are looking like they'll have to accept a MiLB deal, which at this time of year has to be preferable to guaranteeing a 26-man spot to Jackson.

And that's not considering all the current 2nd and 3rd catchers that will inevitably lose their jobs when non-40 man catchers start making teams.

[Jim H]

1 hour ago, bunsen82 said:

Jackson can be traded for someone with options and more upside than Pereda.   

Really, you likely know more than I about this. But that seems optimistic.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

11 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

This just looks like compounding the mistake of trading for Jackson. The best feature of a 3rd catcher is if he has options. Or even better yet, is not rostered at all and can hang out in AAA all year if unneeded. 

They should have acknowledged the Jackson mistake and just cut him loose now. I mean, no other team is going to want an out of options 3rd catcher, and how many teams would he even be their second catcher? He may have easily cleared waivers.

They're already setting up this season for another round of roster mis-management.

I'd rather have Pereda than Jackson. Puzzling?

[stringer bell]

13 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

This just looks like compounding the mistake of trading for Jackson. The best feature of a 3rd catcher is if he has options. Or even better yet, is not rostered at all and can hang out in AAA all year if unneeded. 

They should have acknowledged the Jackson mistake and just cut him loose now. I mean, no other team is going to want an out of options 3rd catcher, and how many teams would he even be their second catcher? He may have easily cleared waivers.

They're already setting up this season for another round of roster mis-management.

If this is true, Jackson can be outrighted to St. Paul , still not optimum because of the options piece, but perhaps doable especially since he will make over the minimum ($1.3M) IIRC.

Jackson rates well as a defender and did some encouraging hitting for the Orioles. I hope he stays in the Twins’ system. 

[Bodie]

16 hours ago, Jim H said:

Really, you likely know more than I about this. But that seems optimistic.

When Julien is cut, someone here will whine that it was a mistake and he should have been traded to fill our roster hole at _____ ( name the position)...

 

Well, f&% me!!!!  Julien has been traded.  As part of a package. Best of luck in Colorado, and now we get ready for the GM of the year award for trading the baseball equivalent of dirty laundry! 

Congratulations Failvey!!!  Didn't think it was possible  

Edited January 29 by Bodie
Julien trade just popped up (for me)

[Otaknam]

Trying to makes sense of this. They traded Paredes, a good defensive catcher with options who also hit a bit, to make room for Alex Jackson, who has no options left. That means they have to keep Jackson as a third catcher on the 26 man roster or lose him to waivers, which is likely. The lack of apparent strategy of this front office is on full display.

[JD-TWINS]

On 1/28/2026 at 9:51 AM, nicksaviking said:

This just looks like compounding the mistake of trading for Jackson. The best feature of a 3rd catcher is if he has options. Or even better yet, is not rostered at all and can hang out in AAA all year if unneeded. 

They should have acknowledged the Jackson mistake and just cut him loose now. I mean, no other team is going to want an out of options 3rd catcher, and how many teams would he even be their second catcher? He may have easily cleared waivers.

They're already setting up this season for another round of roster mis-management.

Not sure why timing on Jackson being waived is so critical/pressing or late? If Team wants him to pass through as to keep him in St Paul if unclaimed, it seems one would want other Team’s rosters to be filled or more “set” as time passes …. - right? Maybe there’s some twist I’m unaware of?

[strumdatjag]

Just curious:  Can anyone here name a player  prior to Jhonny Peralta who had his name spelled (misspelled) like that? I know some of you might say it’s a longtime Hispanic tradition. But it isn’t.  Back in the day, Spanish for Johnny would have been.Juanito not this misspelled form of Johnny.  
I should have asked this before Pereda left.  I’m feeling like a Jhonny Come Lately.