Ben Rortvedt Elects Free Agency

[Andy MacPhail]

MLB Rumors - MLBTradeRumors.com

LAD likes Rortvedt but I think we could use him more. IMO, He's a pretty good defensive catcher, if used in the right tandem situation. IMO, could hit. We should make a serious offer.

[MackMan]

12 hours ago, Andy MacPhail said:

MLB Rumors - MLBTradeRumors.com

LAD likes Rortvedt but I think we could use him more. IMO, He's a pretty good defensive catcher, if used in the right tandem situation. IMO, could hit. We should make a serious offer.

I mean, we did have him at one point and then traded him as he was seen as not a part of our future. I wouldn't be totally obnoxious to see if he'd be down for a reunion, albeit probably not as a started. I think a minor league deal, with an invite to ST.

[tony&rodney]

A backup catcher who has the confidence of the pitching staff is a notable must for successful teams. Austin Hedges, Martin Maldonado, and others have made careers due to their abilities with a glove. Alex Jackson seemed like he might work as a backup but was seldom, almost never used. Rortvedt has done his job when called upon. The Dodgers are not often guilty of playing useless players. I'm ok if the Twins (or any team) chooses a Ben Rortvedt as their backup catcher. 

[Andy MacPhail]

4 hours ago, MackMan said:

I mean, we did have him at one point and then traded him as he was seen as not a part of our future. I wouldn't be totally obnoxious to see if he'd be down for a reunion, albeit probably not as a started. I think a minor league deal, with an invite to ST.

Twins had a great catching crew starting with coach Tanner Swanson, whom all the catchers praised, MLB All-Star Castro, Garver, plus promising prospects Jeffers & Rortvedt, Twins did a 180, they let Swanson & Castro go, Swanson to NYY. Twins blew up the rest in a Donaldson salary dump. Garver to TEX & Swanson was high on Rortvedt, so he went to NYY.

Rortvedt was injured & NYY wasn't suitable for his hitting development, Next year he was a 3rd catcher & Cole's personal catcher. The following year they traded him to TB. He was their primary catcher & did very well until he burned out, The following year he was traded to LAD, he did very well in the postseason until Will Smith came back.

When they traded Rortvedt, they put all their eggs in the Jeffers's basket & the Twins' catching bottomed out. Rortvedt needs playing time to do well yet he's not a primary catcher. Rortvedt in a Twins tandem catching role would be perfect & reasonable. 

[Andy MacPhail]

3 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

A backup catcher who has the confidence of the pitching staff is a notable must for successful teams. Austin Hedges, Martin Maldonado, and others have made careers due to their abilities with a glove. Alex Jackson seemed like he might work as a backup but was seldom, almost never used. Rortvedt has done his job when called upon. The Dodgers are not often guilty of playing useless players. I'm ok if the Twins (or any team) chooses a Ben Rortvedt as their backup catcher. 

IMO, Caratini/ Jackson duo won't get the job done. IMO, Rortvedt could be better than Caratini & cheaper. I don't care what they do with Caratini & Jackson.

[MackMan]

28 minutes ago, Andy MacPhail said:

Twins had a great catching crew starting with coach Tanner Swanson, whom all the catchers praised, MLB All-Star Castro, Garver, plus promising prospects Jeffers & Rortvedt, Twins did a 180, they let Swanson & Castro go, Swanson to NYY. Twins blew up the rest in a Donaldson salary dump. Garver to TEX & Swanson was high on Rortvedt, so he went to NYY.

Rortvedt was injured & NYY wasn't suitable for his hitting development, Next year he was a 3rd catcher & Cole's personal catcher. The following year they traded him to TB. He was their primary catcher & did very well until he burned out, The following year he was traded to LAD, he did very well in the postseason until Will Smith came back.

When they traded Rortvedt, they put all their eggs in the Jeffers's basket & the Twins bottomed out. Rortvedt needs playing time to do well yet he's not a primary catcher. Rortvedt in a Twins tandem catching role would be perfect & reasonable. 

I 100% agree that he would be an absolute help to the Twins, especially as a backup catcher who is well traveled and played in the Rays and Dodgers system. Heck, he might even be able to give our younger developing catchers some pointers during their development. But he needs to know that he is going to be splitting his catching duties with someone else. Whether he gets the majority of starts or someone else does. Also, I believe he would only be a stop gap until our catching prospects make their way to the bigs. 

But there is a decent chance he gets a revival of sorts coming back to MN via free agency. 

[Dave Borton]

When he came over to the Dodgers, Rick Monday (color, radio) was impressed with Rortvedt's defensive skills and how quickly he adapted to and was accepted by the pitching staff. His stick was another story.

My shtick is a 3rd story...

 

[Richie the Rally Goat]

3 hours ago, Dave Borton said:

When he came over to the Dodgers, Rick Monday (color, radio) was impressed with Rortvedt's defensive skills and how quickly he adapted to and was accepted by the pitching staff. His stick was another story.

My shtick is a 3rd story...

 

Unless something big happens, the lineup won’t hit well enough to overcome a Caratini/Rortvedt blackhole. This team was average having Jeffers’ stick.
 

this team’s stick schtick is kinda sick

[ashbury]

4 hours ago, Dave Borton said:

When he came over to the Dodgers, Rick Monday (color, radio) was impressed with Rortvedt's defensive skills and how quickly he adapted to and was accepted by the pitching staff. His stick was another story.

My shtick is a 3rd story...

 

If photogenicity were an attribute voters could factor in, Ben Rortvedt would already be in the Hall of Fame.

[stringer bell]

Looking at Rortvedt's statcast profile, it would appear he is a good defensive catcher, with limiting the running game as his weakest component, but still better than Caratini. Most of that information is from his season in Tampa two years ago. Not a good hitter, which is why he only has one seasons worth of at-bats at age 29.

[Riverbrian]

10 hours ago, Richie the Rally Goat said:

Unless something big happens, the lineup won’t hit well enough to overcome a Caratini/Rortvedt blackhole. This team was average having Jeffers’ stick.
 

this team’s stick schtick is kinda sick

Here's what is depressing me. 

We owe Caratini 10 Million. 6.5 million for 2027 and a 3.5 million buyout in 2028. 

How much money would the Twins have to eat to trade that? 

Caratini is going nowhere. 

[MackMan]

3 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

Here's what is depressing me. 

We owe Caratini 10 Million. 6.5 million for 2027 and a 3.5 million buyout in 2028. 

How much money would the Twins have to eat to trade that? 

Caratini is going nowhere. 

Well, we'd have to eat the 3.5 million buyout for sure. As for the 2027 Salary. Probably half of it. So I would say around 6-6.25 million of the remaining contract in order to to move him. That already is compounded by the fact that we need to eat Correa's $10 million for the 2027 season yet. I would the Twins just pay the remaining of the Correa salary as a 1 time lump sum and get it off our books.

[Riverbrian]

1 hour ago, MackMan said:

Well, we'd have to eat the 3.5 million buyout for sure. As for the 2027 Salary. Probably half of it. So I would say around 6-6.25 million of the remaining contract in order to to move him. That already is compounded by the fact that we need to eat Correa's $10 million for the 2027 season yet. I would the Twins just pay the remaining of the Correa salary as a 1 time lump sum and get it off our books.

You might be right on what it would take to get away from Caratini. That's why I'm pretty sure that he is with the Twins next year. 

I'd also guess that the terms of the Correa trade would outlaw a lump sum payment so it will be 10 million for the next three years.  

Even if they could lump that entire Correa bill into this year. The next problem is that Tom Pohlad is making public declarations on 2027 intent. Not just playoffs but world series and he is promising some sort of ownership support to reach that lofty goal. 20 extra million dollars to the Astros in 2027 is going to make those 2027 promises hard to keep.

 

[stringer bell]

Caratini was a solid #2 catcher for his time with the Astros, not good enough to get a #1 job, but good enough to get a nice two-year contract. This year, he struggled in that role, while he was very good when he was the primary guy (while Jeffers was on the IL). I guess it is overanalysis to attribute his success or lack of it to his amount of playing time, but it seems counterintuitive for a career #2 receiver. 

Given his 2026 results, it would seem to be wise to have someone to share the job or be the primary guy along with Caratini (I doubt very much they will trade or release him). I can't see Ben Rortvedt as that guy, but teams with poor-hitting catching tandems seem to do better than defensively limited ones.

[Riverbrian]

57 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Caratini was a solid #2 catcher for his time with the Astros, not good enough to get a #1 job, but good enough to get a nice two-year contract. This year, he struggled in that role, while he was very good when he was the primary guy (while Jeffers was on the IL). I guess it is overanalysis to attribute his success or lack of it to his amount of playing time, but it seems counterintuitive for a career #2 receiver. 

Given his 2026 results, it would seem to be wise to have someone to share the job or be the primary guy along with Caratini (I doubt very much they will trade or release him). I can't see Ben Rortvedt as that guy, but teams with poor-hitting catching tandems seem to do better than defensively limited ones.

He had a similar amount of PA's with us in 2026 as he did with Houston in 2025. He hit good for a catcher. He has never hit well enough for the 1B and DH work the Twins had planned for him. 

Outbidding other teams for his services while planning on keeping Jeffers wasn't a good idea. They were looking for Jeffers replacement when they signed him to that two deal. 

With that said... I'm willing to believe that he could bounce back to a 100 OPS+ guy next year but I just don't care anymore about the catcher position. Players go up and down and down and up. They rarely display a static baseline. 

Catchers are just consistently over pays and we keep over paying. We gotta get out of that rabbit hole. 

Punt the position until the farm produces viable options that will make the minimum. Cleveland did just fine with Bailey and Hedges not hitting in the catcher position.  

Caratini and Jackson and then wait for Lackey and Tait or whoever.  Any offense we get would be gravy. 

[Andy MacPhail]

3 hours ago, stringer bell said:

 Not a good hitter, which is why he only has one seasons worth of at-bats at age 29.

Again, if you look at Rortvedt's overall hitting stats, you'll say he's not a good hitter. Again, overall stats don't tell the whole story. A lot of his ABs were sporadic or he was overextended with TB (again, he's not a primary catcher & probably won't be), But if you look at his performance when he's in his sweet spot (enough quality ABs but not overextended), his hitting is impressive. Rortvedt is a LH hitter, he could be used extensively again RHPs, that can benefit his hitting. Twins need to find his sweet spot & keep him there to unlock the potential. LAD could see his potential & want to keep him as catching depth when Smith & Rushing are down. Again, it's about time for MN to see his potential & take advantage of it. MN needs him much more than LAD. Plus Rortvedt is from Wisc, he can adapt to our weather & be close to his family.

With Rortvedt we'll have more flexibility, We can keep Caratini (Rortvedt will make him better) or trade him because there's a demand for catching with very little selection; then we can explore other trade options. Although I prefer the later, it's asking a lot from our GM. Either way, I'd like to acquire a promising young MLB-ready catcher with options to improve our '27-'28 depth.

[harmony55]

What would a package of Victor Caratini and Kody Funderburk cost the Seattle Mariners in a trade? Does the package have positive trade value with the $6.5 million owed Caratini in 2027?

Asking for a friend.😉

[Andy MacPhail]

44 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

Cleveland did just fine with Bailey and Hedges not hitting in the catcher position.  

I've been a big fan of Bailey for a long time; he's an elite defensive catcher. I couldn't believe that Posey gave him away for nothing. I'd have thought that he'd have a better appreciation of Bailey. Who have deceived you Posey? I'm very disappointed.

[Andy MacPhail]

30 minutes ago, harmony55 said:

What would a package of Victor Caratini and Kody Funderburk cost the Seattle Mariners in a trade? Does the package have positive trade value with the $6.5 ,million owed Caratini in 2027?

Asking for a friend.😉

For your friend, Harmony. According to Baseball Trade Values; Caratini is at -2.8 & Funderburg is +5 = + 2.2 which could land us a Trent Harris 2.4. After SF traded Bailey they are really hurting at catching, they could be motivated a basis for a trade, On the other hand IMO, SEA would be less motivated. But then again, they could use Funderburg which might swing a deal.

[Chembry]

Nothing against Ben Rortvedt, but here is where I am at...We know San Diego had significant interest in Larnach at the deadline.  We don't know what the Twins were asking for in return at that time, but can probably speculate they were looking for MLB RP in return, especially given the nixed Abreu deal. 

Since SDP now has Salas up and had some success (albeit only 39 ABs), they may be willing to move either Fermin or Campusano.  MLBTR predicted Fermin to make $2.6M (Arb2) is under team control through 2029, while Campusano is predicted to made $1.7M (Arb2) and under team control through 2028.  Neither is going to light up the stat sheet offensively, but both are quite good at controlling the running game.  Plus would be nice to get something of value for Larnach.  

I would like to keep Jackson as depth.  If he isn't added back on the 40 man he can choose minor league free agency.  Maybe they can bring him back on a minor league deal if that happens, instead of going through arbitration. 

 

[Andy MacPhail]

2 hours ago, Chembry said:

Nothing against Ben Rortvedt, but here is where I am at...We know San Diego had significant interest in Larnach at the deadline.  We don't know what the Twins were asking for in return at that time, but can probably speculate they were looking for MLB RP in return, especially given the nixed Abreu deal. 

Since SDP now has Salas up and had some success (albeit only 39 ABs), they may be willing to move either Fermin or Campusano.  MLB predicted Fermin to make $2.6M (Arb2) is under team control through 2029, while Campusano is predicted to made $1.7M (Arb2) and under team control through 2028.  Neither is going to light up the stat sheet offensively, but both are quite good at controlling the running game.  Plus would be nice to get something of value for Larnach.  

I would like to keep Jackson as depth.  If he isn't added back on the 40 man he can choose minor league free agency.  Maybe they can bring him back on a minor league deal if that happens, instead of going through arbitration. 

 

IMO. it's a good idea but I don't know if SD would be willing to let their depth go. IMO, Catching should be legit 3 deep. Salas is the only one with options, so they might depend less on him.

I don't understand if the Twins had a shot for a SD RP for Larnach & didn't take it. SD has a lot of good RPs. 

Jackson not having options, makes it very tricky. IMO, it's not worth it. I'd rather find someone who does.

[stringer bell]

1 hour ago, Andy MacPhail said:

Jackson not having options, makes it very tricky. IMO, it's not worth it. I'd rather find someone who does.

Rortvedt doesn’t have options either and bith have sat on the bench enough to be arbitration eligible. 

[Andy MacPhail]

15 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Rortvedt doesn’t have options either and bith have sat on the bench enough to be arbitration eligible. 

He doesn't need one, he's part of the tandem. My 3rd catcher needs options.

[Chembry]

4 hours ago, Andy MacPhail said:

IMO. it's a good idea but I don't know if SD would be willing to let their depth go. IMO, Catching should be legit 3 deep. Salas is the only one with options, so they might depend less on him.

I don't understand if the Twins had a shot for a SD RP for Larnach & didn't take it. SD has a lot of good RPs. 

Jackson not having options, makes it very tricky. IMO, it's not worth it. I'd rather find someone who does.

I don't know if SDP is willing to part with C depth, but since it was widely reported that SDP had interest in Larnach at the deadline, it may be worth revisiting those discussions. 

I am guessing the Twins were asking for MLB RP and SDP wasn't willing to give that up.  That is speculation on my part given the Twins were solely focused on improving the BP.  

[Richie the Rally Goat]

Why? Can we please aim higher?

 

[MackMan]

11 hours ago, Richie the Rally Goat said:

Why? Can we please aim higher?

 

Because the catcher market is pretty dry right now. Most teams aren't willing to part with a crucial part of their team who knows exactly what each and every pitcher on the team likes/dislikes, how to calm them down/fire them up, and what batter are typically prone to do at the plate. That's why a lot of teams target the backup to get them starting time. Now if those catchers happen to have a bat that can play, that's a plus. Otherwise we're looking for a run stopping, strike zone controlling catcher who might be just the edge we need to get over the hump (sadly none of these options are it. Jackson IMO is probably the closest, but Shelton refused to play the guy).