Dodgers Designate Diego Cartaya For Task

The Dodgers designated former prime catching prospect Diego Cartaya for task. The transfer opens a 40-man roster spot for Hyeseong Kim, whose three-year deal is official.

Cartaya has but to play within the main leagues, however he’s a much bigger identify than most gamers who discover themselves in DFA limbo. The Venezuela native was among the finest abilities in his beginner signing class and inked a $2.5MM bonus in 2018. He carried out properly within the low minors and shot to the highest of the Dodger system. Baseball America ranked him as L.A.’s #1 prospect getting into each the 2022 and ’23 campaigns. He was amongst BA’s 25 finest minor league abilities in each years.

The Dodgers added Cartaya to their 40-man roster after the 2022 season. There was no probability they’d go away him unprotected within the Rule 5 draft. Cartaya’s long-term future on a crew that already rostered Will Smith was debatable, however he a minimum of appeared like a possible key commerce chip. That he has been DFA simply over two years later demonstrates how far his inventory has fallen.

Cartaya’s bat has stalled within the higher minors. He hit .189 with a 29% strikeout charge over 93 Double-A video games in 2023. Whereas that knocked him off High 100 lists, he nonetheless ranked eighth amongst Dodger prospects at Baseball America going into final season. Cartaya improved offensively in his second shot at Double-A, the place he hit .236/.354/.379 over 45 contests. He couldn’t preserve that after being promoted to Triple-A Oklahoma Metropolis in the midst of June.

The 23-year-old hit .208/.293/.350 whereas placing out at a 27.4% clip throughout 49 video games within the Pacific Coast League. He had the second-lowest batting common and fifth-lowest OBP amongst PCL hitters with a minimum of 200 plate appearances. Cartaya had been surpassed by Dalton Speeding as the highest catching prospect within the system, whereas Smith signed a contract extension that’ll hold him in Los Angeles by 2033.

After Cartaya struggled by consecutive down seasons, the Dodgers are prepared to maneuver on. They’ll have 5 days to commerce him or place him on waivers. One other crew will nearly actually roll the cube, possible through commerce that’d enable them to leap the waiver order.

Cartaya attracts reward for his defensive acumen and has drawn loads of walks whilst his numbers have fallen within the excessive minors. Whereas the swing-and-miss means he’s unlikely to develop into a franchise catcher, there are in all probability groups that really feel he’ll be a succesful backup or a possible low-end common. Cartaya nonetheless has a minor league choice remaining. An buying crew would have the ability to ship him to Triple-A for one more season.