Former Padres catcher offers short-term solution if Kyle Higashioka signs elsewhere

As preparation begins for the 2025 MLB season, few teams need to address their catching situation more than the San Diego Padres do. With Kyle Higashioka now a free agent, the club is currently projected to open next year with Luis Campusano as their top backstop.

While Higashioka had a career-year offensively, Campusano went the other direction. He appeared in 91 games for the Padres this past season, but he hit just .227 with a .642 OPS and 78 OPS+, all accumulating to a well below-average stat line. He's an okay backup option, but he no longer seems to be the club's long-term solution behind the plate.

That distinction belongs to Ethan Salas, who is still a few years off. Salas still just 18 years old, but he's already made it as high as Double-A to start his professional career. What the Padres need for the short-term is a stopgap that can hold the position down until Salas is ready.

Assuming Higashioka signs elsewhere on the open market, that leaves Yasmani Grandal, an old friend of the Padres, as one of the best of the remaining catchers out there. A reunion would make a ton of sense.

Yasmani Grandal reunion makes perfect sense for the Padres this offseason

Now a 36-year-old that just wrapped up his 13th season in the big leagues, Grandal broke into the league with San Diego way back in 2012. He spent the first three years of his career there, with his best performance coming in 2014 when he was first handed the starting catcher role.

Trades and previous trips through free agency have taken Grandal from the Padres to the Los Angeles Dodgers to the Milwaukee Brewers to the Chicago White Sox to, most recently, the Pittsburgh Pirates. He's been all over the league, but that's mostly because he's a well-respected veteran who, minus a down 2022-2023 showing, remains a positive contributor.

This past season, Grandal experienced a pretty significant bounce-back in the form of a strong 72-game showing in Pittsburgh. The switch-hitter hit nine home runs with 27 RBI, a .704 OPS and a 95 OPS+ that may come just short of league-average, but is still nearly 20 points higher than it was the year prior.

Yasmani Grandal is one of the better offensive-minded catchers on the free agent market

While he swings the bat from both sides, Grandal is a clear candidate to drop switch-hitting. Just last year, he hit .225 with a .747 OPS against right-handed pitching but that OPS dipped to .579 against southpaws and he has virtually no power against lefties. Should the Padres pursue a reunion, it wouldn't be unfair of them to ask him to exclusively bat from the left side.

On defense, Grandal remains an elite pitch framer (86th percentile this past season), but the fact of the matter is that he's lost a step or two behind the plate over the years. At his peak, he was worth 26 defensive runs (2016) and the last time he was above 0 was in 2020 when he was at five. Each of the past two seasons he's been at 0 after being at -2 in 2021 and 2022.

The free agent market is pretty barren for catching. Travis d'Arnaud was one of the better options out there, but the Los Angeles Angels recognized that and swiped him off the board early. This leaves the likes of Higashioka and Grandal as the best of the rest. If Higgy goes elsewhere, Grandal is the obvious upgrade San Diego needs.

More San Diego Padres News and Rumors