Former Padres veteran catcher resurfaces with Royals in awkward development

Say what you will about Freddy Fermin's ugly start at the plate this year -- he owns a .559 OPS through 22 games -- but there's no denying he's finally stabilized the San Diego Padres' catching position for the first time since Kyle Higashioka left in free agency in 2024.

He's certainly been better than the Martin Maldonado-Elias Diaz tandem the Friars tried out last year, and it doesn't hurt that Luis Campusano has been quite excellent as his backup. In all, it's safe to say the Friars don't regret their trade for Fermin, even if it cost them valuable pitching depth in the form of Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek.

However, an interesting new twist to this whole saga is unfolding in front of our eyes: The Kansas City Royals have called Diaz up from the minors, and he's already been on the receiving end of other team's highlights.

Diaz obviously wasn't included in that original Fermin trade, but now that he's in Kansas City, the entire deal has come full circle, with both teams effectively swapping catchers.

Elias Diaz's departure offers Padres silver lining for Freddy Fermin overpay

It was a thoroughly explored topic at the time, but Diaz was a genuine disappointment with the Padres in 2025. He hit .204/.270/.337 (74 wRC+) over 106 games, only salvaging some value thanks to some surprisingly strong defensive metrics.

Being able to get rid of him (and especially Maldonado) was the biggest win the Padres got from that trade with the Royals. Fermin, who has been much better since a mid-April injury scare, wasn't acquired to be a middle-of-the-order slugger. He's an expert game caller with team control extending through 2029, and thanks to his strong glove, he's still been worth 0.3 fWAR this year. That's a sizable leap over the combined -0.4 mark Maldonado and Diaz brought to the table last year.

That being said, there's no denying that A.J. Preller went a little overboard at the 2025 trade deadline. Perhaps emboldened by his blockbuster deal for Mason Miller, he swapped two controllable starting pitchers for a 30-year-old catcher.

Both Bergert and Kolek would be nice to have around right now. The former has pitched to a 2.79 ERA for the Royals' Triple-A affiliate this year, while the latter is sitting on a 2.16 mark with the same team. Either would be a huge upgrade over Matt Waldron, who is the team's top depth option at the moment.

Alas, this is the price for competent big-league catching. If the rotation had to suffer in order to pitch to a reliable backstop, so be it.

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