Padres' catching situation in flux with veteran retiring after 2025 season

Martin Maldonado's first season with the San Diego Padres will officially be his last. The 38-year-old catcher made it official that he is going to retire from Major League Baseball following the conclusion of the Friars' 2025 campaign, which comes with mixed emotions.

A fan favorite wherever he goes, Maldonado is an All-Star catcher and a World Series champion. It's always tough to watch a player of that caliber call it a career, but his time has come. Ahead of the 2025 season, San Diego's situation at catcher was a major question mark, which included Maldonado aging himself out.

Maldonado had a rough start to the year, but he's been better at the plate over his last 10 games. He's strung together two home runs and three RBIs over this stretch, which cemented his 2025 campaign already being stronger than last year's effort with the Chicago White Sox.

However, with Maldonado now definitely being out of the picture for 2026, what should the Padres do to fill that spot? Their top prospect in Ethan Salas will not be ready for the big leagues, and the Friars have not shown much interest (yet) in adding another catcher this year.

Keeping Elias Diaz around as the only catcher is not an ideal option either, so it might be time for the Padres to give Luis Campusano one last chance to prove himself as an every day catcher.

Campusano has not done much at the big league level in 2025, batting 0-for-18 with nine strikeouts and six walks. However, those hitless at-bats have not come with consistent playing time. The 26-year-old might deserve one final opportunity. Campusano is dominating in Triple-A after all, and it's doing no one any good by keeping him down there.

With Triple-A El Paso, Campusano is batting .321 with 12 home runs, 11 doubles, a triple, and 32 walks across 44 games. This also includes 40 RBIs and an OPS over 1.000. If he is too good for the minor leagues, perhaps he has one more opportunity to figure it out in Major League Baseball. If he doesn't then it might be time to move on from him, and sign a long-term catcher over the winter.