The San Francisco Giants picked up former Dodgers catching prospect on a minor league contract in late July. According to the team’s transaction log, he made his debut on Monday with the San Jose Giants.
SF Giants send former top Dodgers catching prospect to San Jose
The Arizona Complex League had already concluded before Diego Cartaya joined the Giants, and no updates on his status surfaced until recently. He was most likely keeping sharp with exhibition games in Arizona.
Originally signed by the Dodgers out of Venezuela in the 2018 international signing period, Cartaya received a $2.5 million bonus. Interestingly, that same year the Giants signed Marco Luciano, Luis Matos, and Jairo Pomares, with Luciano’s $2.6 million deal still standing as one of the team’s biggest international signings.
For much of his career, Cartaya was considered among the game’s elite prospects, climbing as high as No. 14 on MLB Pipeline’s rankings before 2023. But his journey underscores how difficult player development can be, as not every highly ranked prospect lives up to lofty expectations.
Across six minor league seasons, the catcher has posted a .230/.335/.424 slash line, supported by an 11.4% walk rate, 28.2% strikeout rate, and a .194 ISO. His performance at Triple-A has been rough, producing just a .572 OPS in 277 plate appearances over two years.
Earlier in 2024, he briefly joined the Minnesota Twins but struck out 40 times in only 69 plate appearances before being released in late July. Free agency didn’t last long, as the Giants picked him up within a week.
San Francisco eased him in with an assignment to San Jose, where he made an immediate impact by homering in four at-bats during a 5-0 victory over Modesto on Monday night.
His stint there may not be permanent. If the Giants promote Jesús Rodríguez — one of the players acquired in the Camilo Doval trade and already on the 40-man roster — it could open a spot for Cartaya in Sacramento.
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