Padres

Caratini Traded, Gore Sent to El Paso in Flurry of Activity on Eve of Opening Day

Caratini ends up the odd man out in a packed group of catchers.

The eve of Opening Day brought multiple moves for the Padres, who continue to tweak a roster with surplus at certain positions and clear needs at others.

One of those spots with too many capable bodies was catcher, and the Padres thinned out that group with Wednesday's trade that sent Victor Caratini to the Brewers for a pair of minor leaguers.

Caratini spent one season in San Diego, serving as Yu Darvish's personal catcher. In 2021 he was part of two very memorable moments. On April 9 Caratini caught Joe Musgrove's no-hitter, the first in franchise history. Then on June 17 he belted a walk-off homer to beat the Reds in front of the first full capacity crowd at Petco Park since 2019.

In return, the Brewers sent catcher Brett Sullivan and outfielder Korry Howell.

With Caratini gone Austin Nola will get the majority of starts behind the plate, with Jorge Alfaro earning a spot as well after a productive spring.

For the second time in less than a week Chris Paddack was at the center of trade rumors. The fourth year righty was part of a trade package that would have also sent Eric Hosmer to the Mets had it not fallen through Saturday. On Wednesday Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that the Twins were "working to acquire" the 26-year-old.

According to multiple reports the Padres' target in that deal is left-handed reliever Taylor Rogers. Rogers has posted an ERA under three each of the last four seasons.

The Padres also sent a pair of their top prospects to El Paso. MacKenzie Gore had a stellar Cactus League, but will begin 2022 in Triple-A along with catcher Luis Campusano.

Gore had his ERA inflate to 4.50 after giving up a grand slam in his final inning of action. He struck out 16 over 12.0 innings, holding opposing hitters to a .182 batting average.

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