Blue Jays Add Catching Prospect in Latest Trade with Athletics
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The Toronto Blue Jays are one of the organizations that relies heavily on their pipeline and player development in order to win games. Look at what Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Alejandro Kirk are doing right now.
So, it might not seem significant that the Blue Jays traded away a Triple-A pitcher. But it is, and at first glance, people will scoff at the fact that said player is a catcher as the Athletics are sending Owen Carapellotti to the Jays in return for right-handed reliever Hayden Juenger.
OFFICIAL: We've acquired C Owen Carapellotti from the Athletics in exchange for RHP Hayden Juenger. pic.twitter.com/L89wZBIoZl
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) June 27, 2026
Juenger has been very respectable in Triple-A, but three earned runs in a measly two innings with Toronto is simply not going to cut it for what they are hoping to achieve this year. Now, did they get a player ready for the majors right upon arrival? No.
This is actually the first year that the newly 23-year-old has suited up in the minors, as he spent a few years at Georgetown. So, he is a ways off, but this is an intriguing pickup for Toronto.
What to Know About Carapellotti
Again, the initial reaction is why would they go after another catcher, but it is going to be a couple of years before he takes the field in the majors, and his stock value will continue to rise if he keeps going the way that he is.
It is almost unfathomable to see how well Carapellotti is hitting the baseball in the California League, and it seems likely that he will either get promoted to High-A or jump up to Double-A, as he has an OPS over 1,000, highlighted by a .627 slugging percentage.
In the 20 games that he has suited up for this year, he has tallied up 15 drawn walks, with eight homers, and 20 RBI. This man behind the dish is definitely ready to jump into a tougher league, and that will come with the Blue Jays much sooner than later.
The Blue Jays have counted heavily on their rookies this season, and they are not scared to put a player in the dugout who doesn't have the reps that others would want. But this is all a game within a game.
Whether that game is simply waiting for him to grow as a player or using him for leverage in a trade down the road, it is way too early to tell. But time will give us answers. For now, this was a decent pick-up.
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Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.