Padres Linked to .949-OPS Catcher Ahead of Trade Deadline

San Diego Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller has been known to make some aggressive moves at the trade deadline in the past, and this summer could be more of the same.

San Diego has been linked with some of the bigger names who may be available this year, with offense being the priority for this club.

Now, MLB insiders Kiley McDaniel and Jeff Passan have connected the Padres with catcher Ryan Jeffers of the Minnesota Twins, who is having an excellent season.

McDaniel and Passan gave Jeffers an 85% chance of being traded, and he's expected to be the "best catcher available" at the deadline.

Should Padres Trade For Ryan Jeffers?

With the Padres not having a clear answer at the catcher spot going forward, going after someone like Jeffers does make sense.

So far this year, Jeffers has hit .295 with seven home runs and 26 runs batted in, while posting an incredible .949 OPS. With the Twins unlikely to compete for a World Series, it seems that another fire sale could be coming.

The 2026 season has been the best of Jeffers' career so far, but he did show signs of a breakout coming over the last couple seasons. While he isn't an All-Star, Jeffers has developed into an average defensive catcher as well, making his value even higher for a team in need of a backstop.

Jeffers has been out since May 18 with a bone hamate fracture, but he is expected back well before the trade deadline.

What About Ethan Salas?

Jeffers will be a free agent at the end of the season, so Preller may not want to pay premium prices for him. But if the Padres could add him for the stretch run and he performs well, maybe a small extension could come into play.

Adding Jeffers to the team could bring up the question about prospect Ethan Salas and the plans for him. But Salas is not yet close to coming to the big leagues, so Jeffers wouldn't block any playing time for the young star.

Preller has said Salas has a long way to go before he gets called up, opening the door for a potential move at the position.

"You start seeing the prospect rankings and now he's — miraculously a month later he's now towards the top of the prospect rankings. I think we all take it with a grain of salt. He's still a minor league player. He's still developing. The minor league group talked about it yesterday, there's still a lot of things that he has to do and check the box in terms of the development card. But he's got that type of ability, that one day down the road he's gonna help lead us," Preller said.

Jeffers could hold the fort for the Padres until Salas is ready to go, giving San Diego some peace of mind at the catcher position.

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