Dodgers Complete Drew Butera Trade and Acquire Catcher Shawn Zarraga

While the Matt Kemp trade had yet to be finalized on Thursday, the Dodgers did complete another offseason trade. With thin depth at the catching position after losing Tim Federowicz, Griff Erickson and Johnny Monell this winter, the Dodgers acquired minor league catcher Shawn Zarraga from Milwaukee.

Live Feed

Call to the Pen

Somehow the Dodgers turned veteran Drew Butera into more catching depth with Zarraga. Sounds good to me. Unless of course the Dodgers-Padres deal, which is set to bring Yasmani Grandal to Los Angeles, falls through.

The Dodgers obtained utility guy Matt Long from the Angels in return for Drew and then proceeded to flip Long along with left-handed pitcher Jarret Martin to Milwaukee to obtain Zarraga. These Andrew Friedman era moves can get a bit confusing, can’t they?

Anyhow, Zarraga is a 25-year old switch-hitting catcher, like Grandal, who was born in Aruba. He was drafted by Milwaukee in the 44th round of the 2007 draft, and he spent part of 2014 playing for their Double-A and Triple-A affiliates. Zarraga has a career minor league batting average of .283 with 13 homeruns and 167 RBIs over 7 seasons and 425 games. He should be slated to play for the Oklahoma City Dodgers in 2014, although he was demoted back to Double-A Huntsville at the end of the 2014 season after going 10-for-47 in 17 games with Triple-A Nashville.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the Dodgers acquire even more catching depth between now and Spring Training. Both Yasmani Grandal and A.J. Ellis have a history of knee injuries.

With the San Diego trade in limbo, Tim Federowicz and Yasmani Grandal have yet to be officially swapped. Many have dismissed Grandal due to his PED history, but with the catching situation so dire (the Dodgers had the worst offensive catching corps in the entire Majors last season who combined to hit an atrocious .181/.283/.261), I am not opposed to giving Grandal a chance to be a successful Dodger backstop.