Elite former Dodgers prospect lands with exact team you expected after latest release

Of course.

Emma Lingan

Tulsa Drillers v Amarillo Sod Poodles / John E. Moore III/GettyImages

If you can't join 'em, beat 'em – or however the saying goes.

One of the Los Angeles Dodgers' former top prospects, catcher Diego Cartaya, has landed back in the National League West division after signing a minor-league contract with the San Francisco Giants. He seemingly broke the news himself, posting a photo of himself on social media on Monday in which he was wearing all Giants garb.

A former top-25 prospect in all of baseball, Cartaya was designated for assignment by the Dodgers in January before being traded to the Minnesota Twins for right-hander Jose Vasquez. The Twins quietly outrighted Cartaya to Triple-A St. Paul in April before releasing him last week.

Elite former Dodgers prospect Diego Cartaya lands with division rival Giants after latest release

As recently as 2023, Cartaya ranked as high as the No. 14 prospect in all of baseball according to MLB Pipeline. He dominated the lower levels of the Dodgers' minor league system, slashing 254/.389/.503 between Single-A and High-A in 2022.

Cartaya’s value began to dip, however as he struggled at the upper levels of the minors. His Triple-A numbers only got worse in St. Paul, where he slashed just .085/.217/.136 in 20 games before his release.

Clearly, the Giants still see enough value in Cartaya to bring him in on a minor-league deal as depth behind the plate. Gold Glove backstop Patrick Bailey is currently being backed up by Andrew Knizner at the Major League level, but Cartaya now joins a number of non-roster catchers at the upper levels of the Giants' farm system including Max Stassi, Sam Huff, Logan Porter and ... Austin Barnes.

Each of Cartaya's fellow non-roster catchers in the Giants' system have Major League experience and may therefore be more likely to get big league opportunities with San Francisco this season in the event of an injury. So, while may seem like a long shot at this point, Cartaya is still only 23 years old and has plenty of runway to get his career back on track.

Perhaps the Giants will be successful in unlocking the upside that the Dodgers and Twins could not. If Cartaya ends up becoming a solid player for San Francisco, it will be a tough break for the Dodgers.

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Emma Lingan

Emma Lingan is an MLB Staff Writer for FanSided primarily covering the Pittsburgh Pirates. She has been covering baseball for more than a decade dating back to her time as a student at Wake Forest University, and she has won two gold medals as a member of the U.S. National Team delegation (2016 Pan-American Championships & 2017 World Baseball Classic). A native of Washington, D.C. and current resident of Nashville, Tenn., she is also entering her seventh season as a credentialed NHL media member and currently covers the NHL’s Nashville Predators for The Hockey News. When she's not watching hockey, baseball or football, she enjoys podcasting, reading, going to the gym, consuming large amounts of coffee and taking long walks with her dog, Minkah. You can follow her @Emma_lingan on Twitter and Instagram.