The Dodgers protected Diego Cartaya, the crown jewel of their highly touted farm system, for years. Injuries and poor performance prompted a change.
Two years ago, Diego Cartaya was the crown jewel of the Dodgers’ highly touted farm system.
On Thursday, he quietly departed the organization without ever coming close to reaching the majors.
A week after being designated for assignment by the club to clear a roster spot for the signing of South Korean infielder Hyeseong Kim, Cartaya was traded to the Minnesota Twins for minor league pitcher Jose Vasquez, the team announced.
Vasquez, a 20-year-old right-hander, has a career 8.05 ERA in two seasons in the Dominican Summer League, coming to the Dodgers as little more than a long-shot flier.
Cartaya, once considered one of the best young talents in the sport after signing with the Dodgers out of Venezuela, was supposed to be destined for so much more.
Read more: Inside the Dodgers’ juggernaut farm system, the lifeblood of the club
A 6-foot-3 catcher with a powerful right-handed swing, Cartaya was ranked as the Dodgers’ best prospect by MLB Pipeline in both 2022 and 2023. At one point, he was tabbed as a consensus top-20 prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline, Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus.
Though Cartaya was annually a subject of trade rumors, the Dodgers never involved him in a blockbuster deal, maintaining hope in his potential as a key part of their long-term future.
Alas, injuries and poor performance derailed the 23-year-old’s rise through the minors, stalling his career as other young catchers like Dalton Rushing and Hunter Feducia passed him in the Dodgers’ organizational depth chart.
Cartaya’s best seasons in the club’s system came in 2021, when he batted .298 with 10 home runs and a 1.023 OPS in 31 games in single A, and 2022, when he hit .254 with 22 home runs and a .892 OPS in single A and high A, and appeared in the MLB Futures Game at Dodger Stadium.
Read more: Dodgers sign Hyeseong Kim, finalize Teoscar Hernández return as roster takes shape
Entering 2023, Cartaya didn’t seem far away from making Chavez Ravine his permanent home. Though he had battled back and hamstring injuries already, his power at the plate and big arm behind the dish made him look like a rising star. He opened that season in double A, and seemed primed to quickly climb the final rungs of the minor league ladder.
But that year, Cartaya hit only .189 while splitting time between catcher and designated hitter. He hit 19 home runs, but also struck out 117 times.
Early last year, Cartaya’s numbers rebounded slightly, earning him a promotion to triple-A Oklahoma City. Once there, however, he batted just .208 with a .643 OPS in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.
When the Dodgers needed a reserve catcher late in the season, they summoned Feducia — a lower-ranked prospect and former 12th-round pick — to their big league roster instead.
Between that and the emergence of Rushing, the club’s top draft pick in 2022 and current No. 1 rated prospect, Cartaya’s tenuous place within the organization was clear. And when the team needed to clear a roster spot last week, Cartaya became the easiest name for the team to move on from, his once tantalizing potential having never come to fruition.
Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
