Mariners could capitalize on Dodgers' roster crunch after Hyeseong Kim signing

The Seattle Mariners were expected to be one of the teams that had a real shot at signing Korean free agent infielder Hyeseong Kim. Some even thought they were the favorites to land him. However, the Mariners did not sign him and they missed out on another possible solution to their infield issues. Whether or not that missing out on him is a good thing, Kim signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers could end up benefiting the Mariners because of who the Dodgers had to designate for assignment.

The Dodgers had to clear a 40-man roster spot for Kim and they decided to DFA former top catching prospect Diego Cartaya. He was ranked as MLB Pipeline's 14th-best prospect in all of baseball before the 2023 season. Obviously he has not performed as well as they expected due to his struggles in 2024, but there is still a lot of potential in the 23-year-old from Venezuela.

Before 2023, Cartaya had been putting up solid numbers in the lower levels of the minor leagues, logging a .254/.389/.503 slash line between Single-A and High-A with 22 doubles and 22 home runs. Those are pretty nice numbers for a 20-year-old. Mariners prospect Harry Ford put up a similar .257/.410/.430 line at High-A Everett in his age-20 season with 24 doubles and 15 homers this past year.

Mariners Rumors: Diego Cartaya should be target for Seattle after DFA

Ford and Cartaya possess different styles and strengths. However, those are similar numbers at similar levels at the same age. Unfortunately for Cartaya, he was not able to follow up his good 2022 campaign with another in 2023 at the Double-A level. His numbers took a dive as he hit below .200 and didn't play a full season due to going on the injured list at the end of August.

Then, in 2024 after struggling at the Double-A level the year before, he rebounded and had a better first half in 2024. In just under 200 plate appearances he hit .236/.354/.379 before being promoted to Triple-A. His numbers dipped from where they were in Double-A earlier in the year, but not as low as they were in 2023.

Ultimately, Cartaya has not ended up performing to the level that a top-100 prospect theoretically should. But there's still plenty of time. At 24 years old, Cal Raleigh was struggling to stick in the big leagues and hit below .200 (Raleigh did not play his age-23 season after the minor league year was canceled due to the pandemic). It took a while for Raleigh to figure it out at the upper levels of the minors and big leagues before he broke out.

Cartaya has not yet even gotten to the big leagues, but he could be a call-up option at any point during the 2025 season because he has now reached Triple-A. He could be a third catching option for the Mariners and potentially be the future backup. Obviously, Raleigh is the unquestioned starter behind the plate, but he does take a beating back there, so if another backstop could give him consistent breathers, that would be preferred.

Currently, Raleigh is going to be backed up by Mitch Garver and Nick Raposo. Garver had a bad 2024 after being a prized free agent acquisition by the Mariners but he struggled to hit all year. Raposo was a waiver pickup from Toronto. He has not seen the big leagues yet in his career and he is 26 years old. Neither option sounds great since Garver is 33 years old and Raposo is unproven.

Cartaya could compete with Garver for true No. 2 catcher time, and his youth could be something that makes him more available to play behind the plate. Also, if Garver fails to hit again in 2025, the Mariners might simply cut bait with the veteran in the last year of his deal and give someone like Cartaya a chance. We've seen Dipoto do crazier things, right?