While we wait for the Blue Jays to make their first real move of the winter to improve their offence (Andrés Giménez doesn’t count, even if he does make them better in other areas), some teams are nearly done their offseason shopping, like the Los Angeles Dodgers (who are still in on the Roki Sasaki sweepstakes but other free agents, not so much). As if we didn’t have enough to be jealous about there already. However, sometimes that can lead to opportunities, and for the Blue Jays, I would argue that L.A.’s early work has presented one that they should take a good long look at.

On Friday, the Dodgers made the somewhat surprising decision to designate Diego Cartaya for assignment. The Dodgers had to make a decision after they signed KBO star Hyeseong Kim to a three-year deal and needed a spot on their 40-man roster, and it was Cartaya who was sacrificed in order to make room.

The move comes as a surprise because it wasn’t all that long ago that Cartaya was considered to be among the best prospects in the game. In fact, before the 2023 season, he was ranked at #14 on MLB.com’s Top 100 prospects list and came in at #18 on Baseball America’s rankings. There was a point when he was considered to be the catcher of the future for the Dodgers, but unfortunately not much has gone well for the 23-year-old since that time. In 2023 he slashed just .189/.278/.379 across 93 games at the double-A level, and then .221/.323/.336 over 95 games split between AA and AAA stations.

There’s no doubt that Cartaya has struggled, or that he’ll need more time in the minor leagues before he could theoretically help his next team. This wouldn’t be about helping the 2025 version of the Blue Jays unless everything went right for Cartaya with a fresh start. However, there was a reason that he was so highly touted just two years ago, and he has more than enough youth on his side that it’s plausible that he can re-discover that form. As for his place with the Dodgers, it was hard to see him breaking through the ranks as things are currently constructed. They have Will Smith locked up long-term as their #1 catcher, and Dalton Rushing is their top catching prospect these days and one of the best in baseball. At this point, it’s hard to dispute that a fresh start is necessary for the Venezuelan backstop.

The Blue Jays make a lot of sense thanks to the lack of catching depth in their minor league system, which could present an opportunity for Cartaya to rise through the ranks fairly quickly.

A quick glance at the Blue Jays’ top 30 prospects list shows a total lack of catchers, and right now it looks like Tyler Heineman will be the backup for Alejandro Kirk unless the front office brings in another veteran ahead of Opening Day. That’s a lot of eggs in the Kirk basket, both now and in the future, and could be exactly the kind of situation Cartaya should be seeking to find an opportunity to revitalize his career. The club also recently added Alí Sánchez into the mix for some depth but adding Cartaya throws some more fuel to the competition fire at the end of the day.

While he has stalled in the upper levels of the minor leagues, Cartaya has enough power potential in his bat, coupled with the skills to be a solid defensive catcher, to get another opportunity. The Dodgers have a few days left to work out a trade or they’ll end up placing him on outright waivers, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see other interested teams come calling before then. Considering how thin the Blue Jays are at catcher throughout their minor league system, the fit seems like a pretty obvious one.