Marlins finally address catcher, trade for Christian Bethancourt

The second Miami Marlins trade of the Peter Bendix era involves the acquisition of yet another former player of his. The Marlins sent cash considerations to the Cleveland Guardians on Sunday in exchange for catcher Christian Bethancourt, as first reported by Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase. The trade has been made official.

A decade ago, Bethancourt was a borderline Top 100 MLB prospect in the Atlanta Braves farm system. It has been a wild ride since then that's taken him to eight other major league organizations, South Korea and even an experiment as a two-way player (yes, there's a Shohei Ohtani joke to be made somewhere in there).

Last season with the Tampa Bay Rays, Bethancourt slashed .225/.254/.381 (74 wRC+) in a career-high 104 games played. He started at catcher 89 times and his teammates had ample success throwing to him (3.60 ERA).

Bethancourt got off to a hot start offensively in 2023. He homered six times in his first 21 games. However, he did so only five times in 83 games after that.

The Guardians just claimed Bethancourt off waivers from Tampa Bay a month ago, but he became expendable when they reached an agreement with free agent Austin Hedges on Sunday.

Bethancourt is a volatile player overall, but if nothing else, he can be trusted to help the Marlins deter base-stealers. His 1.87 second pop time in 2023 was second among all MLB catchers behind only J.T. Realmuto (1.83 sec).

The realistic best-case scenario for Bethancourt is that he recaptures his 2022 form. He accrued 1.8 fWAR in 101 games with a .252/.283/.409 slash line (100 wRC+). Even including his 2023 regression, this is a clear upgrade at the plate over incumbent veteran catcher Jacob Stallings, who the Marlins non-tendered.

It's also a cost-saving change. Stallings had been in line for approximately $3.6M in 2024 via arbitration, according to MLB Trade Rumors. Bethancourt's projected salary is $2.3M. It will be his age-32 season. Bethancourt will be arbitration-eligible one final time in 2025.

With two months to go until spring training begins, Bethancourt and Nick Fortes project to be Miami's Opening Day catching tandem. That's not set in stone, of course (Fortes has minor league options remaining). The Marlins are "still looking via free agency" for catcher reinforcements, per Craig Mish of SportsGrid.

The Marlins 40-man roster is now full. Any more additions—and we fully expect there to be more—will require corresponding moves.

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