The Seattle Mariners have one of the best catcher in MLB: Cal Raleigh. That’s undeniable. But baseball has never been a sport of absolute certainty—especially in the catcher position, where injuries and wear and tear are always lurking.
And that’s why the Mariners just made a very… quiet move.
Tuesday night, Seattle announced a trade with the Minnesota Twins for Jhonny Pereda—a 29-year-old catcher, not a social media sensation, but the kind of player teams often look for when they think a little further ahead than their opening day lineup.
Pereda isn’t a prospect. He’s not a future option. He’s the product of persistence—and perhaps of never being able to make too many mistakes.
After more than 11 years in the minor league, Pereda will make his MLB debut in April 2024 with the Miami Marlins. To date, he has only played 48 Major League games, split between the Marlins, Athletics, and Twins over the last two seasons. His batting record isn’t impressive: 26 for 108, averaging .241. But the Mariners don’t trade for bats.
They trade for availability.
Pereda has traversed almost every corner of the professional baseball system: Cubs, Red Sox, Giants, Reds, Marlins, Athletics, Twins—and now the Mariners. A catcher once signed internationally by the Cubs from Venezuela in 2013, he survived cutbacks and omissions, finally finding a place—albeit fragile—in MLB.
In the minor league, he’s the “adequate” player: .263, OPS .706, no major flaws, no explosive moments. And sometimes, that’s exactly what teams need behind a superstar.
To acquire Pereda, the Mariners had to make an uncomfortable decision: designate Jackson Kowar for the assignment. Kowar was once a highly anticipated name, but Seattle chose flexibility and insurance for the catcher position over continuing with an arm that was no longer part of their short-term plans.
The message here is clear: the Mariners didn’t doubt Cal Raleigh—they doubted the fragility of a long 162-game season.
The catcher position doesn’t allow for mistakes. Just one collision, one fatigue streak, or one unexpected IL stint could affect the entire pitching staff structure. Pereda didn’t come to compete with Raleigh. He came to ensure the Mariners weren’t caught off guard if the worst happened.
But another aspect cannot be ignored: Pereda was a “low-cost, low-risk” choice. He didn’t require a big role. He didn’t create locker room pressure. He didn’t demand excessive explanations from the coach. A player like this usually appears when the team is optimizing every small detail—or when they feel they have little room for error.
For the Mariners, this trade won’t decide the season. But it reflects the current mindset: prioritizing depth, prioritizing survival, over flashiness.
Jhonny Pereda may not make a huge impact. But his presence—and the price Seattle paid for him—says quite a bit about how the Mariners are looking ahead to the season.
And sometimes, the smallest trades… are where a team’s true anxieties are most clearly revealed.
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