Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
The Padres have a desperate need at catcher and another outfield bat. The Chicago White Sox may hold the key to the Padres improving both spots.
In case you have been scuba diving in La Jolla Cove for the last few months and are just now checking into the Padres’ situation, they have one of the worst catching tandems in all of baseball. The combination of Elias Diaz and Martin Maldonado rank 29th in fWAR and dead last in collective wRC+.
Adding to the catcher position is paramount over the next two weeks for A.J. Preller. Additionally, adding another bat who can play the outfield is a close second as far as biggest needs.
While he likely isn’t the franchise-altering catcher most fans want, the White Sox’s Korey Lee is an ideal addition.
Dennis Lin of The Athletic noted the Padres’ interest in Lee.
As of now, Lee is not with the MLB squad in Chicago. After battling some injuries, he is currently with Triple-A Charlotte. In 34 games in Triple-A, he is batting .262 with a .781 OPS and 100 wRC+.
A first-round pick by the Astros in 2019, Lee even reached the status of the second-ranked prospect in the Houston organization in 2022. Ahead of the 2023 deadline, Lee was dealt to the White Sox for Kendall Graveman. He struggled to break through with the big league club in the White Sox organization, having brief stints in the big leagues before 2024. But last year, he showed flashes of why he was one of the best catching prospects in baseball just a few seasons ago.
In 2024, he played in 125 games, including 113 in gear behind the plate. His athletic profile is one of a glove-first, athletic catcher with a strong arm. He has some raw power, which he showed with 12 homers.
His .591 OPS and 64 wRC+ from his initial season in the big leagues leaves a lot of room for improvement. Yet, that is somehow still better than the Padres’ collective backstops this season, who check in with a .539 OPS and 55 wRC+ combined.
The Escondido native is still just 26 years old with less than 200 games of MLB experience. There is plenty of time for him to form into an everyday catcher. He won’t be a free agent until after the 2029 season.
Still, he doesn’t necessarily solve the Padres’ catching issues. He is not a proven commodity. One could argue that getting rid of Luis Campusano only to trade for Lee would be redundant. However, the defensive metrics favor Lee heavily over Campusano.
Lee resided in the 97th percentile for pop time to second base in 2024 and 82nd in caught stealing rate. For reference, Campusano ranked in the 38th percentile for pop time and a dismal 6th percentile rating for caught stealing rate.
In this day and age of base-stealing with bigger bases and limits on pickoffs, teams need catchers who can control the run game. Lee has shown he can do that at an above-average rate and far better than Campusano.
Martin Maldonado ranks under the 40th percentile in both pop time and caught stealing rate this season. Elias Diaz has a better defensive profile than Lee, but is atrocious at the plate.
If anything, Lee becomes a much better backup catcher option than Maldonado, with worlds-better upside and potential. The Padres can acquire Lee and still pursue a better veteran catcher than Diaz, such as Sean Murphy or a free agent, this winter.
For those who are thinking, “If he can’t even crack the White Sox’s big league roster, why would he be worth the Padres picking him up?” May I present Gavin Sheets? The White Sox released him last year, after the worst season by a team in MLB history.
Then there’s the case for the outfielder Mike Tauchman. The Padres need more bats. The prevailing narrative is that the Padres don’t need to add stars or to make a splash. They simply need to add along the fringes and margins to raise the floor of this lineup, which is currently strikingly top-heavy.
Tauchman is the definition of a league-average hitter, with a career 101 OPS+ and .729 OPS. The lefty outfielder is enjoying a season better than his career marks with Chicago. In 45 games (a big chunk of missed time due to a nagging hamstring issue), he has posted a solid .809 OPS. His .283 batting average is almost 40 points higher than his career average.
He is a player who won’t wow you with power but has solid plate discipline. If fans are worried about him being a lefty when the Padres already struggle against lefty pitchers, Tauchman owns a higher career OPS against southpaws than he does versus right-handers.
Putting Tauchman in the lineup where the Padres have had the likes of Bryce Johnson (career 42 OPS+) and Trenton Brooks (.495 OPS this year) recently would instantly skyrocket the floor of the order.
Tauchman is under team control through the 2026 season, his final year of arbitration. He would be a savvy addition without breaking the bank or gutting the farm.
If the Padres were to swing a trade for both Lee and Tauchman, it would address the lack of depth at catcher and boost the lineup with a MLB-quality outfield bat without needing to conjure a blockbuster package back to Chicago.
Let’s try to project what that trade package might look like. This could also be an opportunity for Campusano to have a change of scenery,
Padres get: OF Mike Tauchman, C Korey Lee
White Sox get: C Luis Campusano, OF Tirso Ornelas (SD# 11), RHP Tyson Neighbors (SD #18)
Native of Escondido, CA. Lived in San Diego area for 20 years. Padres fan since childhood (mid-90s). I have been writing since 2014. I currently live near Seattle, WA and am married to a Seattle sports girl. I wore #19 on my high school baseball team for Tony Gwynn. I am a stats and sports history nerd. I attended BYU on the Idaho campus. I also love Star Wars.
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