The Kansas City Royals were very active at the trade deadline last month, adding some very important pieces to boost their offense. Mike Yastrzemski, Randal Grichuk and Adam Frazier were brought on board by July 31. However, they also traded away a few pieces, with backup catcher Freddy Fermin being sent to the San Diego Padres.
Fermin got off to a hot start with the Padres but has since cooled down, and the Padres have essentially learned a lesson that the Royals knew all too well about the backup catcher.
Oliver Vandervoort of Kings of Kauffman discussed Fermin’s drop-off and ultimately confirmed that the Royals made the right choice to trade him.
“In the last few weeks, the NL West contender is starting to learn the lesson that Kauffman Stadium denizens learned before them. From time to time, you have to take the very good with the very bad,” Vandervoort wrote.
“After Fermin arrived in San Diego, he got off like gangbusters. For the first few weeks of his stay with the Padres, he slashed .364/.400/.485 with a home run and 5 RBI. However, while Fermin has always been a solid player no matter where he goes, he’s not always been anywhere near that kind of a hitter, and the regression has hit hard.”
Fermin is still having a respectable season at the plate, slashing .256/.305/.346 with four home runs, 19 RBI, a .651 OPS and a 1.9 WAR. However, his hot start with the Padres didn’t exactly last, and it stands to reason why he has cooled off a bit.
He still is a solid backup catcher that can be a league-average hitter, but the Royals may have ultimately made the right choice when they decided to cut ties with him and hand the backup catcher spot to Luke Maile.
Now, top prospect Carter Jensen is in the big leagues, and he can serve as the backup catcher for the rest of the year. Trading Fermin ultimately opened the door for Jensen to have some runway on the Major League roster at the end of the 2025 season.
Fermin is also now 30 years old, and the Royals wanted to give Jensen a chance to prove himself. But with Fermin’s recent struggles, it would seem that Kansas City made the right move in letting him go.
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