KC Royals have a new catching hole to fill this winter

The Kansas City Royals aren't short on excellent catchers. Their big league roster boasts nine-time All-Star Salvador Pérez and superb backup Freddy Fermin. Blake Mitchell and Carter Jensen, the Royals' second and fifth-best prospects per MLB Pipeline, are the most talented catchers in the system, but both are at least a year away from Kauffman Stadium. Kale Emshoff, who played at High-A Quad Cities and Double-A Northwest Arkansas, and Northwest Arkansas' Luca Tresh remain on Kansas City's radar. And others are developing in the lower minors.

But despite all that talent, the organization has a catching hole it should fill, and fill soon. With Austin Nola — a professional since 2012 who spent most of this season catching top-level prospects at Omaha — now gone to the Colorado Rockies, Kansas City needs another veteran presence behind the Triple-A plate.

And for good reason.

The KC Royals have development needs at Triple-A

Nowhere in the Kansas City organization are more pitchers on the verge of major league readiness than at Omaha. Key pitching prospects Chandler Champlain, Luinder Avila, Tyson Guerrero, and Eric Cerantola are all on the Storm Chasers' current roster, and promising Ben Kudrna could get there before the 2025 season ends. All join catchers Mitchell and Jensen on Pipeline's list of Top 30 KC prospects, but they also require more seasoning before heading for Kansas City.

That's where a veteran catcher, especially one with some major league experience like Nola, can help. Pairing such catchers with talented up-and-coming pitchers isn't a concept created to give life and purpose to Crash Davis, Kevin Costner's character in "Bull Durham" who mentored Tim Robbins' wacky "Nuke" LaLoosh as LaLoosh closed in on the majors. Instead, it's a time-tested, proven real-life methodology.

Unfortunately, it's also a critical component Omaha lacks. With parts of five major league seasons under his belt, Nola's offseason signing gave the Chasers more big league experience than Logan Porter picked up in his brief 2023 call-up and more than Brian O'Keefe had when he joined the club after an early season injury temporarily sidelined Nola. Nola returned to Omaha and, after surviving a late-August DFA, finished the season there.

But the Royals lost him earlier this month when he signed a minor league deal with Colorado. His departure, and Porter's in June, leave Kansas City with only one catcher — O'Keefe, who's caught only nine big league games — with any major league experience on its minor league rosters.

That shortcoming is glaring, especially for an organization recovering from a recent plague of poor pitching development. How to overcome the situation is the question.

The KC Royals could look to their past for a veteran catcher

The free agent market isn't short on catchers, but many may not be entertaining minor league overtures. Still, one veteran backstop with considerable major league catching experience and the knowledge and savvy to help bring Omaha's top pitchers along might fit the bill, and Martín Maldonado has what others don't — time well-spent with the Royals.

Kansas City picked up Maldonado in 2019 when Pérez tore his UCL during spring training, and he bailed out the Royals behind the plate until they traded him to Chicago for Mike Montgomery in July. Maldonado could help those top Omaha prospects — he's caught in the majors for 14 seasons, knows young hurlers, and handles pitchers well. He's familiar with the Royals and they with him.

He also won't cost Kansas City the proverbial arm and leg. The Chicago White Sox paid Maldonado $4.25 million to play little more than half the 2024 season (they released him near the trade deadline), he didn't catch on with another club, and because he probably won't be in high demand, might be willing to accept a minor league deal.

There are others on the market, of course. The Royals should be combing the possibilities.