Milwaukee Brewers trade for catcher David Freitas from Seattle Mariners

Jerry Dipoto strikes again and does what he does best. Or maybe it is what he does most. Either way, he makes a trade, and this time his trading partner is David Stearns. As you may remember, Dipoto and Stearns struck a deal during the offseason sending Domingo Santana (who has been raking) to Seattle for Ben Gamel (and his minor league option) and minor league pitcher Noah Zavolas. This time, Sal Biasi leaves the Brewers’ organization, going to Seattle in exchange for catcher David Freitas. Freitas will go to San Antonio and take the last 40 man spot that was vacated when Corey Knebel was placed on the 60-day injured list.

The 30 year old catcher gives the Brewers veteran depth at the position. Freitas has appeared in parts of three big league seasons with Seattle and Atlanta. Beyond those two clubs at the MLB level, Freitas has played in the minor league systems of the Nationals, Athletics, Orioles, and Cubs. Last season, Freitas slashed .215/.277/.312 in 36 games in the majors for Seattle. His AAA numbers over the past two seasons do demonstrate more potential than that, though — a .263/.338/.356 slash in 2017 and .349/.428/.527 in 2018. The journeyman catcher will fall behind Yasmani Grandal, Manny Pina, and likely Jacob Nottingham on the depth chart, although he probably will be the first catcher called up if either Grandal or Pina miss time.

The Mariners received 23-year old Sal Biasi in return. The right handed pitcher was an 11th draft pick of the Kansas City Royals in 2017. Biasi came to the Milwaukee organization last season in exchange for Jon Perrin. The 23 year old began the year in the bullpen for Class A Wisconsin, logging 4.0 scoreless innings across three appearances.

Statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference and Fangraphs