The Padres are acquiring catcher Freddy Fermin from the Royals, according to a report from ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Right-handers Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek are headed to Kansas City in exchange for Fermin. The clubs have since announced the deal.
Fermin, 30, heads to San Diego after parts of four seasons with the Royals. After a three-game cup of coffee in 2022, Fermin debuted in a more substantial way the following year when he appeared in 70 games as a complement to Salvador Perez behind the plate. Fermin did quite well for himself in that rookie campaign, as he slashed .281/.321/.461 with a 108 wRC+ with strong grades for his defense behind the plate. It was enough to earn him a larger role with the club, and he began to take more starts behind the dish while Perez increasingly spent his time at DH or first base.
Fermin went on to appear in 111 games last year and put together a solid enough season. While his offense took a step back amid increased playing time, he still managed a wRC+ of 92 and earned strong marks for his blocking and throwing arm behind the plate. Things have taken a turn for the worse this year, however. Fermin has been lackluster at the dish with a .255/.309/.339 (78 wRC+) slash line, and his defensive metrics have taken a step back as well. He’s been worth just 0.4 fWAR in 67 games, but even that somewhat meager performance outpaces the Padres’ current catching tandem. Elias Diaz (67 wRC+) and Martin Maldonado (62 wRC+) have both been even less impressive than Fermin behind the plate this year, and Maldonado in particular has paired that weak offense with some of the worst catcher defense in the entire sport despite his reputation as an elite game caller.
Getting an upgrade on both at and behind the plate who comes with four years of team control was evidently worth paying a significant price for the Padres. In exchange for surrendering Fermin, the Royals have brought in two young starters who have already broken into the big leagues in Bergert and Kolek. Bergert is the prize of the duo, still in his rookie season with a 2.78 ERA in 35 2/3 innings of work spread between seven starts and four relief outings. His peripherals are a bit less encouraging, as his 22.8% strikeout rate is somewhat outweighed by an elevated 12.1% walk rate, but he remains a controllable arm capable of pitching both out of the rotation or in relief as needed.
As for Kolek, the right-hander made his big league debut with the Padres as a reliever last year. He struggled to a 5.21 ERA in 46 2/3 innings of work but posted strong underlying metrics with a 55.9% ground ball rate, a 3.57 FIP, and a 3.41 SIERA. That was enough to convince the Padres to move him into a rotation role for this year, and so far he’s made 14 starts for San Diego with roughly league average results. In 79 2/3 innings of work, Kolek has pitched to a 4.18 ERA with a 4.23 FIP. While he’s struck out just 16.7% of his opponents against a 7.7% walk rate, his 50.6% ground ball rate is still impressive and has allowed him to miss barrels throughout his time in the majors.
With both Bergert and Kolek under team control for the next half-decade, that should give the Royals plenty of flexibility at the back of their rotation both for the short-term (with Kris Bubic, Cole Ragans, and Michael Lorenzen all on the injured list) as well as the long-term, as players like Bubic and Lorenzen reach free agency while Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha get older. While losing Fermin from the club’s catching situation will hurt in the short term, a combination of Perez and Luke Maile is still on the roster while top catching prospects Carter Jensen, Blake Mitchell, and Ramon Ramirez all remain in the minor leagues to help shore up the club’s catching situation in the coming seasons.
Freddie Freeman got traded?!?!
I definitely read that one too fast…
I did too lol.
Roid – I expected many to think it was Freeman, but did anybody else think it was Felix Fermin? LOL
Briefly…ha!
Lol my eyes initially saw the same thing.
Lol I saw blue and Freddie and it was over
No, the Braves let the Dodgers steal him away because AA didn’t go the extra mile or year or whatever…He gave up!
Nah, Freeman wanted to go to the Dodgers imo…all those crocodile tears can spare me. AA and Freddie knew thats how it was going down and hard to convince me otherwise.
Freddie Got Fingered
WWE to select Freddie Blassie.
They will need to transfer someone
to NXT to create a roster spot!
why
Why is right? Bergert has pitched well.
And for a 30 year old Catcher hitting .255?!?!?
Freddy is a good catcher in fact he was actually nominated for a gold glove last year it’s very rare for a backup catcher to get one of those nominations
Why not Salas here preller
Salas is hurt and the stock is way down
It’s ok to not know anything. Very common these days. But better when you don’t know anything to not say anything. That way nobody sees the cluelessness.
Lol. Bergert was expendable and Fermin is a clear upgrade but.. man. Feels like Nola 2.0
Kolek was expendable too?
Everyone goes….its a reverse fire sale
Nope. I would have been okay with one of Bergert/Kolek and Vasquez. I really wanted one of those two guys to stay put.
Kolek and Bergert, thanks. I hate it.
Thought this was Freddie Freeman
Thought this was Freddy Krueger.
Thought this was Freddy Fazbear
Thought this was Frederick’s of Hollywood
Freddy Fermin is not a pointy star, but a foundation garment.
Jokes aside he’s a good add, whenever Perez was out or Melendez slumped he was great defensively and held his own offensively. Surprised they gave him up cause everyone needs depth
OK…..I know they were looking to upgrade at C, but figured they’d go for the OF/bench bat more
Slightly better hitter than Felix Fermin. Actually becomes the Padres best offensive Catcher. Who’s on the move: Diaz or Maldonado?
Maldonado slides over to DH.
If that’s the case than Preller probably should be fired
To quote the late great Tommy Lasorda. He couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat.
Have to hit to be a DH. Maldonado couldn’t hit his way out of a wet paper bag with a machete.
DFA
slides over to DFA you mean
I appreciated the joke, BBB.
They always say the jokes needing explanations are the funniest, say I while explaining as usual my brilliant latest comic hilarity to a…..
Wait…..
Anyway, the Royals just added 2 regular-starting pitchers good for who knows how many years to come while the Pads as noted landed Austin Nola and every other midseason bat that went to America’s Finest City to chill.
Oh, Maldonado is not happy, he is a glue guy too. Gonna cut your glue guy and trade two of the guys that put you in the spot make a run for the playoffs.
Padres had a terrible trade deadline. They’ll probably win it all.
Pads and Phils shove all their chips into the middle!
I think this is a mistake. Fermin is a glove first backup catcher and the Padres already have two of those. Do they release Maldonado now? They can’t afford to keep 3 catchers that can’t hit.
Bergert is much better than Sears who will now be forced into the rotation unless King is stepping into Bergert’s place in rotation immediately.
Maldonado gone, I assume. Or maybe he takes a coaching role
I think he would be a great coach. Talking to him in spring training about catching and pitching was taking a master class.
Padres don’t have glove first catchers. Both rate as terrible defensively.
This is a pretty big upgrade.
Both Diaz and Maldonado are on the team because of what they do behind the plate, not at it.
I get that’s why but the metrics say they are bad at it. Go take a look
and upgrade was needed in the team’s offense. So this isn’t an impactful upgrade addressing that big need. But AJ dealt our rotation depth.
The trade just got exponentially worse because now Sears has to start. Both Bergert and Kolek are better than Sears.
Believe it or not, Fermin is a gigantic upgrade offensively and defensively at the position. Diaz and Maldonado have been far and away the worst C tandem in the league.
lol. Yes he is an upgrade over the two worst catchers in the league. Every back up C in the league and lots of AA/AAA guys would be. Campy is an upgrade too. Impactful to the offense? I don’t see it. This surely isn’t what AJ meant when he said he’d add a bat or two.
What isn’t especially brilliant is to acquire this upgrade by dealing two bonafide SPs that made up our back end rotation depth. Especially after dealing our two most MLB-ready SPs from the farm. That’s just sad.
He’s a pesky offense type, contact-oriented. I like his game. He’s also a really good defensive catcher, probably in the top 10 on a rate basis. I already feel much better about this trade than Miller/Sears.
AJP is gambling hard, for sure. He’s hoping Fermin turns out to be a Higgy, not a Nola trade. And he’s sure as heck hoping, even expecting that King and maybe Cease, too, are back to 2024 form.
All I can hope is that he is not done. I really liked the Miller/Sears trade, but not this one. Having Sears as a 6th starter is fine. Having him slotting in every night hurts.
He has no pop. The Padres need a RHB with pop. That was the biggest need going into the deadline. It didn’t matter what position that bat played as long as he was a RHB with power.
I’m high on Sears, I think he will work well with Niebla. Also nice to have a lefty in the rotation again.
Pads- once king is back sears is a 5-6 guy.
Also for sure Neibla saw something in him.
Let the man cook.
I’ve only seen Berget once this year (against my Mets) but he looked solid and induced a lot of soft contact. Good overall stats and he’s a rookie. I agree, I would have kept him. Sears is a downgrade.
To me, Sears and Bergert are probably similar performers. More K-upside with Bergert, but less control. The additional years of team control are huge, though.
Bergert has proven himself this year and has #3/4 SP upside. Kolek can also crack the Royal’s rotation as he did SD’s league leading pitching staff – Kolek has a 4 pitch arsenal coveted for starters.
But we got another back up catcher oh joy! Those wanting an upgrade at C got what they wanted, this is it. Less power than Maldonado and Diaz, if that’s possible. Not dazzling and at great cost.
Hope Yu and King come back studly (by no means a guarantee), and Pivetta continues his career year, and they don’t trade Cease (they will) and that JP Sears takes a monumental leap in Petco and becomes our #3-4 SP.
The Pads didn’t trade Kolek, too, did they? I can’t find a news reference to it. If so, then DANG, starting pitching may get pretty thin, even with the new guy from the A’s. No guarantee that King will be back. We don’t know if Cease goes or stays. Such DRAMA for Pads fans, rlol.
Yes they did trade Kolek.
This tells me Cease isn’t going anywhere. Until king is back it’s…
Pivetta
Cease
Darvish
Sears
Vasquez
Then whoever is better Vasquez or sears gets demoted.
It’s a hit the padres death but it is an upgrade at catcher. Pretty big one via war.
They still need a LF or DH bat.
WAR is especially nonsensical for C position, no?
Brew- look at every statistic.
Maldy and Diaz are absolutely horrible. Every single metric they are bad.
sure, I was just singling out WAR because you did. Best to look at the other stats for sure
Oh crap, AJP did in fact, trade Kolek away, too. Without Bergert and Kolek, the Pads would have already been out of it already.
That kind of tells me that the market for Cease is ice cold, and Preller’s decided to just take the extra draft pick, let Cease go, and ride with the Darvish, Pivetta, Cease, King, and Waldron/Valdez/A’s new SP the rest of this year. If he trades cease, he’d better get Soto back in the trade, i.e. some kind of heavy impact bat, or the Pads pitching even with the A’s closer and a super-bullpen, ain’t gonna make it through the end of September
You left off sears
@Brew–I like the take about Sears. I guarantee Niebla was asked for his take on Sears and is the reason why he was included in the trade. All of these negative opinions are based on what he has done so far on the MLB level. Pivetta had a somewhat similar track record of blah to bad results. Now, if someone is going to pipe up with an expert and considered opinion of Sears having followed him from the minors up to MLB and come back with “he’s trash’, that’s different. But dig a bit into his minor league numbers and you’ll see the potential. AND, trust Niebla!
Sears is fine, and he’s being quickly thrust into a meaningful role in our rotation, even if we keep Cease. Dealing Cease at this point would quite puzzling given the stated goal of ownership to win.
Sears is 29 years old and in his 4th season in the majors. There is no reason to look at his minor league numbers. You can look at his MLB numbers and get the full story. He is a #5/#6 starter that takes the ball every 5th day. Nothing more. His numbers show that clearly.
His ERA, FIP, K%, Chase%, Whiff%, HH%, pitching run value, ERA+, WHIP, and velo are all near the bottom of the league.
Fermin just needs a chance to play frequently. He should get that with the Padres. I expect him to do well.
Padres making moves, I’m not sure they’re good ones tho
This guy can make a pitcher throw 10 pitches each AB. Congrats SD. -KCian
Yeah, Fermin is a pesky hitter along with being a solid defender.
Fermin will shut down the opponent running game.
Wow, this is shaping up to be a horrible deadline for Preller. Another headscratcher
Wasn’t he an I Love Lucy character?
Preller’s got some ‘splainin’ to do….
Cease and Suarez still available, if Preller looking to make another splash.
I agree. Considering Cease is a free agent after this season, and Suarez’s options suddenly look undervalued, he’ll almost certainly opt out, plus add in the A’s closer, and yep, but should be gone. Of course, the teams that AJ Preller have dealing with may suddenly close shop, leaving the Padres with extra pitching. That ain’t bad at all for the 2025 team. While the Pads would get something like an additional second round draft pick for Cease FA, but otherwise, it’s bad for 2026. I can’t see AJP not getting another hitter before the deadline in a couple of hours.
ErrmaGurd!!
Its Furddie Fermin!!
Are the Royals selling? I thought no since they extended Lugo
They got two major league arms. They got better.
This is a win for the Royals.
We are only three games out of the wild card so clearly we are going for a plus we also have injuries to our rotation so this is the help of survive the rest of the year as well
Wow that’s a great trade for the royals
So, I guess the Pirates wanted to much for Joey Bart. Kinda had Bart headed to SD in the final minutes of the deadline. Fermin not bad just another journeyman catcher, calls a good game, good on throws to second, hitting not that great.
He’s no journeyman. He’s only been on the Royals so far.
Holy overpay
As a Padre fan I’m not enjoying this day
Postscript: the day improved with the trade for Laureano and O’Hearn
Berget for Fermin straight up is a win for KC. To get another deep bullpen guy/5th starter type is great with the rotation injuries the Royals have had,
Pads fans, Fermin is a really good game-caller, scrappy hitter. You’ll enjoy him.
He is another backup catcher. The Padres needed an upgrade at catcher but not at the cost of two starting pitchers. This is a huge win for the Royals.
The next great trade Preller makes should be himself. King of overpaying.
Not a fan of dealing Bergert, but I’m sure there’s more coming.
Next up? The rest of the farm for a LF.
Mayfield, Bateman, Mendez, Hightower, Salas and Cronenworth for Adam Frazier
Brew calls it! Winner winner, chicken dinner.
Brew- you sound salty.
Bottom line is the 2025 padres are better right now than yesterday
I’m generally inclined to overly support my teams’ GM, blinders and all. But I’m greatly disappointed by what AJ has done today. If they keep Cease and Suarez that will show there’s still an interest in being better ROS, but we desperately need bench bats. I dread the thought of what AJ will sacrifice to get it. Salas and Mendez for Laureano?
Some of those in a 5 prospect deal headlined by Bateman for Laureano and O’Hearn from the Orioles.
If Preller sends Bateman anywhere but San Diego in 4 years, he needs to get out of baseball and check into the Betty Ford Clinic.
Royals fleeced em
What in the actual hell are we doing…
Catchers are valuable, and the Padres desperately needed a boost there.
Pitchers had crazy value yesterday. I guess that just disappeared
Getting clicks…apparently that’s all that Preller cares about
The second I got comfortable with the rotation depth after adding Sears, Preller gets to work.
Welp, I really wanted to De Vries develop into something like a Tatis or Jackson Merrill up at the show, but with AJP, hot prospects always seem to be burning a hole in his pockets. Actually, Preller has two ways to go for trades, three, if you consider assets off the 26 man roster, and that’s prospects or more cash. The owners say that they’re tapped out, so to improve the 2025 team, AJP had to do what he had to do. He DOES have a strategy, and in the past 3-4 years, things have worked out well.
Besides, losing De Vries is not a total loss, personally. I always had to look up his name five times to remember how to spell it. Now, that’s the A’s fans problem. lol
Ok, Pads, this is a huh to me.
The Diaz-Maldonado tandem has been the worst in the league. I don’t like the price, but this is a massive upgrade.
But not massive enough for what they gave up. Fermin for Kolek sure.
With Bergert, I was okay. Even throw Vasquez in there, fine. It’s a seller’s market.
Get ready for some Hart burn
If King makes it back I think Hart can stay in AAA. Sears/Vasquez have the 5/6 spots or 4/5 spots if Cease goes next – assuming a SP doesn’t come back.
Hart was good in Korea as a closer. Maybe they’ll try him in that role, and see if he can succeed against MLB pitching.
I do think BP is worth a shot to maximize him.
@Oldsalt. He’ll have about 7 other closers already on the team to climb over
if all goes perfectly and there everyone gets buff and there are not injuries or setbacks.
Then sure
And we got 2 bats we needed. Stronger BP, much stronger batting order, LF and 1b and C defense.
All holes filled.
Well, remember Brew, what the gunslinger always said. KT said “.. ya can never have enough pitching”.
The Pads will have a closer as an opener. 🤣
JJ being all gangster in KC. Thanks AJ!
Catcher was a desperate need but giving up your current pitching depth to get it is a bit of a risk
This would have been a win with just Berget. The fact that the Royals were able to grab Kolek as well makes them a clear winner. Fermin is an upgrade over what they have currently with Diaz & Maldonado, neither of which can hit their way out of a wet paper bag, but it’s nor like Fermin is Jonny Bench of Mike Piazza with the bat either, and the team still has a black hole in the OF. I wonder what else Preller can do in the next 2 and a half hours because IMO, this has been underwhelming for the Padres. Miller is nice, but he wasn’t needed.
Ok I don’t like it
Welcome Kyle Hart back into the starting rotation just in time for a playoff push…SMH
Nah, King/Cease/Yu/Pivetta/Sears, Vasquez #6, and pray no one else gets hurt
Nope. Preller’s got this super-secret 17 year old pitching in rookie ball, who throws 105 MPH with absolute, pin-point control, who he intends to bring up to fill in a rotation gap at the next opportunity. The fact that you’ve never heard of this kid outta Venez … I mean the D.H., nope it was Puerto Rico …. actually, he’s a college kid out of Hawaii who started college at age 13 – an absolute savant at linear Mathematics AND pitching …
Anyway, the new “kid” is coming up, and will shock the world! /sarc
Check back in a couple hours when Cease is wearing a different uniform.
I refuse to believe the Padres trade Cease until it happens. Preller has not once, in the last six deadlines, subtracted from the ML club’s top-end talent, even when they were outside playoff seeding.
There’s NO one that AJP won’t trade, just depends on “match ups and timing”, his favorite quotes. If Cease is still with the Pads after 3PM PST today, it means no one wanted him for a bag of pretzels in trade. His performance has been at the least, inconsistent. He’s a F/A. He’s worth more to the Padres than any team trading for him, based upon what they’d have to send back to get him.
My thought is that if he gets a good haul, Cease is gone. If he doesn’t get what he wants, we get the draft pick. I don’t see him pushing to make the trade like he did for Freddie and Miller.
You’re not doing too badly if Sears is your #5
BTV says the Royals win this one by 2.6m. I think they might undervalue Bergert and Kolek.
They’re just 4s. Good, cheap, and young starters are valuable, but they’re not the stars some people think they might be.
You may be right. That said, Fermin for one of them makes sense, for both is way too much. I usually give AJ the benefit of the doubt, but I really don’t like this deal
It stings because there are still holes to fill, but Fermin could be a long-term solution at C. He’s fantastic defensively, pesky on offense.
“Long term” for a Padres catcher is about … lemme see here …yup .. yup … one and a half years. Pads fans have seen SO many “next rising star” catchers flame out, Campusano is just the latest, and Salas has been hitting a bunch of bumps on his road. Baseball is hard, man. Staffing a star catcher, much, much harder than other positions.
That’s very true. To me, that makes the trade worthwhile. I’m unsure if Fermin will be the real deal, but it’s a fantastic addition at the Padres’ worst position.
Catchers carry weight
Are the Padres now Freddie and the Dreamers?
I’m surprised theres a 3 WAR hitter last year I never heard of. Good pickup.
Horrible. And still no LF or bench bats.
Sheets would take exception to your remark. He almost, personally remade the LF wall to prove it, too.
So
Darvish King Pivetta Vasquez Sears Hart with possibly Musgrove Cease or whoever ceases brings back Waldron Wolf as depth
Wonder if they attempt to stretch out Hoeing
I thought the same re: Hoeing, but he’s still been working as a 1-2 inning reliever in AAA
Look at the Pads bullpen. He added an ace reliever to four others, plus some pretty good front end bullpen types. As it sits at this exact second (forget the hour, WAY too much could change), the Pads could run bullpen games, or 5-inning relieving games 2 of every 3 games, and dance their way to the W.S..
Talk about fixing what didn’t need fixing…nah it’s late season they won’t screw around with Hoeing just to fill a new glaring self-inflicted hole. But maybe Hoeing can go two or three innings followed by the 5 Horsemen?
Def think Hoeing or Reynolds could be a viable 1 turn thru opener.
I completely forgot about Reynolds. When is he due back?
I think he is pitching at AAA.
Still need another OF. Can’t have Trenton Brooks having ABs.
Bryce Johnson has actually done pretty well so far but agreed 100%
I expect regression, but he’s a nice piece.
Reflecting more on Fermin: 32 DRS in 1650 innings the past 4 seasons (OAA doesn’t like him as much, 10 FRV in the same time frame). Either the 5th or tied-for-16th-best defensive C. Contact-oriented offensive profile. Awesome.
Fermin is a real asset. Good pitch framer who calls an excellent game and has a knack for big hits from tbe bottom half of the order
So, Pads fans are unanimously thinking:
“Is Fremin gonna be another Nola, or a Higgy?”
And yeah, we shake a bit in horror when we think back on names like Nola, Hedges …
I’d bet the farm that a Preller trade offer starts with him saying to another GM, “yeah, I’d like to see what it’ll take to get your player to San Diego.”
Then, every GM knows they’re dealing with the overpaying Preller and put him on hold for ten seconds and respond, “not sure…, what’s your offer?”
Preller then makes his pitch. “You’ll get one of our top 3 prospects and whatever else you think is fair. Just ask the Nationals how that worked out.”
The Royals SPs are pretty much Padres old rotation with Wacha Lugo and now Bergert and Kolek.
People keep referring to Fermin as a “backup catcher” when in fact for over two years now he’s been basically a co-starting catcher, with Perez playing a large percentage of his games at DH and first base.
He’s an excellent catcher who throws very well and unlike your current duo, he’s not an offensive black hole strikeout machine.
He would definitely start for several teams
I will miss Fermin, dude is a gamer. Loves throwing out runners on 3rd. Great trade for KC, hope the fermdog can excel for the padres.
I wanna prime the pump, be wrong, and ridiculed strongly for it.
AJ Preller is DONE, FINISHED with deadline trades. The Padres will finish the year with what they have.
Prove me wrong, AJP. PLEASE, make me a laughing stock, here. 🙄🙈😖
fermin is not a good trade. SD has these Incredible arms and now have to throw to him lol. Trade for someone competent with good reputation of handling the staff
Fermin is actually known as being EXCELLENT at handling the pitching staff!!!! Where do you get your info?????
“Public notice: Padres Farm sale. As a result of having too few farm hands left after todays trade deadline moves to fully staff their system, the Padres are selling off facilities and remaining players at the low-A, high-A, and double-A farm teams. The Padres will retain their lowly rated AAA farm, because as AJ Preller put it ‘Well, a team always needs at least one farm to put the old horses out to pasture. It’s the humane thing to do.’ Catcher Maldonado was unavailable for comment.