In a move that wasn’t publicly reported earlier this season, longtime catcher Curt Casali retired and took a job in the Reds front office, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Casali signed a minor league deal with the Braves last winter but was released before the end of Spring Training, and he didn’t play at all in 2025.
At age 36 and after 11 Major League seasons, it appears as though Casali decided to call it a career and move onto a new phase of his baseball life. The nature of his duties with the Reds isn’t specified, but Slusser wonders if Casali could emerge as a future managerial candidate….even as soon as this winter as the Giants look for a new dugout boss. That would continue the trend of catchers moving into managerial jobs, and Slusser notes that Buster Posey (obviously a former backstop himself) seems to be looking at ex-catchers in the early stages of San Francisco’s managerial search.
Casali has plenty of links to the organization, as he played with the Giants in 2021-22 and again during the 2024 season. In the first year of Casali’s time in San Francisco, he was Posey’s backup during what ended up being Posey’s final big league campaign.
A 10th-round pick for the Tigers in the 2011 draft, Casali was dealt to the Rays in March 2013, and he made his MLB debut in a Tampa uniform in 2014. Casali was mostly a part-timer over his four seasons with the Rays, but he received the bulk of the catching duties in 2016, playing in 84 games and making 256 plate appearances. He didn’t hit much during that extended look, however, and Casali left the Rays organization and bounced around to a few teams on minors deals, including a return to Tampa Bay before the Rays dealt him to the Reds in May 2018.
Casali spent the next three seasons in Cincinnati, and his bat came alive to the point that he moved into a virtual timeshare with Tucker Barnhart. Casali hit .260/.345/.440 over 485 PA during the 2018-20 seasons, but the Reds still chose to non-tender Casali during the 2020-21 offseason, paving the way for his next contract with the Giants.
At the 2022 trade deadline, San Francisco dealt Casali to the Mariners as part of a noteworthy trade that also sent Matthew Boyd to Seattle’s bullpen for the stretch run. Casali backed up Cal Raleigh for the remainder of the 2022 campaign before entering free agency again, and his final two MLB seasons were spent revisiting old haunts in Cincinnati (in 2023) and San Francisco (in 2024). While Casali’s big league playing time during those two seasons was spent with the Reds and Giants, he also was briefly part of the Marlins and Cubs organizations on minors deals.
Overall, Casali will finish his career with a .218/.312/.369 slash line and 48 home runs over 1579 PA and 543 games across his 11 seasons in the Show. Beyond that modest offensive production, Casali was well-regarded for his ability to handle pitchers and call a game. If Slusser’s report is any indication, Casali’s knowledge of the game might well develop into coaching or managerial jobs if he wishes to pursue that direction.
We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Casali on a fine career and wish him the best in his post-playing career.
Glad he is working for the Reds. Always thought he would end up a coach or manager though.
He might still, I’d like to see that too
If this guy can jump straight to a front office position, Jesse Chavez can be the 2026 Braves manager.
For the Giants, his starts always had a lower ERA than the other catchers.
Happy retirement!
I would love to see him in the Giants org at some point
We used to hear all the time that guys like Charlie O’Brien and Jeff Mathis would make good managers and neither ever got the chance (at least not in MLB, so far). Casali could be an interesting choice. Stephen Vogt has practically stepped right out of the game and been successful so far
Very interesting timing. ⏱️ Liking the younger catcher ideas floating around Posey.
Curt had some good years in Cincy. Very capable catcher. Good to have him back in another capacity.
seriously…who?
Curt Casali, now-retired major league catcher who spent 11 years playing the highest level of professional baseball.
Who are you, “wjf010”? Seriously?
“Who who. Who who. I really wanna know.”
@wjf010 The nice thing about highlighting the retirements of lesser-known players is it gives fans the opportunity to remember and celebrate their better moments. Like @king123, who gave a Casali shout-out for his handling of Richie Karcher’s debut.
youtube.com/watch?v=G8L_8RPNmes
I love stuff like this. I have so many memories of Cubs players from the 70s & 80s who casual Cubs fans will never remember or ever learn of, but make an impression on the fans who grew up watching them.
Ricky Karcher game. If you know, you know.
That’s what confirmed to me he needed to be a manager or coach post playing.
He got that kid through that game when he had nothing.
Yes sir. I cycled through about ten different emotions watching that half inning.
@king123. That’s why I love hopping on these comments sections for retirements of lesser known players. Just remembering some cool moments of some guys who played baseball for a time.
Unrelated, but Bobby Shantz is still alive, and his major-league career began in 1949. Does anyone know if anyone else who played in the majors in the ’40s is still alive?
Was a good backstop with the Tampa Bay Rays- enjoyed watching him hit those 2 home runs on my birthday! Thanks for the memories !