The Royals have had a tough season. They’re 46-50, buried in their division by 13 games, and currently sit 4.5 games out of a Wild Card spot with a negative run differential and ace Cole Ragans on the injured list. They don’t exactly look like the likeliest buyers with the trade deadline less than three weeks away, but The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal writes that the front office is getting “consistent interest” from rival executives regarding top catching prospects Blake Mitchell, Carter Jensen, and Ramon Ramirez.
Mitchell, 21 next month, was the eighth-overall pick in the 2023 draft. He’s a consensus top-100 prospect in the sport who’s even more well-regarded by some outlets, though he’s gotten into just 14 games this year due to hand and wrist injuries. Jensen, 22, was a third-rounder back in 2021 and has split the 2025 season between Double- and Triple-A with a .286/.356/.462 slash line overall. In his first 13 games since being promoted to Omaha, Jensen has already crushed six homers and four doubles. As for Ramirez, the 20-year-old is currently on the injured list but signed with the club out of Venezuela and made his pro debut back in 2023. This year, he’s slashed .252/.366/.472 in 44 games at the Single-A level.
It’s an impressive crop of catching talent, and it’s not hard to see why some clubs would be intrigued by adding any of these youngsters to their farm system. Teams like the Nationals, Padres, Rays, Rangers, Twins, Phillies, Reds, and Guardians all have catching tandems with room for improvement in the near future, whether that’s due to an existing pair of catchers that could use an upgrade or an established option that figures to hit free agency within the next year or two. With so many teams that could stand to upgrade at catcher, either now or in the next few years, it’s not hard to imagine the Royals being able to bring back a controllable piece like the Phillies did when they traded Logan O’Hoppe to land Brandon Marsh at the 2022 trade deadline.
Of course, it can’t be ignored that the Royals could use some more certainty behind the plate themselves. Salvador Perez is a World Series champion and franchise legend, but he’s also been a replacement level piece in his age-35 season and it could be hard to justify picking up the $13.5MM club option on his services for 2026 rather than paying him a $2MM buyout. Freddy Fermin has been a solid partner to Perez behind the plate in recent years but has never had more than 368 plate appearances in a season and could be miscast as a regular.
There’s clearly some uncertainty behind the plate in Kansas City for the first time in a long time, and it would be understandable if that made the Royals hesitant to trade from their crop of catching talent. While that group could quickly turn into a surplus of catching talent in the coming years, one need look no further than MJ Melendez to see how quickly even a well-regarded catching prospect can flame out in the majors. There’s little reason for the Royals to rush into trading any of their catching prospects now unless they get a deal they’re pleased with; after all, it wasn’t long ago that the Blue Jays were viewed as overflowing with legitimate catching options but they waited until all four of Alejandro Kirk, Danny Jansen, Reese McGuire, and Gabriel Moreno were either in the majors or at Triple-A to start parting with that talent behind the plate.
Still, the idea of trading one of their catching prospects for a more immediate impact talent at another position of need on the roster has merit. Kansas City has received below-average offensive production from second base, DH, and all three outfield spots this year. A controllable bat that fills one of those holes could help the Royals not only try to get back into the playoff race this year, but help fortify the team and maximize the club’s current window while players like Ragans and Bobby Witt Jr. remain under team control. If another team was willing to dangle such a player for one of the club’s prospects, especially one further from the majors like Mitchell or Ramirez, that could be difficult to turn down.
