Previewing The 2025-26 Free Agent Class: Catcher

A number of teams (and their fanbases) have already turned their attention towards the offseason. Identifying free agent targets is a big part of that prep work, so it’s worth taking a look at the players who’ll be available at each position. We’ll start things off with catchers. Ages listed are for the 2026 season.

Starting Catchers

J.T. Realmuto (35)

Now in his mid-30s, Realmuto is no longer the all-around superstar he was at his peak. Still, he remains a perfectly solid starting backstop who is as reliable in the lineup as any in baseball. Realmuto led the majors with 132 starts and 1151 1/3 innings behind the plate. He’d also logged the heaviest workload of any catcher in 2022-23, and only a five-week absence for a knee sprain kept him from doing the same in 2024.

Realmuto is still an exceptional athlete for the position. He’s an elite catch-and-throw defender, leading the league with an average pop time of 1.86 seconds on throws to second base. He cut down almost 30% of attempted basestealers at a time when the league average is around 22%. Statcast has increasingly soured on his pitch framing and blocking metrics, but the former might not be quite as valued a skillset with the forthcoming strike zone challenge system.

The righty-hitting Realmuto put up a .257/.315/.384 slash across 550 trips to the plate. He hit 26 doubles, one triple, and 12 home runs. It’s technically his first below-average offensive season since his 2015 rookie year. It’s nevertheless solid production, and he took a .266/.321/.403 line into September before slumping in the final month.

Realmuto has a good shot at a two-year deal as he enters his age-35 season. He’s now in year seven in Philly. Extending that arrangement makes the most sense. If that doesn’t come to pass, he could fit on the Angels, Padres or Rays. The Nationals arguably have the biggest need at the position of any team, but his age might not align with a Washington club that has yet to pull out of the rebuild.

Potential Regulars/Timeshare Options

Victor Caratini (32)

Caratini has been a high-end backup for most of his career. While he has never gotten to 400 plate appearances or 100 starts in a season, he’s a switch-hitter with serviceable career numbers from both sides of the plate. Caratini hit .263/.329/.406 in 660 plate appearances while splitting time with Yainer Diaz in Houston over the last two seasons. He’s a capable receiving catcher and adept at blocking balls in the dirt. Caratini’s biggest weakness is a below-average arm that makes him vulnerable in the running game. Opponents were successful on 57 of 64 stolen base attempts (an 89% rate).

This is Caratini’s second trip to free agency. He commanded a two-year, $12MM deal last time around. He has done enough to get another two-year contract at a slightly higher annual value this winter. Kyle Higashioka landed two years and $13.5MM last offseason, and he’s three years older than Caratini.

Danny Jansen (31)

Jansen was one of the more quietly productive two-way catchers in Toronto early in his career. His tenure with the Blue Jays was marred by injuries, and while he’s been mostly healthy over the past two seasons, his numbers have dropped. His defensive metrics have been up and down for the past couple seasons. He had a terrible second half in 2024 that left him to sign an $8.5MM pillow contract with the Rays. Jansen hit .204/.314/.389 over 73 games with Tampa Bay and was traded to Milwaukee this summer.

There’s not much playing time available when you’re backing up William Contreras, so Jansen only made 16 starts with the Brew Crew. He has impressed in that time (.254/.346/.433 with three homers in 78 plate appearances) but hasn’t rebuilt the value it seemed he’d have when he was out to an excellent start to his walk year in ’24. He’s probably looking at a two-year deal at most, ideally with a team that can offer semi-regular playing time.

Backups

Elias Díaz (35)

Díaz was an All-Star with the Rockies a couple seasons back. His production has trended down the past two years, and he’s coming off a .204/.270/.337 slash over 283 plate appearances with the Padres. He has an excellent arm but has gotten mixed grades for his receiving skills over his career.

Mitch Garver (35)

Seattle will pay Garver a $1MM buyout on a mutual option to conclude a disappointing two-year free agent deal. Garver had been a key contributor to the Rangers’ championship team in 2023. The Mariners hoped he’d carry that power into T-Mobile Park, but he hit just .187/.290/.341 across 720 plate appearances with Seattle. A primary DH with Texas, Garver started 42 games and logged almost 400 innings behind the dish while backing up Cal Raleigh this season.

Austin Hedges (33)

Hedges is probably the worst hitter in MLB, but his defensive reputation is so strong that he continues getting opportunities as a backup. The Guardians have signed him to $4MM deals in consecutive offseasons.

Luke Maile (35)

Maile signed an offseason minor league deal with the Royals. He spent a good portion of the season on the big league roster but only got into 25 games. He hit .244/.346/.356 across 54 trips to the plate. Maile is a career .209/.277/.320 hitter but has a strong defensive rep.

Martín Maldonado (39)

There’s been speculation about retirement for the 39-year-old Maldonado, who finished the season on the Padres’ playoff roster with Díaz nursing an oblique injury. A former Gold Glover and World Series champion on the 2022 Astros, Maldonado has built a career off his rapport with pitching staffs and game-calling ability.

James McCann (36)

McCann was playing on a minor league deal with Atlanta when the Diamondbacks offered him an MLB opportunity on June 22. They expected the veteran to be a temporary fill-in while Gabriel Moreno was on the injured list. McCann played well enough to stick around and push previous backup Jose Herrera off the roster once Moreno was healthy. He finished the season with a .260/.324/.431 line over 42 games and might’ve earned himself a big league deal in 2026.

Gary Sánchez (33)

Sánchez landed an $8.5MM contract from the Orioles last winter. He won’t come close to that this time around, as wrist and knee injuries limited him to 29 games. Sánchez hit .231/.297/.418 across 101 plate appearances. He missed the entire second half with a right knee sprain.

Christian Vázquez (35)

Minnesota’s signing of Vázquez on a three-year, $30MM deal did not work out. He hit .215/.267/.311 during his time in the Twin Cities, falling behind Ryan Jeffers on the depth chart early into his tenure. He’s coming off a .189/.271/.274 showing and probably looking at a minor league deal, though he remains a quality defender.

Club Options

Tom Murphy (35)

Murphy missed the entire season with a back injury. In late August, he told Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle that the team misdiagnosed what turned out to be a herniated disc as an oblique strain. The interview is worth a read in full for more context, but Murphy also blasted an outside spinal clinic that the team recommended for what he called “100% malpractice” after they treated the wrong disc. Murphy said at the time that he’d had no contact with the front office since suffering the injury in Spring Training and called his injury-riddled two seasons with the Giants “an absolute nightmare.” Suffice it to say, he won’t be back in San Francisco. The team will pay him a $250K buyout.

Salvador Perez (36)

Perez almost certainly won’t make it to the market. The Royals have a $13.5MM club option. General manager J.J. Picollo has more or less confirmed that Perez will stick in Kansas City, though they could work out some kind of multi-year deal rather than picking up the option. Picollo said they’ve already begun those conversations with the franchise icon.

Third/Fourth Catchers