How Dire is the Twins Catching Situation?

This offseason Derek Falvey traded Mitch Garver to the Texas Rangers for Isiah Kinger-Falefa. Eventually Minnesota found their backstop when sending Josh Donaldson to the New York Yankees and bringing back Gary Sanchez. The hope was that a change of scenery may help the one-time slugger regain his ability but that hasn’t happened.

There’s no denying that the 29-year-old Sanchez has to be feeling less pressure in Minnesota, but as a free agent after the year, he should see the same struggles in finding a team that wants him. With the Twins, Sanchez has posted a .677 OPS through 99 games, coming in with a below-league-average 95 OPS+. He’s still a poor receiver behind the plate, and while he has made some defensive strides, it’s not enough to make him much of an asset.

Needing an alternative following Jeffers’ thumb injury, the Twins dealt for Sandy Leon from the Cleveland Guardians. He’s now played 16 games for Minnesota, after spending most of his time this season at Triple-A, and he’s been largely unusable. With Caleb Hamilton being thrust into action, a veteran was the preferred option. Leon, save for an outlier 2016 season with the Red Sox, has never been an offensive asset, and the 42 OPS+ here echoes that.

Looking to return with a 93 OPS+, Jeffers has actually posted worse numbers than Sanchez this season. The saving grace is that he appeared to be turning it around prior to the injury. Across his last 21 games before hitting the injured list, Jeffers owned an .871 OPS and had blasted four homers. That 21-game sample size is not unlike the 26-game stretch in 2019 that resulted in a 119 OPS+ and had the Twins intrigued by making him their full-time option.

No matter how this season ends, whether Jeffers makes it back or not, Minnesota looks to be at a loss when it comes to the position. Both Sanchez and Leon will be gone, and Jeffers returns to a massive amount of uncertainty. He’ll be given every opportunity to win the role, and it’s hard to fathom seeing a large amount being spent on the position behind him. That said, we’ve never seen him actually establish himself at the plate in anything but short bursts.

It’s hard to create longevity and certainty at every position across the diamond, but Minnesota has seen black holes for quite some time up the middle of the diamond. Carlos Correa gave them a massive boost at the shortstop position, an area that has been a revolving door for years, but he doesn’t represent longevity. Garver and Jeffers manned the plate for a while, but now we’re left wondering again. Up-the-middle issues are hard to cover up, and both will be necessary to address this winter.

Without a true answer on the farm, and not knowing where they’ll turn in free agency, how comfortable are you believing that Jeffers can be the answer behind the plate when he returns and beyond?