Cubs Lose Catcher Jhonny Pereda as PTBNL in Travis Lakins Deal

The Cubs were part of a small transaction Monday, sending minor-league catcher Jhonny Pereda to the Red Sox as the player to be named later in the January 21 trade for righty Travis Lakins. Though it initially seemed like a potential steal, the Cubs ended up placing Lakins on waivers 10 days later and lost him to the Orioles. Christopher Smith of Mass Live was first with the report.

Pereda was re-signed as a minor-league free agent in November, but was not added to the 40-man roster later that month. The 23-year-old catcher was trimmed from big league camp during the Cubs’ first round of roster reductions, not a surprise when you consider the team’s enviable depth at catcher. But man, he had some skills.

A defense-first catcher, Pereda threw out 50% of runners last summer in the Southern League and earned a Rawlings Gold Glove as a result. His plate approach is solid as well, yielding double-digit walk rates the past four summers with a peak of 12.3% in 2019. He’s still young enough to develop further, it just appears that any growth will take place in another system.

My initial reaction is that this is a lot for the Cubs to give up, especially since they have only 10 days of a minor-league reliever to show for it. But hey, I’m sure they know something I don’t.

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