Are The Cubs Going To Trade Victor Caratini Next?

The Cubs traded Mike Montgomery for catcher Martin Maldonado on Monday night and right after Willson Contreras was placed on the 10-day injured list with a sprained right foot.

The injury certainly caused some panic in the fan base, but it seems like the Cubs really are just taking a safe approach with Contreras. The All-Star catcher is expected to resume baseball activities on Friday and his injury stint is retroactive to July 14.

So, with this injury not appearing to mean a long absence by Contreras, what does it mean for Victor Caratini?

I mean, my initial thought was that the Cubs could simply go with three catchers when Contreras returns from the injured list and you know, get rid of Daniel Descalso.

Here's Joe Maddon on having three catchers going forward.

Doesn't really sound like that's the option the Cubs want to go with.

Also, it turns out that the Cubs were already engaged with the Royals in trade talks for Maldonado even before they knew that Contreras was going to be sidelined.

It's no surprise that the Cubs had interest in Maldonado, pursuing him all offseason as well. Yet, the veteran wanted a chance to be a starter, so he chose to sign with the Royals.

Obviously the question pops into your head after seeing that quote by Theo Epstein. If the Cubs were already trying to trade for Maldonado, then was Caratini part of a bigger deal with the Royals, or a different team? Could the Cubs trade Caratini next?

The switch hitter has gotten better behind the plate, despite not doing well throwing out base runners. And after lots of criticism from fans (proved me wrong too) Caratini has been awesome offensively in 2019. Caratini is slashing .289/.369/.485, in 38 games this season.

Caratini, 25, won't be a free agent until after the 2023 season. Now, during the midst of his best MLB season, it seems like he might be right in the middle of some trade talks. It definitely appears to be that way if the Cubs were already trying to trade for another catcher before Contreras even got injured.

There's only one trade deadline in MLB now. July 31. So, we have two more weeks to see if the Cubs get one more hitter, a left-handed reliever and if Caratini gets traded.