What will the Rays do behind the plate?

This story was excerpted from Adam Berry’s Rays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, *click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.*

ST. PETERSBURG -- Last offseason, the Rays seemed to think they were all set behind the plate. They carried only one catcher on their 40-man roster all winter: René Pinto. He was declared the starter at the beginning of Spring Training, and he got the nod on Opening Day.

But Pinto couldn’t make the most of the opportunity. He quickly lost playing time to Ben Rortvedt. He was sent down to Triple-A Durham on May 3 and didn’t come back up. On Monday, he was claimed off waivers by the Orioles, ending his 11-year run in the Tampa Bay organization.

The Rays still have Rortvedt and rookie Logan Driscoll on their roster, but they’re being much more up front this time around about their need to improve their catching situation.

“There’s some guys out there that can help us. More a matter of going through it and seeing where it ends up,” president of baseball operations Erik Neander said Monday. “One way or another, we have to have better production than what we had last year if we want to win more games than we did last year.”

Rays catchers hit a combined .194/.272/.291, producing a .563 OPS that ranked third-worst in the Majors. They totaled minus-1.6 WAR, according to Baseball-Reference, the fourth-lowest mark in baseball. After a strong first half (.270/.365/.368), Rortvedt -- acquired right before Opening Day, remember -- hit just .164/.242/.207 following the All-Star break. Alex Jackson batted .122 with a .439 OPS. And it all started with Pinto, who didn’t hold down the job he was handed.

“Obviously with the full benefit of hindsight, especially so, the catching results and production last year did not meet our expectations. That’s on me, first and foremost,” Neander said. “It’s not what we envisioned, not what [Pinto] envisioned. Parts of his game perhaps didn’t take the step forward we were hoping for, some injury, some loss of opportunity, and got to a place now where he’s out of [Minor League] options and had to make some calls in terms of our roster and what’s most likely to impact us moving forward.”

The Rays liked what they got out of Rortvedt overall, and his left-handed bat makes him a natural platoon partner if they add a right-handed-hitting catcher. They let Driscoll get acclimated to the Majors down the stretch. And they have high hopes for No. 13 prospect Dominic Keegan, who is likely to begin next season in Triple-A.

But upgrading at catcher is obviously a priority for the Rays as their offseason work begins in earnest.

One intriguing option just became available -- and he’s a familiar face. The Braves surprisingly declined their $8 million option on Travis d'Arnaud, who thrived for Tampa Bay in 2019 before beginning a nice run with Atlanta. d'Arnaud posted a 103 OPS+ and totaled 1.1 WAR in 99 games for the Braves last season, and when his option was declined, the 35-year-old immediately became one of the most appealing catchers on the free agent market.

There could be younger, controllable alternatives available through trades. That’s how the Rays have acquired most of their catchers in recent years, from Rortvedt to Christian Bethancourt and Francisco Mejía to Mike Zunino and, yes, d’Arnaud.

There are other free agents to consider, too, although they’re more likely to work alongside Rortvedt as part of a stopgap solution than serve as a long-term, front-line option. Kyle Higashioka provided power and defense in San Diego last season. Danny Jansen’s offense took a step back this year, but the 29-year-old put together an .805 OPS with 5.8 WAR from 2021-23. Gary Sánchez, Carson Kelly, Elias Díaz, Jacob Stallings and James McCann have all performed well at times.

“We’ve got a good-sized list of names. In terms of what’s practical and where there might be overlap -- be it free agency, be it through a trade acquisition -- I think that’s going to take some time to come into focus,” Neander said. “But I think there’s an assortment of targets out there that we’d love to have in our mix and we think could upgrade our club, without question.”