How can the Cubs address their needs at catcher for 2025?

This story was excerpted from Jordan Bastian’s Cubs Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CHICAGO -- Miguel Amaya showed a willingness to adapt amid some brutal first-half struggles in the batter’s box last season and displayed real progress down the stretch. The catcher also earned rave reviews from Cubs pitchers for his game-calling as he adapted to the lead role behind the plate.

“He's gotten a lot of experience this year,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said near the end of the season. “I don't think there's any other position where that matters as much. So, I'm really happy about that, and that he's kind of gone through the season that he's gone through. That's a lot of learning.”

The question the Cubs have to answer this offseason is whether Amaya’s encouraging finish warrants handing him the keys to the No. 1 catching role in 2025. Chicago is in the market for catching help, but trying to add a starting-caliber backstop or a true backup to Amaya is what the front office has to weigh in the weeks and months ahead.

According to sources around the team, the Cubs’ hope is to find a catcher this offseason to create a kind of 1A/1B timeshare with Amaya. That type of setup would help Counsell find optimal matchups (both for his rotation and in facing the opposition), while giving Amaya and the second option ample rest to keep them fresh.

One potential target for the Cubs was free-agent veteran Travis d’Arnaud, but he already found a landing spot with the Angels via a two-year, $12 million pact. Looking at the free-agent market, three of the top remaining options (in alphabetical order) are Kyle Higashioka, Danny Jansen, and Carson Kelly.

Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer will surely look at trade scenarios as well. Logan O’Hoppe of the Angels was a trade target for Chicago at the Deadline last year (per The Athletic), but L.A. is currently planning on partnering him up with d’Arnaud. It is more likely now that Angels backup Matt Thaiss (out of Minor League options) is made available.

The Cubs have a top catching prospect in Moises Ballesteros (Pipeline’s No. 4 Cubs prospect and No. 44 overall), but while the bat has real Major League potential, the jury is out on his long-term defensive fit. If the 20-year-old is on the big league radar in 2025, it will likely be as a bat-first option that can help at designated hitter and serve as a third-string option at catcher.

None of this is to diminish the real development that the 25-year-old Amaya experienced last year, when he logged a .282/.331/.468 slash line in his final 54 games (dating back to debuting a noticeable swing change on July 7). In that time period, he ranked 10th in both OPS (.799) and weighted runs created plus (124) among catchers with at least 100 plate appearances.

“Miguel got off to a rough start, no question about it,” Counsell said. “But on both sides of the ball, he's improved. If you really look back at Miguel, he needs experience. He caught [116 games] this year. That's a great number for getting experience. That's an important number.”