Padres Sign Catcher Blake Hunt to Minor League Deal

The San Diego Padres just made a low-risk, potentially high-reward move by bringing back a familiar face behind the plate. Signing catcher Blake Hunt to a minor-league contract gives the team some much-needed depth at a tricky position and hands a former top draft pick another shot at the majors.

Padres Bring Back a Former Second-Round Pick

MLB.com transaction listings, first picked up by MadFriars, show that the Padres have signed Blake Hunt to a minor-league deal. For folks who’ve followed the Padres for a while, Hunt’s name rings a bell.

Now 27, he was a second-round pick by San Diego back in the 2017 MLB Draft. People once saw him as a promising two-way player.

Hunt’s return feels like both a reunion and a reset. The Padres need to patch up their catching depth, especially at the higher levels of their system.

From San Diego to Tampa Bay and Beyond

San Diego traded Hunt during the 2020–21 offseason in the deal that brought Blake Snell to town. He landed with the Tampa Bay Rays, a team famous for squeezing the most out of their prospects.

Hunt worked his way up the Rays’ minor-league ladder. In 2023, he split time between Double-A and Triple-A and put together his best numbers yet:

• .256 batting average
• .331 on-base percentage
• .484 slugging
• 12 home runs in 67 games

A Nomadic Stretch Across Multiple Organizations

Even with that solid showing, Tampa Bay left Hunt off its 40-man roster after 2023. That gave the Seattle Mariners a chance to trade for him—they put him on their 40-man and sent prospect Tatem Levins the other way.

Hunt started off strong in 2024 at Triple-A Tacoma. He made a good impression right out of the gate.

A Hot Start and Another Trade

In 24 games at Triple-A, Hunt slashed a sharp .293/.372/.533. That caught the eye of the Baltimore Orioles, who picked him up in May as part of the Mike Baumann deal.

By July, Baltimore called him up, putting Hunt within reach of his long-awaited MLB debut. But that debut never happened. The Orioles designated him for assignment before he played a big-league game, and he finished the year back at Triple-A Norfolk, where his bat cooled off quite a bit.

Rebounding in Seattle Before Returning Home

Seattle brought Hunt back during the 2024–25 offseason. They used him as Triple-A insurance behind Cal Raleigh and Mitch Garver.

With Raleigh having an MVP-type year in 2025, Hunt’s chances in the majors stayed slim. Still, he quietly put together a solid rebound season in Tacoma.

Steady Production at Triple-A

Over 62 games in 2025, Hunt put up a .272/.368/.452 slash line and a 108 wRC+. The Pacific Coast League definitely helps hitters, but even so, those numbers show he’s reestablished himself as a real depth option with some pop.

Why Hunt Matters for the 2026 Padres

The Padres head into the new season with a lot of uncertainty behind the plate. Freddy Fermin looks like a part-timer, and Luis Campusano is set as the backup, though he only got 27 MLB plate appearances last year.

That’s a pretty thin group. It gives Hunt a real chance to be the top catching option at Triple-A El Paso—and maybe more, if things break his way.

A Real Shot at a Long-Awaited MLB Debut

If Hunt puts together a strong spring training, he could finally challenge for a bench spot or maybe even make his major-league debut. It’s been years of stops and starts for him.

The Padres see this signing as a mix of insurance and upside. For Hunt, it’s a shot at finishing a journey that started in San Diego—maybe, at last, bringing things full circle.

 
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