According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the Brewers are trading for catcher Danny Jansen from the Tampa Bay Rays. Milwaukee is reportedly sending a prospect back to Tampa in the deal, though there is no news yet about who that prospect is.
The Milwaukee Brewers are working to finalize a deal to acquire catcher Danny Jansen from the Tampa Bay Rays, sources tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@jeffpasan.bsky.social)2025-07-28T21:59:49.485Z
Jansen, who attended Appleton West High School, is 30 and in his eighth major league season. He has mostly worked in tandem in his career, notably
with Alejandro Kirk in 2022 when the pair combined for 6.9 WAR. Jansen has typically been more than just a “backup catcher,” but has also reached 100 games in a season just once in his career. Jansen signed a one-year, $8 million deal with the Rays before this season that includes a mutual option for 2026 at $12 million (with a $500k buyout).
Jansen has typically been viewed as a defense-first catcher. That tracks whether you trust Baseball Reference’s defensive numbers or Fangraphs’, though Fangraphs’ numbers—which include pitch framing—have dipped in the past two seasons. Our friends at DRaysBay covered Jansen’s framing issues earlier this season.
Offensively, Jansen is about league average for his career, but that hasn’t been a straight line. Jansen excelled in that previously mentioned 2022 season when he hit .260/.339/.516 with 15 home runs in 248 plate appearances, and he popped 17 homers in 301 plate appearances in 2023. But he’s been below average by the measure of OPS+ in four of the seven seasons in which he’s played at least 40 games. This year, Jansen has shown solid power (11 home runs in 259 plate appearances) and good on-base skills (a 12.7% walk rate) but is hitting just .204. His OPS+ for the season sits at 97.
It’s not immediately clear whether this move is initially meant to get William Contreras some time off to let his finger heal or if the front office views Jansen as a one-for-one swap upgrade with Eric Haase. Getting Jansen into the lineup regularly requires either more time off for Contreras or more time in left field for Christian Yelich. Right now, more time off for Contreras seems necessary, as he has struggled mightily at the plate. But long term, you would think that this is more of a backup catcher situation.
More to come as soon as we hear about the return.
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