Chicago Cubs Trade Minor-League Catcher To New York Mets

The Chicago Cubs made a small trade on Thursday and unloaded a catcher that hasn't played in the Majors since 2020.

Mar 3, 2024; Mesa, Arizona, USA; Chicago Cubs Joe Hudson (57) hits a single against the Cleveland / Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

The Chicago Cubs made an under-the-radar move on Thursday as they traded minor-league catcher Joe Hudson to the New York Mets, per the MLB Transactions log .  

The move won’t impact either team’s 40-man roster as the Mets sent Hudson to Double-A Binghamton. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The move does sap a bit of the organization’s depth at the position as the Cubs have just two catchers on their 40-man roster — Miguel Amaya and Yan Gomes.

With Hudson gone, if the Cubs need help behind the plate they’ll look to their three catchers currently at Triple-A, most notably Curt Casali.

Hudson hasn’t been in the Majors since 2020 when he was with the Seattle Mariners. Since then, he spent time in the Pittsburgh organization in 2021, the Tampa Bay organization in 2022 and the Atlanta organization in 2023, in all three cases playing for their Triple-A affiliates.

In each of the last two winters he’s also played in Winter Ball with Aguilas Cibaenas and with Gigantes del Cibao.

The Cubs signed Hudson to a minor-league contract in December and assigned him to Triple-A Iowa. On April 5 the Cubs moved him to the Developmental List and then traded him six days later. He went hitless in eight plate appearances for Iowa.

He has 18 total Major League games to his credit — nine with Seattle, one with St. Louis (2019) and eight with the Los Angeles Angels (2018). He’s a .167 hitter.

He’s a lifetime .222 hitter in the minors with 56 home runs and 263 RBI. He was a sixth-round pick for the Cincinnati Reds in 2012 out of Notre Dame.