The Cardinals have placed catcher Tres Barrera on waivers, as the catcher himself told reporters (including the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Derrick Goold and MLB.com’s John Denton). According to Goold, the Cards will be replacing Barrera on the active roster with another position player.
Barrera signed a minor league deal with St. Louis during the offseason, and his contact was selected in early May when the Cardinals made the decision to temporarily limit Willson Contreras to DH duty. When Contreras was returned to the catcher role just over a week later, it basically ended any chance Barrera had of significant playing time, since Andrew Knizner had already won the backup job out of Spring Training. All in all, Barrera appeared in six games with the Cardinals as a late-game sub, only receiving two plate appearances.
The 28-year-old Barrera has now appeared in parts of four MLB seasons since 2019, though with only 57 games and 164 PA on his big league resume. A longtime member of the Nationals’ farm system, Barrera’s previous Major League experience came in limited action in Washington, and the Nats outrighted him off their 40-man roster after last season. Given the lack of catching depth around baseball, it seems likely that some team will take a look at Barrera on another minor league contract.