MLB News: Padres signs former Orioles Dominican catcher, who used banned substances this year

The San Diego Padres agree to a split contract with the Dominican catcher Pedro Severino. The deal will pay him $1.95MM if he’s in the Majors. and contains an additional $550K in performance bonuses. The 29-year-old, 6-foot-1, Severino has appeared in the Majors in each of the past eight seasons.

He broke into a depth player with the Nationals, playing in a combined 35 games from 2015-17. The backup got his fair share of action over the next four seasons, which he split between the Nationals and Orioles. While he struggled a lot during his final season in Washington, he posted respectable offensive numbers for a receiver during his three years in Baltimore:

From 2019-21, Severino hit .249/.315/.397 in 938 plate appearances. He hit 29 home runs with about league-average strikeout and walk numbers. However, the Orioles did not offer him in lieu of a projected $3.1MM arbitration salary last offseason.

You can also read: MLB News At three for one Orioles signs a third of right-handed pitchers and two are Latino

While he was partially motivated by the upcoming arrival of Adley Rutschman, the O’s decision also reflected defensive deficiencies from Severino. Public metrics have cast him as a far below average defender behind the plate. He routinely rates himself as a worse-than-average pitching framer, according to Statcast, which pegged him as 10 runs under par in that regard in 2021.