The Twins announced the signing of catcher Victor Caratini to a two-year contract. It’s reportedly a $14MM deal for the ACES client.
Caratini, now 32, was a free agent a couple of years ago. He signed a two-year, $12MM deal with the Astros at that time. That pact ended up working out fairly well for Houston. The switch hitter got into 201 games over those two seasons and stepped to the plate 660 times. His 7% walk rate was on the low side but he hit 20 home runs and kept his strikeout rate down to a modest 17.9% clip. He had a combined .263 /.329/.406 line with the Astros, production which translated to a wRC+ of 108.
His work behind the plate has been more of a mixed bag. Outlets like FanGraphs, Statcast and Baseball Prospectus give him solid framing grades. FanGraphs and Statcast don’t look kindly on his work with the running game but both BP and Statcast are fond of his blocking skills.
The overall package was still worth 2.7 wins above replacement over the past two seasons, according to FanGraphs. At the beginning of the offseason, MLBTR predicted Caratini for a $14MM deal over two years. He has hit that mark exactly.
The Twins already have a pretty strong catcher in Ryan Jeffers but it’s possible to see how he and Caratini could co-exist on the same roster. Jeffers hits from the right side and has pretty noticeable platoon splits in his career. He has a .270/.371/.475 line and 138 wRC+ against southpaws but a .226/.299/.396 line and 94 wRC+ otherwise. The switch-hitting Caratini has generally been more balanced. He had a .208/.306/.434 line and 108 wRC+ against lefties last year and a .268/.327/.399 line and 104 wRC+ against righties.
Caratini has also dabbled at first base, with 463 2/3 innings at that spot in his career, including 97 last year. The Twins project to have Josh Bell at first base, another switch hitter. Bell has pretty neutral career splits but hit just .151/.250/.302 against lefties last year. A tiny .162 batting average on balls in play surely hurt him in the split but the Twins might want to at least have a contingency plan in place in case Bell’s struggles against southpaws continue.
Perhaps the plan is for Caratini to share time with Jeffers behind the plate, occasionally protecting him from tough righties, while also playing first on occasion. With Jeffers an impending free agent, Caratini could then take on a more prominent role in 2027.
It’s also possible that Jeffers ends up on the trade block. He will make $6.7MM in his final year before hitting the open market. Signing Caratini and then flipping Jeffers would be a relatively cash-neutral move for the Twins, which would bring back whatever Jeffers could get on the trade market.
The Twins also have Alex Jackson on the roster. He was acquired from the Orioles in November. He and the Twins avoided arbitration earlier this month by agreeing to a $1.35MM salary. Jhonny Pereda is also on the 40-man but he is still optionable and could be kept in Triple-A.
If the Twins plan to hang onto both Caratini and Jeffers, then Jackson could get squeezed from the roster, since he is out of options. If he were to be passed through waivers, he would likely stick around as non-roster depth. He has more than three years of service time but less than five. That means he would have the right to elect free agency but would have to forfeit his remaining salary commitments in exercising that right.
Time will tell about the domino effects. For now, the Twins have made a modest upgrade to their roster. Minnesota is looking to scale back payroll relative to 2025 but have some powder dry. They cut a lot of money from the budget last year by trading Carlos Correa and almost their entire bullpen. It’s been suggested they could look to start the 2026 season in the range of $115MM. RosterResource pegs them at $107MM, assuming the Caratini guarantee is evenly distributed.
The bullpen could still use a bit of help and maybe they still have some spending capacity for that. Trading Jeffers would give them a bit more breathing room, while also potentially bringing back something useful.
For the catching market more generally, it’s possible there’s a mini run happening here in the middle of January. The offseason started with J.T. Realmuto as the top available free agent, followed by Caratini and Danny Jansen. The Rangers non-tendered Jonah Heim in November and then signed Jansen in December but the market stayed on the quiet side for a while, perhaps due to the Phillies exploring the possibility of signing Bo Bichette. Going down that road likely would have prevented the Phils from having enough money to re-sign Realmuto.
In the past 24 hours, a lot has changed. The Dodgers reached a deal with Kyle Tucker. The Mets, who were hoping to sign Tucker, pivoted to Bichette via a short-term deal with big average annual values. The Phils, who offered Bichette a longer deal with less annually, then pivoted to reaching a new agreement with Realmuto.
That left Caratini as the clear top option remaining in free agency. According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Phils viewed him as a backup plan if they didn’t get something done with Realmuto. It is perhaps not a coincidence then that the Twins have snatched up Caratini just a few hours after the reported of Realmuto going back to Philly.
The Astros had some interest in bringing Caratini back but figured he would get a better paycheck and a bigger role elsewhere, reports Chandler Rome of The Athletic. Just before this reported agreement with the Twins, Chris Cotillo of MassLive floated Caratini as a potential fit for the Red Sox. There are presumably other teams looking for catching upgrades as well.
With Realmuto and Caratini both coming off the board today, the market looks noticeably less exciting. Heim is one of the more notable free agents still available, alongside Luke Maile, Elias Díaz, Reese McGuire, Christian Vázquez, Mitch Garver and Gary Sánchez. Perhaps that will work to Minnesota’s advantage if they are looking to make Jeffers available.
Robert Murray of FanSided first reported the Twins and Caratini had a two-year deal. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported the $14MM guarantee. Photos courtesy of Brett Davis, Tim Heitman, Imagn Images
Really?!!! How does that work? He’s better than a timeshare with Jeffers imo. Thought someone would give him a full time job
Maybe he will play a lot of 1B?
Probably more interested in most $ vs amount of playing time.
Split time at catcher, play 20-30 games at 1st, and DH some. Wouldn’t be surprised at all if he gets the most AB’s he’s ever had in a season with the Twins.
Bye bye Jeffers.
Poor guy.
Caratini bats better left handed and is good. He can hit some bombs and is pretty league average and above average for catchers. I think he’ll get dealt at the deadline though.
What could the Astros get in return (maybe a start on rebuilding farm?) by trading Yordan Alvarez right now, looking at how the league seems to be lapping them this winter, plus the price of the FAs that have gotten rich AF so far? I don’t think the Astros will be a playoff team at present. Thoughts
They missed the playoffs by one game with one of the most staggering injury lists ever seen and they only had one significant free agent (Framber Valdez) and they replaced him with Imai, plus added a solid back of rotation arm with Burrows. If they stay healthy they’re easily right there with the Mariners for the division. It’s not rebuild time yet.
The problem is that the injuries are likely to return, as the players that were injured last year have histories of being hurt: Alvarez, McCullers, Myers, Correa, all have multiple injuries and Altuve is 36.
Houston has shown they can get the best out of pitchers but Imai is still an unknown that a lot of MLB teams seemingly shied away from.
There’s major downside to that roster.
But no more downside than they already won 87 games with last year. That was already pretty much the worst case scenario. Also Imai might be an unknown but Framber’s end of season tank job hurt the team as much as any of their injuries.
yes more downside. they’re all a year older.
Altuve is the only one that’s actually a concern for.
Yeah I don’t know what he’s saying.
Right, but it’s not going to be as drastic. I’m expecting the Astros to do a better job with Alvarez.
Undervaluing the Astros. Not surprised. I agree with your comments.
it’s absolutely a concern for Correa. two teams bailed on contracts due to his medicals and he’s averaged 125 games over the past four seasons.
He just had one of the healthiest seasons of his career and he’s only played less than 135 games once in the last 5 years. Old narrative. Moving to 3B also helps.
okay, you’re right. everyone on the Astros will be better and healthier next year with the exception of Altuve.
I agree there will be injuries, but they won’t stop us. Altuve is in decline but I think he still has the skills of a good player.
yeah, they’re still a good team and easily better than three teams in their division but looking at the roster without recognizing the downside potential seems like a rose colored glasses perspective.
Yeah it does. Glad you realized it.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
But assuming next season is going to be a repeat of the literal worst case scenario that happened last year is just not statistically likely.
What? First off the only names you listed that significantly effected the team was Alvarez. McCullers isn’t missed because he’s missed so much time, his former success is a non factor in the team plans for the year. Myers, had a good year but replaceable when injured. The real injuries that hurt the potential success last year were basically losing Bregman, Tucker, and Alvarez as main parts of the team due to FA and then injury. Not to mention losing Pena for a period and Paredes who was at the time a replacement in production for bregman. Those are huge loses. The ones you listed are not the reason.. Without even getting into the SP and BP injuries. The fact we barely missed the playoffs was incredible fielding alot of rookies and AAA players.
What? First off the only names you listed that significantly effected the team was Alvarez. McCullers isn’t missed because he’s missed so much time, his former success is a non factor in the team plans for the year. Myers, had a good year but replaceable when injured. The real injuries that hurt the potential success last year were basically losing Bregman, Tucker, and Alvarez as main parts of the team due to FA and then injury. Not to mention losing Pena for a period and Paredes who was at the time a replacement in production for bregman. Those are huge loses. The ones you listed are not the reason.. Without even getting into the SP and BP injuries. The fact we barely missed the playoffs was incredible fielding alot of rookies and AAA players.
Once more the only injury prone one here of the names listed that are a huge factor is Alvarez. His presence in the lineup is far more significant, and until injuries to others stacked on, we still did quite well without him. Losing multiple impact players and still be a contender can only go so far, yet we almost battled into the playoffs, all things considered.
Whoops didnt mean to double post and reply to wrong comment.
Basically, for any team losing 3 big pieces of a lineup in the same year, is hard to overcome. Even more so when the players who replaced those missing parts in production also got injured. The astros were in the top of player WAR missing due to injury. Which again says alot only falling just shy of postseason
Nice breakout season from Pena, solid production for Correa helped but the big thing for Houston last year was the bullpen. That many guys having really good years is very rare. The SP looks like a mess without Framber and his 192 innings. Brown is really really good but he will only start 30 games and everyone else is suspect. Caratini will be missed too imo. Diaz isn’t hitting like he was in 23-24. Not sure if they’re playing him too much or what but he’s fallen off
Will they compete? Sure. Will they contend? Maybe. Lineup looks good but I can’t see the bullpen repeating that year and the SP are missing imo
But for 3 years of control, there must be a large market team (minus the LAD you’d think, maybe NYY, BOS) that would considering gutting the farm to acquire Yordan. If the Astros feel SEA is opening the gap on winning the west, it might make sense. Too many injury risk on that roster IMO
they are not playoff material anymore.. theres no pop on the roster .. crane has screwed the team and players
What are you even talking about?
Nice pickup.
Probably means Jeffers is getting traded.
I’m thinking they intend to carry 3 catchers(Jeffers, caratini, Jackson). With Jeffers DHing a fair amount and caratini playing 1B some
I would be ok if they DFA Julien and Caratini platoons at 1B, DH and, back up C.
No not Eduoard F’n Julien
He’s not going anywhere
That’s why the almighty Payton Eeles was traded
If Julien goes, might as well shed Royce Lewis and Brooks Lee too
Open up Schobel and Culpepper to the bigs
I thought the Phillies might pick him up as a backup to Realmuto. But I guess the Phils think Realmuto can still carry a big load of innings behind the plate.
Guys got great eyesight, which should
Be no surprise
.
I SEE what you did there…
he’ll be the starting catcher next year when the Twins don’t re sign Jeffers and a one year bridge to Tait
And the Twins are on the Board!!! (=
About time. Good pick up on their part.
Oh no! How will the Pohlad’s afford this?!
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
So sad
A+ bargain compared to Philly JTR
It’s like comparing apples and hand grenades, but I appreciate the effort.
Hand grenades??
Dr. Skull was right about you, Bart Harley Jarvis.
Was really hoping the Ms would have picked him up as Cal’s backup instead of Knizner…
I don’t think Caratini was going to pick somewhere where he was going to play so little.
I am with ya on that one. Would have been another bat for opponents to actually have to deal with.
I had it in the back of my mind that the Cubs might seek a reunion with VC. Their catching is worryingly soft. It’s reasonable to expect Amaya to get a long-term injury again. It’s reasonable to expect Kelly to regress. Ballesteros is a catcher in name only, and Bethancourt isn’t a major leaguer anymore. And there’s nobody else.
If the Cubs DO trade Shaw or Hoerner, the return ought to include a young catcher. Meanwhile, this is a good signing for the Twins, who seem to have sort of fallen off a cliff, but could surprise.
Standing by for a Jeffers trade…
How much deferred?
Nothing
Finally, a response to Tucker joining the Dodgers!
Ladies and gentlemen, we got him. Hope he works out better than the last Astros catcher we signed…..
What does this mean for Martin Maldonado’s legacy
@ cajundago019
I can’t reply to your comment. However, Astros are NOT rebuilding. We get a massive haul for Alvarez, but we are a playoff team and we are not rebuilding.
End of story.
Didn’t mute. Idk what’s going on.
I guess if the Astros aren’t in a good position at the trade line, then who knows. He’d certainly bring a haul and from what I’ve read, the farm isn’t producing much fruit
Damn good bat for a part time catcher and seemed like a really good teammate. Gonna miss him.
Most backup catchers are the best teammates.
🙁
I had hoped the Astros would sign him again, he was good value to the team. The worst part of this is that it means we are stuck with Diaz now.
Anyway, I wish Caratini good fortune
I’m not sad with Diaz, he’s better than most and I believe he has 30 homer upside. Does he? That’s another question.
But we may be stuck with Salazar
I hoped so, too. He had a lot of clutch hits. I have higher hopes for Diaz, though.
When?
While I would much prefer Caratini, I think someone is going to get real value out of the smaller one-year agreement it probably will take to sign Jonah Heim.
However, I admit that I haven’t seen him catch much lately to know how significant or irreversible his decline…
Astros missed again
A good veteran pickup for a rebuilding club. He’s right at that border where he’s not quite good enough to be a 100 game starter at catcher, but solid enough to be one of the best backup catchers around. He can be someone’s personal catcher, catch day games after night games, and play 1B against some LHP.
You are seriously undervaluing Caratini. He has league average offense (very good for a catcher), though maybe not the best defense. He can be a starting catcher.
If i had to choose between rostering Caratini or Alex Jackson i would pack Jackson’s bags myself…
We will miss you Vic wish the Astros would have ponied up for you!
Actually pretty decent for the Twins!
hmm. A trade in the works for Jeffers? Otherwise makes zero sense. But it is the Twins where we can have 3 DH’s and sign Joey Gallo…
Joey Gallo isnt a DH. Dude was a plus defender.
The City will probably be burned down by then by protesters welcome to last place!
Moron
Probably makes the club fight even harder for the city. The mayor can throw out the first pitch.
That smoke you see is from the official untrained vigilante squad gassing citizens
@ cajundago19
I can’t reply and if you say you didn’t mute, I don’t know what’s going on. Maybe one of the MLBTR staff can help us. If we are not competitive in 2026, than I would say trading Alvarez is a good idea. We missed the playoffs by one games with the injuries.
Correction: The farm system doesn’t have very much high ranked prospects, they are producing fruit.
Again, trading Alvarez is not smart. They are a playoff team.