Astros Add Important Piece to Roster

The Houston Astros have signed veteran catcher Victor Caratini. Chandler Rome of The Athletic was the first to break the news.

Rome first noted the Astros' interest in Caratini early Tuesday. Dana Brown told reporters that Yainer Diaz will be the team's starting catcher moving forward. 

"Diaz is going to be the starting catcher," Brown reiterated. "Workload-wise, he’s going to get predominantly most of the starts. He’s going to get his opportunity to show us what he can do and that’s going to be important for him."

"He’s going to have to post, basically. So with that, we need a backup to give him a breather every now and then. It’ll be the first time that he’s getting this opportunity. But he’ll get most of the starts, for sure."

Given what Brown said on Tuesday, it sounds like Caratini's coming in to do exactly what he described. An inning-eating catcher who can give Diaz some days off and potentially do the same at other positions. While Caratini has limited time at first base, he's played the position and can fill in every few games to give guys off days.

Last season for the Milwaukee Brewers, he posted a .259/.327/.383 slash line. Caratini hit seven home runs and drove in 25 runs during his 201 at-bats.

This move is also a depth move for Houston. They had depth issues last year within their lineup due to injuries and want to avoid that same problem during the 2024 season. The switch-hitter also adds some flexibility to the lineup.

Backup catcher was something that Brown was heavily targeting.

They just figured out one piece of their puzzle at the Winter Meetings.