The Houston Astros have finally addressed their need for a backup catcher by signing former Minnesota Twin Christian Vázquez to a minor-league deal with an invite to spring training, according to MLB.com's Brian McTaggart.
Twins, Astros basically swap backup catchers as Houston signs Christian Vázquez
The Twins and Astros have essentially swapped backup catchers this offseason, as Minnesota signed Houston's backup catcher from the last two seasons, Victor Caratini, to a two-year, $14 million deal in January. Caratini can also play first base.
Yainer Diaz will likely catch 100+ games for Houston this year, and Vázquez, 35, is a good option to catch the other games as a two-time World Series champion who has plenty of experience behind the plate. As a minor-league signee, Vázquez, who's currently playing for Team Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic, won't cost the Astros much.
Astros' Christian Vázquez signing is solid move
However, Vázquez fell well below expectations in Minnesota. If he had signed a low-cost deal with the Twins, then we wouldn't view it that way. But he signed a three-year, $30 million contract with the Twins in the 2022-23 offseason and was supposed to split time at catcher with Ryan Jeffers evenly.
Toward the end of Vázquez's tenure with Minnesota, Jeffers was clearly a much better player, leading to less playing time for Vázquez, who was worth exactly 0.0 bWAR with an awful .215/.267/.311 (60 OPS+) slash line in 884 plate appearances across 260 games during his three years as a Twin.
As for his defense, Vázquez regressed when it comes to pitch-framing. He had -3 Framing Outs last season after having 9 in 2024 and 5 in 2023. But he was still above average in blocking (5 Blocks Above Average) and throwing out runners (2 Caught Stealing Above Average) last season, and with the newly implemented ABS challenge system, Vázquez's framing stats shouldn't matter as much this year.
The Astros are already familiar with Vázquez, as they acquired the catcher from the Boston Red Sox on August 1, 2022, for outfielder Wilyer Abreu and second baseman Enmanuel Valdez. He had 108 plate appearances across 35 regular-season games for Houston, slashing .250/.278/.308 (68 OPS+) with one homer and 28 RBI. He went 4-for-17 with three RBI and one walk during the 2022 postseason and earned his second World Series ring when the Astros defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in the Fall Classic. He won his first World Series in 2018 as a member of the Red Sox.