Victor Caratini Could Be Perfect Fit for Minnesota Twins Behind the Plate

[Cody Christie]

Image courtesy of © Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

The Twins’ offseason outlook at catcher is more uncertain than it has been in recent years. Christian Vázquez is now a free agent, and Ryan Jeffers has been floated as a potential trade candidate. If both veterans are moved or one departs without a clear replacement, the front office will need to act quickly to find a reliable presence behind the plate. One name that makes a lot of sense is Victor Caratini.

Caratini has spent the past two seasons with the Houston Astros, after signing a two-year, $12-million deal. He became a valuable part of Joe Espada’s roster, providing steady defense, switch-hitting versatility, and a dependable approach at the plate. He was often the first player called upon off the bench and started 103 games at catcher over the past two years. With Yainer Diaz locked in as the primary backstop for Houston, Caratini may look for a larger role elsewhere this winter.

If that opportunity is what he’s seeking, Minnesota could be an ideal landing spot. Caratini has shown a willingness to move around the diamond, starting 32 games at designated hitter and 18 at first base over the last two seasons. That kind of flexibility would fit perfectly with the Twins' approach to mixing and matching. At the plate, he’s been quietly productive, posting a 105 OPS+ since the start of 2023. That’s the same mark Jeffers has produced over that stretch, making Caratini an intriguing option whether the Twins keep or trade their current catcher.

Other offensive metrics also paint him in a positive light. He ranked in the 77th percentile or higher in strikeout, per-swing whiff and chase rates. His 30.6% rate of squaring up the ball on contact was in the 80th percentile. As a switch-hitter, the majority of his plate appearances came as a left-handed batter. In those, he posted a .726 OPS. His right-handed swing produced a .740 OPS in only 62 plate appearances. More regular at-bats (especially against righties) could help him prove he deserves to be a starter. 

From a defensive standpoint, Caratini is steady, if unspectacular. He manages pitching staffs well, controls the running game, and provides consistent framing and blocking. In 2024, Baseball Savant credited him with 5 catching runs (3 Framing, 2 Throwing/Blocking), but that total dipped to -3 in 2025. He also ranked in the 72nd percentile for Blocks Above Average. Last season saw the fewest innings he had caught since 2020, so sample size may have been a factor. For a team that values defensive reliability and game-calling, that combination has significant appeal.

The Twins could utilize Caratini in several ways. If Jeffers stays, the two could form a natural timeshare, with Caratini giving Derek Shelton the added benefit of a switch-hitting option to balance lineups. If Jeffers is traded, Caratini could step in as the regular catcher, while also mentoring a younger option or keeping Jhonny Pereda in a backup role. Either way, he brings stability to a position that suddenly feels uncertain.

With the market unlikely to be bullish for catchers this winter, a short-term deal in the same range as his last contract could make sense for both sides. However, there is no guarantee the Twins will have the payroll flexibility to add free agents without trading other pieces. From Caratini's perspective, the benefit of a deal would be more consistent playing time. For their part, the Twins would fill a significant need without a long-term commitment.

As the offseason begins to take shape, Minnesota’s catching situation will be one of the most critical areas to monitor. Caratini may not be the flashiest name available. Still, his experience, switch-hitting ability, and steady play behind the plate could make him the perfect fit for the Twins heading into 2026.

---

Should the Twins aggressively pursue Caratini? Would he be willing to come to the Twins for a more regular role than the Astros? Leave a comment and start the discussion.

View full article

[rdehring]

Not a clue what the Twins will do this winter, although this guy looks like a good fit.  With or without Jeffers. 

Expect, or at least hope, the Twins will be open for business this off-season.  Expect any deal for Jeffers will depend on what someone is offering.  Since it is unlikely they will be competitive in 2026 and they have several strong catching prospects a couple years away, hopefully someone blows them away with an offer for Jeffers.

[Rod Carews Birthday]

Yes please.  He seems like a good fit if the numbers can work.  And that’s a mighty big IF! 

[Craig Arko]

Sounds like a plan.

[Otaknam]

It’s doubtful they will trade Jeffers, given the paucity of ML ready catchers in the minors. I don’t know anything about Caratini, but based on this column hos versatility would fit a role, and much better than Vasquez offensively. 

[JD-TWINS]

1 hour ago, rdehring said:

Not a clue what the Twins will do this winter, although this guy looks like a good fit.  With or without Jeffers. 

Expect, or at least hope, the Twins will be open for business this off-season.  Expect any deal for Jeffers will depend on what someone is offering.  Since it is unlikely they will be competitive in 2026 and they have several strong catching prospects a couple years away, hopefully someone blows them away with an offer for Jeffers.

Why would any Team “….blow away….” the Twins with an offer for Jeffers? He’s not much at all above average as a hitter and he’s below average as a defensive Catcher.

Not saying it’s impossible that he gets traded but it would be for him and another player (pitcher) and am assuming Twins would need to initiate. Can’t imagine Jeffers nets more than some prospect(s) at a lower level.

My hope would be to have him be the guy they are looking for at 1B, primarily. He could Catch 3-4 times per month to keep others fresh and to stay sharp behind the plate himself. He could DH some as well.

Caratini could be in a similar role between Catcher, 1B, and DH occasionally as needed. He could Catch 70 games and play 1B maybe 40 games? That leaves 60 games for Pereda behind the plate.

Caratini at 1B for 35/40 games - Jeffers at 1B 85-90 games - 30-40 games for whatever young guy they want to try there over last 3/4 months of season.

Caratini for 2 years and $11M total would/could be a short term solution at 1B & Catcher?

[Blyleven2011]

For once I agree with a Cody Christie's write up ...

Versatility is the FO's mo so this makes sense for the organization  , but when has our FO ever made sense in regards to constructing a roster ...

Im okay with trading jeffers ...

[DJL44]

If they are willing to pay free agent retail prices for Caratini they should be willing to extend Jeffers’ contract.

[jorgenswest]

3 hours ago, Cody Christie said:

… controls the running game

I think an argument to be made that no catcher was run on more than Caratini. He is in a virtual tie with Augustin Ramirez in most stolen bases per 9. Ramirez was a rookie. He will probably get better. Caratini was in his 9th major league season. He probably won’t. In just 408 innings he allowed 57 stolen bases while throwing out only 7. The meager 408 innings should also stand out. That is only 28% of the Astros catcher load last year. The last and only time he was the primary catcher for a team was 2021. That wasn’t the catching plan for the Padres. Austin Nolan made three visits to the IL missing more than half the season.

Even as a back up with the Twins he is bound to see over 700 innings at catcher as long as he stays healthy. No team in his 9 years has gone into the season with a plan to play him that much at catcher. Would it be wise to have that plan going into his age 32 season?

[spanman2]

Spending that kind of $$$ they might need to ask the new ownership folks to take on some of that so it doesn't add on to their existing debt.  

[sweetmusicviola16]

1 hour ago, jorgenswest said:

I think an argument to be made that no catcher was run on more than Caratini. He is in a virtual tie with Augustin Ramirez in most stolen bases per 9. Ramirez was a rookie. He will probably get better. Caratini was in his 9th major league season. He probably won’t. In just 408 innings he allowed 57 stolen bases while throwing out only 7. The meager 408 innings should also stand out. That is only 28% of the Astros catcher load last year. The last and only time he was the primary catcher for a team was 2021. That wasn’t the catching plan for the Padres. Austin Nolan made three visits to the IL missing more than half the season.

Even as a back up with the Twins he is bound to see over 700 innings at catcher as long as he stays healthy. No team in his 9 years has gone into the season with a plan to play him that much at catcher. Would it be wise to have that plan going into his age 32 season?

Thanks for the extra info. Based on it, no to Caratini. Not with the budget restraints of the team and the glaring needs elsewhere. Not that we don't need a backup C......

[PatPfund]

I can't see them spending that money if they keep Jeffers. And if they are spending that money, I'm not sure why they just wouldn't spend it on Jeffers. (I also see no need to trade Jeffers except as a salary dump, because I don't think the return would be game-changing.)

[jmlease1]

14 minutes ago, Bigfork Twins Guy said:

Not going to happen IMO for two reasons...

1. Why would he want to come to a worse team to be a backup (assuming they keep Jeffers) when he can stay where he is on a better team and be their backup?

2. The Twins are not going to fork out that kind of money for a catcher who cannot throw anybody out or I at least hope that they would not.

Keep the devil we know in Jeffers and try to extend him.  I would even be OK with a 1-year ~3MM contract for Vasquez.  Again, the devil you know logic.

Some of it depends on how much he wants to catch and how much opportunity he sees in Houston. If Alvarez is relatively healthy, he's not getting those starts at DH and with the twins he'd likely get 60-80 starts at catcher, plus some 1B/DH time along with pinch hitting. Absent injuries, he's likely to see less playing time in Houston.

The throwing is a real question, but last season was a bit of an aberration. If he lands closer to his career averages, then he's certainly passable and very similar to Jeffers in that area. Not great, but not dreadful either. It's fair to wonder if he's hit a decline phase in that area of his game, but it's also possible that only getting 400 or so innings at the position could have been impactful (either in terms of smaller sample size or just not finding as much rhythm)

[Doctor Gast]

I liked Caratini; he was on my trade list a few years ago. I like his switch-hitting bat. But I think not only you have to see which-handed pitcher is pitching, but more importantly, which teams are running or not. I think we could pick up someone better via trade. If we weren't handicapped there.

[Rosterman]

The Twins NEED to sign Jeffers for an additional couple of seasons, or trade him. See what it takes. Even with his low bat, Vasquez was a good defender behind-the-plate and someone who could work well for the next generation of pitchers. Coming of three $10m seasons I wonder what it would take to bring him back.

[TopGunn#22]

I'm intrigued by Caratini, but the cautionary post of jorgenswest gives me pause if he's THAT prone to SB's.  Other than giving up SB's at an alarming rate he seems superior to Jeffers in most other catching metrics.  They are certainly similar offensively, with Caratini having a pinch more power.

I'm also NOT averse to considering signing Caratini EARLY this off season and then exploring trades involving Jeffers.  The long term plan is eventually to have Tait and/or Jimenez reach the big league roster and be the answer.

But in the short term, at least one more catcher is needed and if a productive trade involving Jeffers is made, we need at least one more catcher. 

I'd still like to aggressively pursue a trade for a young catcher who's stuck behind a solid or great major league catcher.  The White Sox have TWO young catchers in Teel and Edgar Quero.  The Brewers have Jefferson Quero stuck behind William Contreras.  The Mariners have Cal Raleigh leaving Henry Ford blocked.  These are targets that need to be pursued.  These are young catchers either already in the major leagues, or VERY close to the majors.   

A Teel or a Quero (either one) could be the primary catcher NOW with Tait and Jimenez set to join in 2 years, maybe 3.  This is where a pitcher like Ober or an OF like Wallner or even Jeffers himself, could be used in a trade to plug a massive hole for the Twins...a young catcher that can start in 2026 and for years to come.   

[jorgenswest]

I wonder if the Mariners would be looking to replace some power that they lost in free agency. How close would Wallner be to matching Harry Ford’s value?

[darin617]

1 hour ago, jorgenswest said:

I wonder if the Mariners would be looking to replace some power that they lost in free agency. How close would Wallner be to matching Harry Ford’s value?

Not even close. You would have to add like one of  the following Rojas, Abel or Bradley with Wallner to even get their attention. Ford is like a top 50 or better prospect, nobody just gives prospects away/

[jorgenswest]

31 minutes ago, darin617 said:

Not even close. You would have to add like one of  the following Rojas, Abel or Bradley with Wallner to even get their attention. Ford is like a top 50 or better prospect, nobody just gives prospects away/

A batter with a career wRC+ of 131 and 4 years of service time must have a pretty good value that at least approaches a mid 100s FV50 prospect.

Emmanuel Rodriguez? They were ranked similarly by Fangraphs.

I wonder how BTV values them.

[TopGunn#22]

Well, if we're comparing relative values, the only metric that gives us a framework to refer to is Baseball Trade Values.

BBTV has the following values on these players as of Monday:

Wallner 22.5   Harry Ford 12.5  Kyle Teel 21.4.  Edgar Quero 14.6.  And for the heck of it, Bailey Ober 20.4.  I don't know what the value is for the Brewers young catcher Jefferson Quero.  E-Rod is 24.1  Mick Abel is 7.0   Kendry Rojas is 10.2.  

Wallner, Ober, Teel, Edgar Quero and Harry Ford are as up to date as of Monday.  I haven't seen any of the others suggested in a trade for awhile.  

 

[DocBauer]

Id love him as the #2. Decent bat, and experienced if not great defensively. He can backup Jeffers and play a little 1B and DH. It also frees up Jeffers to DH against LHP.

BUT the payroll would have to be closer to $130M to sign him for 2 and $12-14 wouldn't it? Wasn't he on a 2yr $12M deal with Houston?

I'm expecting someone like McCann for $3M. That fits more in the (poor still) $120-ish payroll I'm hoping for. 

In an ideal situation, we'd just extend Jeffers another 2yrs and sign Cartarini for 2yrs at $12M. That sets at catcher for the next 2 seasons and bridges the gap for Tait to, hopefully, debut in 2028. 

I just don't know that the payroll numbers allow for this to happen. I'm still betting on a less expensive $3M for someone such as McCann. But I'd love to be proven wrong.

[jorgenswest]

3 hours ago, TopGunn#22 said:

Well, if we're comparing relative values, the only metric that gives us a framework to refer to is Baseball Trade Values.

BBTV has the following values on these players as of Monday:

Wallner 22.5   Harry Ford 12.5  Kyle Teel 21.4.  Edgar Quero 14.6.  And for the heck of it, Bailey Ober 20.4.  I don't know what the value is for the Brewers young catcher Jefferson Quero.  E-Rod is 24.1  Mick Abel is 7.0   Kendry Rojas is 10.2.  

Wallner, Ober, Teel, Edgar Quero and Harry Ford are as up to date as of Monday.  I haven't seen any of the others suggested in a trade for awhile.  

 

Thanks

[DJL44]

The Reds grabbed Rortvedt on waivers

[TopGunn#22]

I was thinking Rortvedt was a distinct possibility.  Looks like the Reds took care of that.  

[Riverbrian]

51 minutes ago, TopGunn#22 said:

I was thinking Rortvedt was a distinct possibility.  Looks like the Reds took care of that.  

I'm a little curious why the Twins didn't claim him. They would have the option to claim before the Reds I believe. 

We just paid 30 million for a defensive minded catcher that couldn't hit. We played him 50% of the time because of his defense despite not being able to hit.

Here is one of those defensive guys at a much lower price point sitting on waivers and they pass despite not having near enough options at catcher. 

I'll assume they have a different plan and I'll wait for it's unveiling. 

[TopGunn#22]

And he would have been a LHH compliment to the RHH Jeffers.  On top of that, he came out of OUR system.  We should know him better than the Reds.  It made sense the Twins should have had him on their radar, but this has always been what frustrates me about the Falvey regime/era...they are always "reactive."  They never seem to be "proactive."  To the typical or even die hard Twins fan they seem to be caught off guard at times

"Hey, did you hear Rortvedt was released?" 

"No, why would the Dodgers do that?  He played quite a bit for them when Will Smith battled some injuries, should we give him a call?"

"No...looks like the Reds already snapped him up."  Hey, let's check on our guys in the AFL...I guess Mendez is tearing it up!!!" 

"Yeah, that was week one.   He left Arizona and is taking some personal time to deal with something."

Wait...What !?!?!?"

I'm with you Riverbrian, I'm going to assume they have a plan and we will just have to wait and see how it unfolds.  But I'm not very confident.  

[jmlease1]

1 hour ago, Riverbrian said:

I'm a little curious why the Twins didn't claim him. They would have the option to claim before the Reds I believe. 

We just paid 30 million for a defensive minded catcher that couldn't hit. We played him 50% of the time because of his defense despite not being able to hit.

Here is one of those defensive guys at a much lower price point sitting on waivers and they pass despite not having near enough options at catcher. 

I'll assume they have a different plan and I'll wait for it's unveiling. 

Well, we also didn't have much choice on Vazquez, and his hitting wasn't expected to be quite this awful when we signed him. Vazquez's career OPS+ (after 3 years of really poor hitting with the Twins) is a career high for Rortvedt. Sure, Rortvedt showed signs of life with the Dodgers (and props to him for not only winning a title but actually putting him some offense) but it's a really small sample size. he was so dreadful at the plate for TB that he was basically unplayable.

2024 is the only season Rortvedt has even been a solid backup, really. He's also had a history of struggling to stay on the field. I might have taken a flier on him but at the same time I can't really say anyone who passed on him on waivers was wrong.

[Riverbrian]

22 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

Well, we also didn't have much choice on Vazquez, and his hitting wasn't expected to be quite this awful when we signed him. Vazquez's career OPS+ (after 3 years of really poor hitting with the Twins) is a career high for Rortvedt. Sure, Rortvedt showed signs of life with the Dodgers (and props to him for not only winning a title but actually putting him some offense) but it's a really small sample size. he was so dreadful at the plate for TB that he was basically unplayable.

2024 is the only season Rortvedt has even been a solid backup, really. He's also had a history of struggling to stay on the field. I might have taken a flier on him but at the same time I can't really say anyone who passed on him on waivers was wrong.

I agree on all counts. 

The Twins didn't have much of choice in regards to Vazquez other than consider a lighter rotation with Jeffers getting more. We didn't have anybody to push him. 

When the Twins signed Vazquez for 30 million... There was reasonable evidence that he actually could hit the ball a little.  

I also agree that the expectation for Rortvedt is low. However, our current bar to clear at the position is currently laying on the ground. 

And I also assume other Rortvedt types will also become available as the off-season progresses. 

I'm curious but not willing to throw tomatoes at the front office just yet. Maybe... They would like to save the open 40 man spots until they get through the 18th. 

I also have a curiosity on what the Reds have planned since Rortvedt will probably require 1.3 Million in Arb One and he is out of options. They already have Trevino who is a defensive minded catcher and Stephenson who is an offensive catcher and none of them can be sent to the minors without exposure.

Since Stephenson is not considered to be a defensive catcher. Will Stephenson shift to 1B with Rortvedt and Trevino wearing the tools of ignorance? Stephenson hits well for a C but poorly for a 1B. Is Stephenson trade bait? Or will there be an inevitable releasing of either Rortvedt and Trevino later in the off-season.