Minnesota Twins Sign Catcher Victor Caratini to Two-Year Deal

[Matthew Trueblood]

Image courtesy of © Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Twins and catcher Victor Caratini are in agreement on a two-year deal, according to a report from Robert Murray of FanSided. The deal is reportedly worth $14 million.

Caratini, 32, is entering his 10th big-league season, having spent time with the Cubs, Padres, Brewers and Astros. He's a career .244/.321/.371 hitter, but tapped into considerably more power during his two-year stay in Houston. He's a switch-hitter and a solid receiver, rating well as a blocker of errant pitches and receiving consistently strong reviews from pitchers with whom he works.

When he first signed with Atlanta as a second-round pick in 2013, Caratini appeared to have a path to the majors that included time spent at third base. Over time, he gravitated more to catching, where his lack of speed and heavy frame are less of a problem. He makes solid contact, but has generally struggled to produce consistent power. Part of the issue was a tendency to hit too many balls on the ground; another was the fact that he was often a complementary catcher, playing far less than every day. His 12 home runs in 2025 were a career high, and the last two seasons (spent at the pull htter's haven that is Daikin Park in Houston) are the only two in which he's slugged over .400.

However, he does avoid strikeouts, and rarely expands the zone at the plate. A native of Puerto Rico, he's a good handler of pitching staffs, bilingual and patient with developing arms. He should fit in nicely with the Twins' existing infrastructure, and like Josh Bell, he adds both matchup value and a veteran voice who has recently made valuable changes to his swing.

In 2020 and 2021, Caratini became the first catcher ever to be behind the plate for no-hitters with no other player catching one in between. He coaxed journeyman Alec Mills through a no-no for the Cubs in Milwaukee in September 2020, then joined Joe Musgrove to author the first no-hitter in Padres history the next season.

Earlier Friday, catcher J.T. Realmuto agreed to return to the Philadelphia Phillies on a lucrative three-year deal, as part of what has been an extremely busy week of signings throughout the league. Realmuto was the only catcher above Caratini in the pecking order, so once he signed, Caratini's market quickly crystallized. The Twins can plan on him as an equal partner to Ryan Jeffers, just as they arranged things with Christian Vázquez for much of the last three years, but if they get a strong offer for Jeffers (either in the next two months or come July), they could trade him and feel good about Caratini as a stopgap primary backstop.

According to MLB.com's Mark Feinsand, Caratini will earn $14 million over two seasons, matching the annual salary Bell got on his one-year pact. 

This move certainly earns a raised eyebrow or two, because the Twins had previously acquired Alex Jackson to fill a smaller version of the role that will now surely go to Caratini. Jackson is out of minor-league options and can't be sent to Triple-A St. Paul, so the team will need to move one of Jeffers or Jackson by Opening Day. Jackson, of course, was a low-wattage pickup and has nowhere near the track record of big-league success that Caratini and Jeffers can boast, but nor does he cost anywhere near what they do.

Every winter, the Twins lurk until the endgame of free agency, doing very little. Almost without fail, though, they then swoop in and make at least one or two signings of players whom the market has overlooked. Caratini wasn't far below the radar, but as his modest price indicates, this was a matter of waiting things out and letting the price tag come down to a place that was comfortable for the team. It's not surprising that Derek Falvey and his staff got involved at this level, but it invites several questions about the next step in the team's offseason.

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[Cory Engelhardt]

So, um, this is interesting. Is Jeffers getting traded? Something else?

[nicksaviking]

He's not a black hole in the lineup, I'm surprised by this. 

I guess they were less confident in Alex Jackson than previously indicated? Fine by me. As long as they don't carry 3 catchers on the 26-man.

[sweetmusicviola16]

I can actually support this acquisition I think. On the negative side he has only shared the C role in a 50/50 measure twice in his career, 21 and 22. And when he carried the heavier burden his hitting was greatly diminished. But I like the signing considering our catching pipeline.

Does make me wonder about having 3 C's on ML contracts. Jeffers, Jackson and now Caratini. Would almost seem to open the door of trading one of Jackson or Jeffers maybe.

[NYCTK]

Sure. I assume like 8-10 mil per season? 

[sweetmusicviola16]

Also wonder who gets the boot off of the roster. The newly acquired Vidal Brujan? Kriedler? Julien? Or one of Jeffers or Jackson traded? 

[Brandon Glick]

1 minute ago, sweetmusicviola16 said:

Also wonder who gets the boot off of the roster. The newly acquired Vidal Brujan? Kriedler? Julien? Or one of Jeffers or Jackson traded? 

As a Cubs fan, it would be a crime against all Minnesotans if you guys have to watch Vidal Brujan take an at-bat in 2026.

[stringer bell]

Umm, with Jackson out of options, either they keep three catchers or lose a catcher. I’m guessing there’s a deal for Jeffers being done. 

[Vanimal46]

Brace yourselves for the upcoming Jeffers trade 

[nicksaviking]

4 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Umm, with Jackson out of options, either they keep three catchers or lose a catcher. I’m guessing there’s a deal for Jeffers being done. 

Don't make me retract my original post.

I get the reasoning, but I don't think you do the free agent and then the trade in that order. I mean, at least smart clubs don't telegraph such moves. So, yeah, could happen.

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

Interesting...

[sweetmusicviola16]

I just don't see someone trading for Jackson at 1.8 or whatever. I'm a little nervous that they will carry 3 C's 

[Dman]

Could be wrong but it feels like a Jeffers trade is next up.  He is a good offensive catcher and it seems like teams have been enquiring about him.  They just said they were making Jeffers the primary catcher so seems odd to get Caratini after all the things they've said and done.

Certainly they could still hang onto Jeffers, but if they want any real value from him they need to trade him sooner rather than later.  We'll find out soon enough.

[nicksaviking]

Caratini only caught 50 games last year, he doesn't look to be a starting catcher in this league. so I don't think he's a Jeffers replacement. 

And Alex Jackson never had any business being guaranteed a MLB roster spot, which he would have been had the team not gotten another catcher. I think this either means Jackson has an uphill battle to make the team (good) or the Twins are considering Catarini as a regular DH (bad, very very bad)

 

[DJL44]

Victor Caratini could be an interesting platoon partner for Kody Clemens at first base. 

[sweetmusicviola16]

8 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

Caratini only caught 50 games last year, he doesn't look to be a starting catcher in this league. so I don't think he's a Jeffers replacement. 

And Alex Jackson never had any business being guaranteed a MLB roster spot, which he would have been had the team not gotten another catcher. I think this either means Jackson has an uphill battle to make the team (good) or the Twins are considering Catarini as a regular DH (bad, very very bad)

 

Or Caratini plays 1B as well. Which is also not good. He's a good hitter as a C but not at all as DH or 1B. I still like the signing but until we see what else shakes out the roster construction of this team is still awful imo.

[Blyleven2011]

41 minutes ago, sweetmusicviola16 said:

I can actually support this acquisition I think. On the negative side he has only shared the C role in a 50/50 measure twice in his career, 21 and 22. And when he carried the heavier burden his hitting was greatly diminished. But I like the signing considering our catching pipeline.

Does make me wonder about having 3 C's on ML contracts. Jeffers, Jackson and now Caratini. Would almost seem to open the door of trading one of Jackson or Jeffers maybe.

Jeffers most likely the one to be traded in my opinion  , if the front office is looking at the past 2 seasons of caratini as a hitter then they believe he is equal to jeffers on offense and we can trade jeffers for  a return before he walks for nothing , salary is another reason jeffers is most likely traded ...

What a dream team we are accumulating  ...

[Linus]

7 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Victor Caratini could be an interesting platoon partner for Kody Clemens at first base. 

Along with Wagaman and Bell. I think those four guys could cover it and we would have our bench complete 😀

[DJL44]

I'd be happy if the move is trading Trevor Larnach to get rid of a DH.

[sweetmusicviola16]

2 minutes ago, Blyleven2011 said:

Jeffers most likely the one to be traded in my opinion  , if the front office is looking at the past 2 seasons of caratini as a hitter then they believe he is equal to jeffers on offense and we can trade jeffers for  a return before he walks for nothing , salary is another reason jeffers is most likely traded ...

What a dream team we are accumulating  ...

This team should cause no one to have a wet dream that's for sure. What you suggest as for trading Jeffers I would not object to at all. But trading Jeffers you at least get some value over him walking for nothing. Caratini is a step backwards from Ryan but at least it's not falling off the end of the earth at this point. 

[LA Vikes Fan]

I like this add. Cararini is actually a decent quality major league catcher. He would go great as the slightly shorter part of a 60/40 catching platoon with Jeffers, with Jeffers catching roughly 95–100 games and DHing another 25–30. I don’t really much care what happens to Jackson. He can either be optioned down to AAA or, if he doesn’t pass through waivers, somebody else picks up his salary. 
 

Obviously, more interesting thought is this is the first step in a two step where Jeffers gets traded, hopefully for some high-end prospects or a high-end prospect and a real high leverage relief pitcher. My bet is actually that they won’t trade Jeffers at least not until the trade deadline. He’ll be held, maybe be traded at the deadline, and Caratini winds up being the stop gap to the next generation. All in all, I actually like this one.

[Linus]

I have no idea what this means. It can’t be three catchers but I’ve given up trying to figure out Falvey so who knows. Logic would dictate Jeffers is on the move but you would think the trade would come first unless there is already a deal for Jeffers in place. 

[Blyleven2011]

2 minutes ago, sweetmusicviola16 said:

This team should cause no one to have a wet dream that's for sure. What you suggest as for trading Jeffers I would not object to at all. But trading Jeffers you at least get some value over him walking for nothing. Caratini is a step backwards from Ryan but at least it's not falling off the end of the earth at this point. 

It really doesn't matter what the fans think if caratini can catch half the games or not , it's what falvey thinks caratini can do  and I'm sure falveyis jumping to a conclusion that he can replace ryan Jeffers ...

 

[Blyleven2011]

7 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

I'd be happy if the move is trading Trevor Larnach to get rid of a DH.

I'd be happy if the league went back to having pitchers bat  🤣 ...

something has to give , we can't keep adding and adding and not subtract some payroll  , the only thing we're subtracting is the AAAA players from the 40 man roster ...

[flags]

i think there is zero chance they carry three catchers. jackson can easily be dfa'd. if someone claims him, so what? if he chooses to become a free agent, he forfeits his salary because he doesn't have enough service time. dfa and stash at aaa

[KirbyDome89]

"The Twins can plan on him as an equal partner to Ryan Jeffers, just as they arranged things with Christian Vázquez for much of the last three years, but if they get a strong offer for Jeffers (either in the next two months or come July), they could trade him and feel good about Caratini as a stopgap primary backstop."

Caratini hasn't even been splitting defensive duties the last three years, Idk if "good," is how we should feel about him potentially getting a primary-ish workload. Also, what is he a stopgap to? Another short term vet this FO hopes doesn't crater a la Vazquez? 

[SD happy]

Kinda interesting. We sign Bell, we think first base is taken care. And, then we trade for Wangamen. We sign Jackson for backup catcher, so we think catching is taken care of. And then, we sign Carantini. Meanwhile, we’re still waiting for our bullpen to be bolstered.

[KirbyDome89]

15 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

I'd be happy if the move is trading Trevor Larnach to get rid of a DH.

I very much hope this team isn't seriously considering giving Caratini some actual run at DH. 

[SteveLV]

Jeffers trade incoming is the only thing that makes sense.  If not, very puzzling way to spend limited resources.....Does he have any connections with Shelton or the coaching staff????

[bustedstuff88]

"Modest price" ???

 

The twins basically just blew their whole remaining wad on this guy.