Brewers: 3 Moves That Still Need To Get Done Now That The Winter Meetings Are Over

2. Find a new backup catcher

Victor Caratini found a new home during the Winter Meetings, signing a two year, $12MM contract with the Houston Astros. That leaves the Brewers with just two catchers on the 40 man roster, William Contreras and Jeferson Quero.

Since Quero has yet to even reach Triple-A, the Brewers are going to need to bring in a more experienced catcher to back up Contreras for 2024.

There are a couple of free agent options out there, but they also could seek out the trade market to fill this need. Whichever route they choose, they will be bringing in a new catcher to the organization very soon.

The free agent market doesn't have much in the way of inspiring options. Granted, backup catcher isn't exactly a position that fires up fanbases. Finding an even passable hitter among the free agents may be difficult. Veteran Austin Hedges has a relationship with Pat Murphy that could maybe lead to a deal, but he's as light-hitting as it gets for a big league position player. Jorge Alfaro and Tucker Barnhart are among other options.

The Brewers have gone to the trade market before to get catching help. They traded for William Contreras last offseason, and traded for Victor Caratini and Alex Jackson right before the 2022 season. Max Stassi just got traded to Atlanta but he might not stay there long since they already have Travis D'Arnaud and Sean Murphy. The Twins are trying to move Christian Vazquez but his contract is sizable and he's coming off a down year.

Last year the Brewers surprised everyone by getting William Contreras in that Sean Murphy trade. Perhaps they'll come up with another trade for a catcher that no one is expecting, albeit this time it won't be as big of a get as the Contreras deal.