The Houston Astros made a string of roster moves before their series finale against the Pirates on Thursday evening.
Remember the viral incident involving Framber Faldez last season that had to do with Framber potentially crossing up his catcher? That catcher was Cesar Salazar, who was designated for assignment by the Astros today.
Houston signed Lamonte Wade Jr. earlier this afternoon and also selected the contract of catcher Colin Price, which pushes Cesar Salazar out of the fold for now.
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Cesar Salazar DFA’d by Astros
GettyHOUSTON, TEXAS – JULY 11: Cesar Salazar #18 of the Houston Astros congratulates Josh Hader #71 after the game against the Miami Marlins at Minute Maid Park on July 11, 2024 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)
Per multiple reports, in the string of recent Astros roster news, catcher Cesar Salazar has been designated for assignment.
MLBTR.com’s Darragh McDonald caught a piece of the recent news and had this to say about Salazar:
“Salazar, 30, has been a depth catcher with the Astros for many years. His defense is well regarded but he doesn’t hit much, with a career .189/.295/.216 line. He burned his final option year in 2025, which led to him being bumped off the roster in March of this year. He cleared waivers and stuck around as a non-roster depth option.”
Unless another MLB team claims him (unlikely), Salazar could elect free agency and try to get re-signed again by the Astros, but for now, Houston seems okay with taking a different route at the catcher position.
As for the incident with Framber Valdez? It happened last summer, but Valdez appeared to show up his catcher, Salazar, after giving up a grand slam, and then Framber appeared to have purposefully crossed Salazar up in frustration. Framber Valdez denied the incident, and Cesar Salazar is/was in no place to say Framber was full of smoke.
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Cesar Salazar’s MLB Career
GettyHOUSTON, TEXAS – JUNE 26: César Salazar #18 of the Houston Astros reacts after hitting a double in the fifth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Minute Maid Park on June 26, 2024 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images)
As McDonald noted for MLBTradeRumors.com. Salazar has not been much of a hitter in his MLB career.
He’s 30 years old, and has only received 74 total at-bats in his *parts of* four seasons with the Houston Astros.
This season, Salazar has received 18 at-bats, and he’s batting a putrid 0.056 with zero XBH, and 1 RBI. His career OPS+ sits at 48.
Salazar had been removed from the Astros roster earlier this season in an unsurprising move, but he found his way back on when Houston dealt with some injuries to other catchers this season.
It’s unclear what’s next for Cesar Salazar’s MLB career, but he will always be known as the catcher involved in the infamous Framber Valdez ‘cross-up’.
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