The Astros have signed catcher to a minor league deal, according to his at MLB.com. He has been a signed to Triple-A Sugar Land for now but will presumably receive an invite to big league spring training. Hudson, 34 in May, was briefly in the majors in 2024. He had started the year with the Cubs on a minor league deal but was traded to the Mets in April. The latter club selected him to their roster for about three weeks in June, though Hudson only got into one big league game in that time and didnt get a plate appearance. On June 21, the Mets were leading the Cubs 11-1 and had Hudson catch the bottom of the ninth, replacing . He was later outrighted off the roster and elected free agency at seasons end. That technically added to Hudsons big league rsum, getting him up to 19 games played over four different seasons. He has a .167/.219/.200 batting line in his 33 plate appearances at the major league level. Hes generally been a serviceable depth piece at Triple-A. Hes played 198 games at that level over the past four years, stepping to the plate 740 times. He was punched out in 29.1% of those Al Horford Jersey appearances but also managed to draw a walk 14.5% of the time. That allowed him to produce a combined .215/.338/.389 line and 92 wRC+. has generally given him good grades for his framing, blocking and throwing throughout his minor league career. The Astros currently have three catchers on their 40-man roster. should get the bulk of big league playing time, with also lined up for a notable chunk and in Triple-A. Diaz and Caratini also spent some time at first base last year as the Astros tried to cover that spot after releasing . Diaz was also slotted in as the designated hitter from time to time, keeping his bat in the lineup even when he got a break from catching. Hudson gives them a bit of non-roster depth at the Triple-A level. That could perhaps be important as they might continue to experiment with rotating Diaz and Caratini through first, which might tempt them to have Salazar in the majors as a third catcher. Then theres the ever-present po sibility of an injury changing the plans. If Hudson gets a roster spot at any point, he has le s than a year of service time and still has options, meaning hell be cheap and provide roster flexibility. Dikembe Mutombo Jersey