There are lots of implications to the Caratini signing. He'll play a lot. Meyers and Dubon will play less. The team is deeper. Joe Espada's job got easier, & Jim Crane will pay the luxury tax.
Amid all the CBT concerns, I think it gets lost in the shuffle that CBT figures are calculated at the end of the year. To that end, CBT thresholds come not only with financial penalties but have impacts on compensatory draft picks. It seems pretty clear the Astros are going to be losing Bregman to free agency (and thus presumptively eligible for a comp. pick). If Houston is out of the race at the deadline, Houston will likely look to shed contracts to get under the threshold so they can get a better comp pick for losing Bregman (or may even trade Bregman).
Amid all the CBT concerns, I think it gets lost in the shuffle that CBT figures are calculated at the end of the year. To that end, CBT thresholds come not only with financial penalties but have impacts on compensatory draft picks. It seems pretty clear the Astros are going to be losing Bregman to free agency (and thus presumptively eligible for a comp. pick). If Houston is out of the race at the deadline, Houston will likely look to shed contracts to get under the threshold so they can get a better comp pick for losing Bregman (or may even trade Bregman).