Royals just stole the former All-Star Astros desperately needed at camp

At some point, Houston Astros GM Dana Brown needs to wake up. The Astros were outwitted once again, and this time it was the Kansas City Royals that played them for a bunch of saps. On Friday, the Royals agreed to a minor-league deal with free-agent catcher Elias Diaz, taking yet another backstop off the board.

This isn't the first time that an obvious fit for the Astros roster has been stolen from under their noses. Former Rangers All-Star and Gold Glove Award-winning catcher Jonah Heim signed a one-year with the Braves earlier this month. More recently, Mitch Garver signed a minor-league with the Seattle Mariners that will pay him just over $2 million if he makes the Opening Day roster.

Before the offseason got underway, Brown went out of his way to hint at prioritizing a reunion with Victor Caratini. That opportunity expired just a few weeks ago after Caratini signed a two-year deal with the Minnesota Twins.

Astros just lost another catcher candidate after Elias Diaz signed with the Royals

Brown was recently asked by MLB.com beat writer Brian McTaggart about the team's plan at catcher. His response seemed to express faith in current backup Cesar Salazar while at the same time leaving the door open for improvements.

"We’re still talking about backup catcher. We feel good about Salazar. At the end of the day, he’s good enough to be our backup. We kind of got spoiled with Caratini. He was such a good backup that he could start on a lot of other teams. If we can upgrade in that area, we will. If not, Salazar will be the guy until we can upgrade."

Houston has ample catching depth in camp at the moment, but none of them have any meaningful Major League experience outside of Salazar and starter Yainer Diaz. The Astros just freed up a ton of money after trading Jesús Sanchez to the Toronto Blue Jays and have been linked to Christian Vazquez throughout the offseason. What's the hold up?

The longer this goes on, the worse it's going to get. There wasn't an abundance of catching talent available before the offseason began, and with Diaz now off the board, Vazquez is the only name notable name remaining. It's time to make a move, Astros.