Twins catcher Drew Butera was the Astros' first choice to replace the injured Jason Castro, according to Peter Gammons of MLB Network (on Twitter). However, the Twins won't trade Butera, according to Gammons.
Butera appeared in 49 games as a rookie last year. The 27-year-old caught 16 of 37 would-be base stealers (43%) but hit just .197/.237/.296 in 155 Major League plate apperances. In the five minor league seasons since the Mets selected him in the fifth round of the 2005 draft, Butera has a .214/.296/.317 line.
The Astros are on the lookout for catching help and though they were initially interested in Nationals backstop Jesus Flores, they have tempered their pursuit of him. Joel Sherman of the New York Post suggested earlier today that Francisco Cervelli could become a trade chip midseason, depending on how the Yankees' catching situation develops.
…Seriously?
AAAUUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHHHHH WHY?!?!?!?!?!
They can’t trade Sweet Drew. The Pavstache would go on a murderous spree from the loss of his soul/battery-mate.
How exactly do you reject any offer for Butera? I don’t think its possible to get lowballed.
The Astros offered a stale bag of chips, a box of balls and a case of warm beer. The Twins wanted a fresh bag of chips, but the Astros wouldn’t go there
I heard that the Twins were going to just give him to Houston, but then talks broke down over who was going to pay for Butera’s bus ticket between Spring Training camps in Fort Myers and Kissimmee.
The offer was Drew “The New Brad Ausmus” Butera for Brad “The Old Brad Ausmus” Ausmus.
He handles the staff well, and works well with Pavano. Also by trading away Ramos last year, there is no viable backup option at all in the minors. There’s no reason to trade him right now especially since they’d get a player in return that would probably never see the big leagues.
Twins didn’t draft Butera, they acquired him in a trade from the Mets along with Dustin Martin for Luis Castillo on July 30, 2007.
The Mets actually drafted Butera
There’s a headline I never thought I would see, another team wanting Butera.
As long as Carl Pavano is a starting pitcher for the Minnesota Twins, Drew Butera has a job. Butera is still a young player who does have some ideal characteristics of a backup catcher:
1) he calls a great game (smart)
2) he throws out baserunners and is solid defensively (twins like this)
The only detriment is his bat but if his bat was solid, he wouldn’t be a backup catcher, he’d be a starting one.
His bat (or lack thereof) is more than a detriment. He’s one of the worst hitters in all of MLB. “Calling a great game” is subjective; he’s good at throwing runners out and blocking balls in the dirt, sure, but does that merit wasting a roster spot on the American League’s worst hitter?
I’m lacking a source right now, which I will try to find, but I’ve read multiple times that Drew Butera was statistically the worst hitter in MLB last year for someone that got as many at-bats as he did.
What is your point? Hitting is only one statistical category and who are you to throw someone under a bus. Give the kid a chance.
wow, you really hate this guy. I think he’s fine as a backup. As a twins fan just be happy our starter is such a stud and leave it at that. Some teams have starting catchers with less ability than Drew Butera and that’s a FACT.
Yeah? What teams? Name those teams. Name those catchers. They don’t exist. The fact that we’re wasting a spot on the 40 man for this clown is asinine.
Well, Jose Molina is great at throwing out baserunners and calls a good game, but is not a great hitter, yet he is still pretty valuable. There is always value in good defensive catching, and finding a good offensive catcher is pretty hard, so you kinda have take good defensive catchers when you get them.
Jose Molina is a career .236 hitter. He’s a significantly better hitter than Drew Butera. That would have been a career best AAA season for Drew.
The Astros have a history of bad catcher trades.. The one that really sticks out was their acquisition of Eddie Taubensee.. they gave up a former University of Arizona basketball player that was trying to be a centerfielder.. the guy’s name is Kenny Lofton…
If they’re really dumpster diving, they could get Anderson from the Cards…
Drew Butera is an excellent defensive catcher. If he ever learns to hit .250, he’ll be one of the most valuable catchers in baseball. I don’t blame other teams for wondering if their hitting coach could cure Butera’s struggles at the plate. Hope springs eternal…
He’s not going to hit .250. The most he ever hit in the minors was .260 – in AA ball. And he followed up that monster year by hitting .218. If they try to make him Pavano’s personal catcher and take the bat out of Joey’s hands or Kubel/Thome’s hands, they are idiots.
Yeah, you’re right. Joe Mauer should catch for 162 games.
As a Twins fan i have come to consideration that we have some of the stupid fans in baseball. I would rather give Beuter a chance than a guy like Punto who might as well taken a twig up to bat with him because it did not matter; however, he was a good defense of player. Name one catcher that would cost league minimum and play better defense than Beuter? We are going to see Beuter once a week, maybe twice on a 7 games in 7 days. I can live with that as a Twins fan. I also remember last year him coming up with 3 really good AB late in 3 different games for the Twins (the homer, and an RBI single that tied a game, and a walk that led to the winning run.) to me that is 3 games the twins could have lost, 3 games could cost them the division!