Though the Astros are already $2MM over their 2011 payroll target, owner Drayton McLane and GM Ed Wade met yesterday "to set financial parameters for going outside the organization" for a catcher in the wake of Jason Castro's season-ending injury, reports Steve Campbell of the Houston Chronicle.
Comments from McLane and Wade suggest any acquisition will be minor, and Wade isn't ruling out opening the season with Humberto Quintero and J.R. Towles. A few days ago, MLBTR's Mark Polishuk looked at potentially available backstops the Astros could consider.
Ryan Doumit is an obvious fit for the Astros, though in a general sense Wade said, "Even if there was a guy out there making substantial dollars available, I'm not sure we would be in the mix to be able to go do something like that." Keep in mind that the Pirates would likely assume at least half of the $5.6MM owed to Doumit. Ron Musselman of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has the latest from GM Neal Huntington on the near-dormant Doumit talks.
If Pitt ate almost all of Doumit’s salary, and we gave up only a non-prospect for him, that would work. Otherwise, stick with JR and Q. Astros won’t contend anyway.
Can I interest you in Jesus Flores?
trade us a pitcher for flores
You guys can have Mathis and Callaspo for Chris Johnson. Hell, we might even throw in Brandon Wood.
I will guarantee Reuben Amaro is trying to convince Ed Wade to build a trade around Bill Hall (or maybe Hunter Pence, LOL) for Brian Schneider, Blanton/Kendrick, Matt Rizotti, and a utility infielder (Wilson Valdez, Pete Orr, Josh Barfield, Delwyn Young, et al) and maybe even throwing Maybery’s name in the mix right now.
Hell, he may be figuring out a way to swap 18 million in salary for Carlos Lee…
They LOVE dealing with each other, and Ed Wade is a moron….
Bengie Molina? Costs less than Doumit and you don’t have to give up anyone.
When you talk about Doumit as a “catcher”, the quotation marks are required.
Would love Bengie on a 1 year deal for a couple of mill
isn’t bengie type-A? i don’t know if any non-contending team would want to give up draft picks for him.
Texas did not offer him arbitration, so the team that signs him will not have to give up a pick. I thought Molina’s main thing was he wanted playing time, not to be a backup. So if they throw a few million his way, he might bite.
Maybe they could pull a Pedro Feliz like last year, or I-Rod a couple years back. Sign a guy, watch him build value (or suck) and trade him at the deadline for something. You get something for a modest investment, and you make the ballclub look better on paper for the sale.