Astros Interested In Prior

According to Brian McTaggart of the Houston Chronicle, the Astros have contacted Mark Prior’s agent.  Prior is a free agent for the first time in his career after the Cubs non-tendered him on Wednesday.  By the way, I’ve previously erroneously named Prior’s current agent as Scott Boras.  That changed at some point – he’s with John Boggs now.

Astros GM Ed Wade admitted to his interest in Prior but not much else.  He told McTaggart that a lot of teams have contacted Boggs about Prior (nine, to be exact).  Prior figures to miss a few months of the 2008 season due to his April ’07 shoulder surgery.  Wade told McTaggart he contacted a couple of non-tendered players; here’s the list if you want to guess.

The Cubs didn’t feel Prior would return to his "high-level form" until 2009.  They insisted on a club option for that year, and their offer was "not received well" by Prior and his agent.