Astros Notes: Drew, Boras, Scherzer, Cubs

Here’s the latest on the Astros from Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle…

• The Astros met with agent Scott Boras to discuss shortstop Stephen Drew and relief pitching, says a source familiar with the conversation.  Boras confirmed the meeting took place without naming any particular names, saying “We’ve had meetings and talked and we have bullpen guys and the infield and outfield guys, so we’ve had some general conversations.  They’re kind of in a fluid state on their position players, but…we have some guys that may be some fits there.”  This is just my speculation, but it’s possible Houston could’ve been looking into Rafael Soriano or Francisco Rodriguez, Boras’ two most high-profile bullpen clients.
• Boras said that Takashi Toritani is drawing interest from MLB teams mostly as a second baseman rather than his natural shortstop position.  As Drellich notes, this would seem to eliminate the Astros from contention since Jose Altuve is already entrenched at second.
• Unsurprisingly, Drellich’s source said that the Astros’ chat with Boras didn’t involve Max Scherzer.
• The Cubs showed some interest in Jason Castro earlier this offseason, prior to Chicago’s acquisition of Miguel Montero from the Diamondbacks.