What's really tough about this injury is that he will probably not be back to full strength until 2013 or late in 2012. Molina is probably the guy they go after, not sure they can go to battle with Q and Towles again. Ben Heath is not ready yet even though he did climb to AA last season, probably be another year there and at AAA. Wild card might be Clemens, not sure if they would be willing to move him back behind the plate though.
He is 36 years old and would cost about 4 large. Q can be C1. C2 can be filled with an organization player like Towles, Heath, or maybe Koby Clemens. The job is Towles to lose. It will be interesting to see who Mills will play at C for the rest of spring training. Mills will someone to fill innings at C, especially all of the spit game scheduled.
Problem is they didn't trust the combo of Towles/Q a couple of years ago when they signed Pudge so I doubt they let them have the gig this year either. Q has gotten better but still a POOR offensive catcher and gets hurt a ton. Towles has done NOTHING to say he is any better for the gig, in fact he has regressed since then. Heath isn't ready but wouldn't be against giving him a shot, high hopes for him and they've already said Koby isn't going behind the plate again sooooooo..... Molina would be a 1 yr stop gap, at a reasonable cost, between Castro getting back and/or Heath or maybe someone else in the lower ranks taking a big step up.
^^^ Carlos Corporan maybe an option, honestly forgot about him. He had a nice year at AAA last year so maybe there is something.
IIRC, last year Oswalt ran off Towles, which is not a good sign. The Astros sent Towles to AA where he sucked hard and then got hurt. I was very surprised that the Astros did not trade or release him last offseason. The Astros must still be holding out hope that the 27 year old Towles "will come to Jesus".
I think catcher has turned into a major issue, well as much of an issue as it can be on a rebuilding club. They basically put all their eggs in the Castro bucket and now are left fishing for answers.
Not only does DaDakota get his game ideas stolen, he also gets his base ball ideas stolen. From @alysonfooter:
I don't like any of the C2 options that we have in camp, although I don't know much about Corporan. Looks like he was decent at AAA, so that already makes him better than Towles. 4 large for Molina is too much. I'm sure some other options will present themselves as ST progresses. Q calls a good game and is ++ defensively, so we'll be OK. I'm really bummed about Castro...I was really looking forward to see him be the #1 this year.
From Astros County, catchers still in Major-League Camp: Carlos Corporan, Brian Esposito, Rene Garcia, Humberto Quintero, J.R. Towles
Man this really sucks....I was really looking forward to seeing Castro this year. Oh wee, I suppose you get used to this when you're a fan of Houston sports. Pugs
Image of the new scoreboard during this weekend's college classic. It's a huge picture so beware. Spoiler
Looks good... and it was a big picture. Wonder what they are going to do with the old video-board in center field? Looks kinda superfluous now... but they didn't take it down after they installed the new one. I don't know what else could go in its place either...
http://content.usatoday.com/communi...-on-a-mission-after-managers-trip-to-panama/1 Astros Carlos Lee on a mission after manager's trip to Panama KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- The Houston Astros are willing to go to great measures to get Carlos Lee off to a better start than he had in 2010. Manager Brad Mills went all the way to Panama to visit with Lee this offseason. "I didn't know he liked me that much," said Lee, before the Astros first full workout of the season on Sunday. "It means a lot. It makes you feel like you're part of the main guys. We talked about the team and expectations. We talked about everything. "We had a great time. He was there for 50 hours. We talked baseball for 52." The Astros hope that's the last time Lee's numbers are off. They were down last year when he finished at .246 with 25 homers and 89 RBI. It was the first time in four seasons he didn't hit at least .300 and didn't drive in at least 100 runs. So, Mills went to Panama to check in on his left fielder and cleanup hitter. "That trip was a good time to know him a little better on his turf," said Mills, beginning his second season as Astros skipper. "These guys come from Latin countries and it's something a little different for them when they're here. I wanted to go down on his turf. I wanted to see how his country is and how he does things down there." Lee, 34, started slowly and had difficulty finding his groove last season. "At one point, everything I hit was an out," said Lee, who had one homer and six RBI in his first 25 games and was batting .199 on May 26. "I hit it hard. I hit it soft. … I didn't strike out much. I just couldn't get any hits. I was trying to find some answers. I worked harder than ever trying to fix it and it didn't work. "I feel like I've got a lot to prove," he said. "I'm way better than the season I had last year. I've got to prove that I can still hit." General manager Ed Wade didn't mind hearing that. "Unless you're a member of the '27 Yankees, you've got something to prove the next season," Wade said. "I'm not surprised he came in here the first day and told (the media) he's on a mission. You can tell Carlos was not pleased with where he was. If Carlos is not where he wants to be, we're not going to be where we want to be. He plays a huge part in what we're trying to do." Wade believes Lee's first half of 2010 was an aberration. "I saw a lot of popups the first half of last season," he said. "I saw balls that he normally hits on a line get skyed 170 feet in the air. That's not Carlos. Carlos is about the big part of the field, hitting balls up the middle, knocking guys in along the way and smoking them into the Crawford Boxes (left field porch in Houston) on a regular basis." How important is Lee? Astros center fielder Michael Bourn called him the team "VIP." Wade put it this way: "Carlos is huge for us. Carlos can be the 21st century version of Tony Perez. Our expectations are that we're going to have a lot of guys in scoring position and an equal expectation that Carlos is going to rise to the occasion." Lee picked it up in the second half, as did the Astros, who finished on a 59-52 run after starting 17-34. His slugging percentage was .442 after the All-Star break compared to .395 the first half. "I had a really good second half," he said. "At the end of the year, I know my numbers were down, but I still got 24 homers and (89) RBI. It was no Carlos Lee, but it wasn't that bad."
Well, the Cubs are off to a fast start. They've already had a dugout altercation between 2 teammates.
Random Fact of the Day: Astros were 3rd in 2010 spending for international signings. http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/international-affairs/2011/2611345.html
