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Astros Looking To Move Away From Quintero?

Take the source for what you will, but Jon Heyman recently tweeted that Houston may be looking to dump backup catcher Humberto Quintero. The strange thing is Q recently signed a pre-arbitration contract worth $1 million for the upcoming season.

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I've been thinking for a couple of months now that Houston might move on from Q. He's fairly valuable as a backup and could net a prospect or interesting lottery-ticket player that needs a change of scenery. He has proven he can provide replacement level stats at the plate with decent defense, but his reputation defensively seems to be better than his performance.

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Add in that Jason Castro's injuries may mean Houston decides to go with a guy who can start early and then another backup that's less expensive. They have options for the latter in the minors now and, according to Heyman, may be interested in Pudge Rodriguez as the former. I don't exactly buy that, since Pudge won't be cheap, but it's out there.

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As much as we've worried about the shortstop position this offseason, catcher seems to be the one which may experience the most flux from now until spring training.

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