Astros targeting big upgrade at catcher?
Apr 2, 2018; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Astros owner Jim Crane talks with the media before a game against the Baltimore Orioles at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
The Houston Astros are not wasting a second after their World Series win.
Jon Morosi of MLB Network reported Wednesday that the Astros are one of the teams who are most involved in courting Chicago Cubs catcher Willson Contreras. Morosi also mentions the St. Louis Cardinals and the Detroit Tigers as being in the mix.
Contreras, a three-time All-Star, had a nice season in 2022, hitting .242 with 22 home runs and 55 RBIs in 113 games. He just declined a one-year, $19.65 million qualifying offer from the Cubs (the team that he has spent his entire MLB career with), making Contreras a free agent.
At 30, Contreras is many years younger than current Astros starting catcher Martin Maldonado and is also a major upgrade offensively over Maldonado. But Contreras is not as defensively-savvy as Maldonado is and would cost the Astros a second-round draft pick as well as $500,000 in international bonus pool money (since the Cubs would be entitled to compensation for Contreras’ departure after tendering him a qualifying offer).
It should be noted as well that the Astros were close to landing Contreras at this year’s MLB trade deadline for pitcher Jose Urquidy before the deal fell through. While it would be strange to see Contreras end up in an Astros uniform, that is probably preferable for Cubs fans to this other outcome.
