Ken Rosenthal, whom, despite our earlier blasting is still worth a read, has a post up which says the Astros have made Bud Norris "available," and he is "drawing interest." (And presumably not just on that $3m contract.)
Rosenthal's source said the Padres, Orioles, and Cardinals all had interest in Norris at the Winter Meetings.
At least immediately, the Cardinals seem like a good fit. They just lost Chris Carpenter for what may be all of eternity, and aren't looking as though they'll resign Kyle Lohse. With Norris' contract already set, he would be a low-cost option. Add to that his near-legendary history against St. Louis (4-3, 3.54 ERA/1.28 WHIP at Busch Stadium) and he's clearly a known quantity.
The Orioles signed Joel Pineiro and Mark Hendrickson to minor-league deals, and the Padres acquired Tim Stauffer and Freddy Garcia at the end of January.
We'll be keeping tabs on this as it develops.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
