Chris Snyder’s Option Declined by Astros

Chris Snyder will be bought out by the Houston Astros.

Earlier Wednesday Snyder was informed that the team would not be picking up the $4 million option on the 31-year old catcher and instead would be opting to pay a $500,000 buyout.

Charles LeClaire-US PRESSWIRE

Snyder, a nine year major league veteran is a University of Houston alumni and for that reason was somewhat of a fan favorite since being brought in to back up Jason Castro.

He was one of the few remaining “older” players who were still a member of an otherwise young roster full of mostly prospects.

The team is expected to look for a veteran catcher in free agency this off season to come in and compete with Carlos Corporan for the starting job in 2013.

Also believed to have a chance to compete for the job is Jason Castro.

Castro is one of my favorite players on this team, however injuries are beginning to become a bit of a worry. After all, the reason Chris Snyder had a job with the team for this long is due mainly to the fact that Castro missed the entire 2011 season due to injury.

Snyder hit .176 this year with seven home runs and 24 RBI’s in 76 games with the Astros.