With money to spend, the Astros are expected to pursue a big-ticket bat, per Jon Morosi of MLB Network (Twitter links). There has long been at least some reason to believe the ’Stros would be in on free agent Edwin Encarnacion, and that’s a possibility per the report. More intriguingly, though, Morosi suggests that Houston will look into dealing for Tigers superstar Miguel Cabrera. There are a number of barriers to that kind of move, of course. While Morosi posits that fellow Venezuelan Jose Altuve could be part of a sales pitch to get Cabrera to waive his no-trade protection, that’s but one element. Astros GM Jeff Luhnow said yesterday that he prefers not to part with young assets to make a deal, and surely Detroit will want something back for a player who is still producing premium offensive numbers at 33 years of age. But he’s getting up in years, is limited to first base or DH, and is still owed $220MM over the next seven seasons.