8:04pm: If the Astros tender a contract to Carter this week, they’ll only do so if they believe they can move him to another team, reports Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle. Carter’s time with the Astros “is probably done” one way or the other, per Drellich.

1:16pm: The Astros are shopping slugger Chris Carter as the non-tender deadline approaches, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick reports (links to Twitter). Meanwhile, the club is willing at least to “listen” to offers on center fielder Jake Marisnick, who could be used as part of a package for pitching.

We heard earlier today that the Mariners were looking to move Mark Trumbo, and it seems that many of the same clubs could have interest in both players. Both offer thirty home run pop from the right side of the plate — along with lots of swings and misses and iffy on-base abilities.

Houston is focusing its trade efforts on fellow American League teams, per the report. That’s not terribly surprising, given that Carter is known as a terrible outfielder and may not have shown enough consistent production to warrant a regular first base job on a contending club. The lumbering slugger also hasn’t rated well with the glove at first.

If anything, Marisnick offers the opposite profile of Carter. The 24-year-old, who will likely qualify for arbitration next year as a Super Two, hit just .236/.281/.383 in 372 plate appearances last year. But he made up for that by contributing 24 stolen bases and quality defense up the middle, making him about a 2-win player even in part-time duty. Crasnick suggests that the Indians, Mariners, and Giants could potentially fit in a deal.

It’ll be interesting to see how things play out for Houston. The willingness to consider deals for Carter and possibly Marisnick could be related to the team’s somewhat unexpected retention of Colby Rasmus, who occupied an outfield job and $15.8MM of salary by accepting a qualifying offer.