Brian McTaggart, of the Houston Chronicle, reports Houston Astros C J.R. Towles will leave in early December to play in the Dominican Republic Winter League.

The Houston Chronicle reports that Astros' GM Ed Wade is not confident in going with J.R. Towles as the catcher for next season. "We’re going to pay attention to what’s in the catching market and see if there’s a guy out there who can make sense for us and slide in here and at the very least do a good job until J.R. gets his feet under him or until other things happen,” Wade said. “The catching market is always tricky because it’s usually thin and the guys that are out there seem to sign pretty quickly.”Towles is 24 and he is expected to come around soon, but it appears Wade wants to bring in more spring training competition other than Humberto Quintero. The prospect hit just .137 over 146 at-bats.

The Houston Chronicle reports that Astros' GM Ed Wade is not confident in going with J.R. Towles as the catcher for next season. "We’re going to pay attention to what’s in the catching market and see if there’s a guy out there who can make sense for us and slide in here and at the very least do a good job until J.R. gets his feet under him or until other things happen,” Wade said. “The catching market is always tricky because it’s usually thin and the guys that are out there seem to sign pretty quickly.”Towles is 24 and he is expected to come around soon, but it appears Wade wants to bring in more spring training competition other than Humberto Quintero.

Astros GM Ed Wade doesn't intend to go with J.R. Towles or Humberto Quintero as his top catcher next year Brad Ausmus also isn't expected back. [...]