Astros pick up Jeff Fulchino?

"Our reports (say Fluchino is a) big guy with a good arm," Ed Wade said early Monday afternoon during the first day of the winter meetings at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino. "Got some big league experience with Kansas City last year. Also pitched a little bit for Florida. He's got options remaining. Our guys think he can come in and compete in a bullpen situation, throw multiple innings, (and provide) good inventory." Fulchino, 29, could fight for roster spot as the club's long reliever a year after finishing 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA over 14 innings through 12 games with Kansas City. "He's a long man, more of the long man role probably at this point," Wade said. "Again, I'm just going off reports that I read this morning. Our guys were working on him." Fulchino's acquisition puts the Astros' 40-man roster at 37 as the winter meetings kicked off Monday. Ed Wade, president of baseball operations Tal Smith and assistant GM David Gottfried arrived at the meetings on Sunday, and the rest of the club's top front office folks are expected to arrive later this evening. We made a lot of contact in advance. I've made two rounds or phone calls in the last 2 ½ weeks, so I've talked to every club. So we have a pretty good sense or feel for where the things stood before we got here. I do think there's enough fluidity to it that some of that might change. Some teams that were sort of parked in neutral, having some casual interest in having a discussion that could become either those type of things could become front-burner items or they could disappear depending what happens with the free agent market or other alternatives some teams may have."