From Peter Gammons' blog:
Padres GM Kevin Towers went to Sunday's Chargers game with Brad Ausmus and hopes to bring him back to the Padres as a mentor to Nick Hundley
Towers is smarter than buying into the "veteran catcher" non-sense, at least to the point of Ausmus. With the Padres being a little cap strapped he likely has a different motive in mind. Like so:
Ausmus: Wooo, Go Bolts!
Towers: Go Bolts indeed! Oh, hey beer man! Two more Buds for my friend here.
Ausmus: Sweet! *drinks beer* So, Kevin, why did you invite me here anyways? I mean, it's not like Brian Giles isn't a bigger fan than myself.
Towers: Well, you see, we have this young catcher, Nick Hundley, who we're probably rolling with next year, and we want a mentor for him.
Ausmus: Oh, okay. So you want me to mentor him? Work with him in spring and such, right?
Towers: Exactly.
Ausmus: So bench coach, or bullpen, or what?
Towers: Huh?
Ausmus: Oh, just spring training instructor? I can dig, I guess.
Towers: No, no. I want you as our back-up catcher. We think you're the most valuable 39 year old replacement level catcher in the business!
Ausmus: Oh, huh. *drinks beer*
Towers: As you recall, I traded you in '96, and well, I never felt good about that.
Ausmus: It's a business.
Towers: Hey remember when the Tigers dealt you to the Astros.
Ausmus: Yep. *drinks beer*
Towers: And then the Astros dealt you to the TIgers.
Ausmus: Heh, yeah... *drinks beer*
Ausmus: *drinks beer*
Towers: And then the Tigers sent you right back to Houston.
Ausmus: ....
Towers: So, are we at an agreement?
Ausmus: Totally man, totally. Thanks for the suds by the way.
Towers: Hey, what are friends for? One more thing, how about we match last year's 2 million?
Ausmus: Dude. You're my best friend.
Towers: Okay, so you pay us and we'll play you on Sundays.
Ausmus: Sweet.
Ausmus: *drinks beer*
Ausmus: Wait.