MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro says the Florida Marlins are strongly considering moving in another direction at catcher in the wake of Ronny Paulino’s recent 50 game suspension for violating MLB’s substance abuse policy.

Paulino is under team control, and could see a salary increase to $3 million for 2011, but the Marlins may be cautious about paying that much money to a player coming off a suspension.

The other internal option the Marlins have is John Baker, but he has been out with elbow issues since mid-May. He will likely undergo surgery on his right elbow.

Catchers the Marlins could go after this off-season include Bengie Molina, Jason Varitek, Victor Martinez, Rod Barajas, Yorvit Torrealba and A.J. Pierzynski. We talked earlier today about the Angels‘ Mike Napoli wanting more playing time, and with the Angels being likely crowded next season behind the plate, he could be a good fit for the Marlins.