Astros Team Report

INSIDE PITCH

Astros right-hander Roy Oswalt(notes), who was shut down on Sept. 16 because of a herniated disk, has been quite busy this winter.

Oswalt opened his restaurant near his home in Weir, Miss., in November, and over the Thanksgiving weekend he had 600 customers, he was proud to report to the Houston Chronicle. Moreover, Oswalt says his back is starting to feel better.

“I feel good,” he said. “My back feels good. I’m doing well right now.”

Oswalt had devoted so much of his offseason energy on getting his restaurant ready for the grand opening, he hadn’t focused much on baseball so far, he said.

Not to worry, though. Although he hasn’t thrown yet this winter, he said he usually doesn’t begin his throwing regimen until January.

“I’ll start throwing next month,” he said. “Right now I’m just taking Nicole (his wife) and the girls to Illinois to my place over there. They’ve never seen it.”

Astros general manager Ed Wade recently said that a lot of the club’s hopes ride on a healthy return by Oswalt.

NOTES, QUOTES

—rhp B  ud Norris, who went 6-3 as a rookie in 2009, will be counted upon to serve as the club’s No. 3 starter next year, general manager Ed Wade said during an appearance on the club’s Astrosline winter radio show.

Norris, the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the year in 2009, has been set back by injuries most of his minor league career, and he went 12-25 during four seasons in the Astros farm system. Teammates from 2009 say that Norris was able to fool hitters during his cameo in the majors but that he should develop a better changeup if he wants consistent success.

• RHP Felipe Paulino(notes), who has struggled to settle in as a major league pitcher, will be given a shot at a starting spot this spring, according to GM Ed Wade.

Wade said he talked to Paulino at the end of the season about his conditioning and that Paulino had already lost about 10 pounds this winter.

• New manager Brad Mills(notes) continues to try to make contact with most of his players, and he has tried to set up a visit with ace Roy Oswalt.

“We’ve talked twice on the phone, and he seems like a nice guy,” Oswalt said of Mills. “He wants to get together, but I told him I probably won’t be back in Houston until January.”

• As expected, the Astros offered salary arbitration only to the one Type A free agent who is almost 100 percent sure he will not accept the proposal. Closer Jose Valverde(notes), who is looking for a multiyear deal in excess of $10 million a year, was offered arbitration.

The Astros, who have set their farm system back by refusing to offer Type A free agents arbitration, will get draft pick compensation from the team that signs Valverde.

Valverde is one of the premier free agents on the market this winter. Last month he told the Houston Chronicle that although he isn’t ruling out a return to the Astros, he’ll go to the team that makes the best offer. He led the majors in saves in 2007 with the Diamondbacks and then topped the National League in 2008 with the Astros. In 2009, he went 4-2 with a 2.33 ERA and 25 saves, as he missed more than a month with a calf strain.

• The Astros refused to offer arbitration to RHP LaTroy Hawkins(notes) and SS Miguel Tejada(notes), a pair of Type A free agents who can now sign elsewhere without a team worrying about giving up a draft pick as compensation.

Hawkins and Tejada join Jeff Kent(notes) and Andy Pettitte(notes) as Type A free agents the Astros have refused to offer salary arbitration in recent years under president of baseball operations Tal Smith, who also serves as a consultant to several major league teams to make cases against players in arbitration hearings.

• SS Miguel Tejada was the Astros’ team leader on the field and in the clubhouse the last two seasons, and he’s willing to move from shortstop to third base. But it’s no secret few if any teams in baseball would have risked going to arbitration with him because he stood to make anywhere from $12 million to $14 million for 2010.

Instead, baseball insiders believe Tejada might go for much less on the free agent market.

“I’m just waiting to see what happens,” Tejada told the Houston Chronicle. “I’m just here in the Dominican Republic waiting to hear something.”

By The Numbers:   $3.5 million—Base salary in 2009 for RHP LaTroy Hawkins, who would up making around $4 million. After the season, the Astros offered Hawkins the same amount for next year.

Quote To Note:   “We would love to retain (Jose) Valverde, (LaTroy) Hawkins and (Miguel) Tejada, and we continue to negotiate with all three. However, we have to be realistic in our arbitration offerings because of the uncertainty of the process. We plan to continue talks with all three players.”—GM Ed Wade.

ROSTER REPORT

The Astros are in flux as they try to find a manager who will be willing to manage a team GM Ed Wade has admitted must get younger next year, partly for economic reasons.

Biggest Needs:   The Astros desperately need to improve their pitching. LHP Wandy Rodriguez(notes) and RHP Roy Oswalt are a quality 1-2 punch, but Oswalt is recovering from a bulging back disk that forced the club to shut him down in mid-September. There’s no guarantee he will be as dominant as he has been in the past. After the top two starters, however, the Astros have rookie RHP Bud Norris(notes) and RHP Brian Moehler(notes), who didn’t win after Aug. 22. There’s no way the club can compete with that rotation. And their bullpen could be rudderless if closer Jose Valverde leaves via free agency.

Arrival:   OF Jason Bourgeois(notes) (claimed off waivers from Brewers).

Departure:   C Chris Coste(notes) (free agent, signed with Mets).

Free Agents:   RHP Jose Valverde, RHP LaTroy Hawkins, LHP Mike Hampton(notes), SS Miguel Tejada, OF Darin Erstad(notes), INF Aaron Boone(notes), OF Jason Michaels(notes), RHP Doug Brocail(notes).

The Astros are looking to slash payroll, which means several players on this list—including the big names like Valverde and Tejada—could be gone. Valverde probably will get big money elsewhere, and Tejada figures to draw some interest from other teams, too.

Arbitration-eligible:   CF Michael Bourn(notes), LHP Tim Byrdak(notes), 3B Jeff Keppinger(notes), RF Hunter Pence(notes), C Humberto Quintero(notes), LHP Wandy Rodriguez, RHP Chris Sampson(notes).

Rodriguez is the only arbitration-eligible Astro who might get a long-term contract.

In Limbo:   Expect many teams to come calling about RF Hunter Pence, a first-time All-Star.

Medical Watch:  

RHP Roy Oswalt (degenerative back disk) is trying to strengthen his back this winter with trunk exercises. The ailment affected him the final month of the season and prompted the club to shut him down on Sept. 16.