So here's the awesome part about being sick. I was asleep at 6:45 last night. So we totally missed the news about whom the Astros offered contracts, and whom they did not.
The Astros tendered offers to Wandy Rodriguez, Matt Lindstrom, Michael Bourn, Hunter Pence, Clint Barmes, and Jeff Keppinger.
Who does that leave out? Sammy Gervacio, whom the Astros would still like to bring back. Wade:
“We want Sammy to be part of our club, but we wanted the protection from having to keep him on our major league DL. We were prepared to tender everyone else on the roster.”
More Wade:
"It's really a move of economics more than anything because of the uncertainty of his status going into Spring Training. Had he been injured coming into Spring Training and unable to perform, we would have had to carry him on the Major League disabled list. While we're protecting ourselves with respect to the tender, we still want Sammy to be part of our picture going forward."
Levine says the Astros plan to offer Gervacio a deal later in the off-season, but given Gervacio's injury history - which basically started about 15 minutes after the season began - might be trying to fill his spot externally before deciding on bringing him back.
We also learn what most of you probably heard last week - but Astros County was on radio silence - Tim Byrdak and Gustavo Chacin have both opted for free agency, instead of taking the assignment back to Oklahoma City.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
