The Crawfish Boxes, a Houston Astros community

Hat to trade rumors, I could have read the article a hundred times and always skipped the last half. Wade wants another veteran catcher and we're negotiating with Lo Duca. This is an interesting signing to me because Lo Duca has a fairly adept ability to get on base. This all very preliminary because it's just negotiating, but this would probably be a plus move for us. That is, of course, if you forget about the whole My Space fiasco.

"Davidoff of Newsday engages in what reads as just pure speculation. He rationalizes the potential signing in the context of Houston's cheapness this winter with, "The Astros could stretch their payroll to make room for the Houston resident Pettitte." This seems unlikely, but would be welcomed.

There about $4 million in incentives which could be vested for for performance marks. The press release also has this gem: "Adding Johnson to the Giants rotation now gives the club three Cy Young Award winners, including last season's winner Tim Lincecum and 2002 AL winner Barry Zito. The last team to have three Cy Young winners on the same roster was the 2002 Atlanta Braves with Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux and John Smoltz." Some how, I don't think counting Zito and Johnson as still being Cy-Young caliber counts. Either way, the Astros missed out on yet another solid innings eater that would have provided a ton value for relatively cheap...**sigh**

The deal is reportedly valued at $550,000. Here's a link to Hensley's career stats, he sports a career ERA of 4.04 and an ERA+ of 98. The parade of unexciting signings marches on...