The Astros have seven players who will become free agents after 11 pm tonight, if they are not under contract with the Astros. They are:
- Ty Wigginton
- Humberto Quintero
- Brandon Backe
- Geoff Geary
- Jose Valverde
- Wandy Rodriguez
- Tim Byrdak
All of them figure to be tendered by the deadline tonight. All but Wigginton seem at this point to be on the major league roster at the beginning of next year. It will be interesting to see if Ty is tendered a contract and given a raise, or if he is not and becomes a free agent. The latter isn't likely, but Ed Wade hasn't ruled it out in any statements he's made concerning tonight's deadline.
Brandon Backe had one of the worst seasons of any starting pitcher last year, but because of our lack of starting pitching depth, he will most likely be given another shot, even at $1 million for one season.