The Chronicle is reporting that the Astros have locked in Brandon Backe to a one year $1.55 million deal, with a reported $1 million in incentives. Backe was one of Wade's sink or swim guys for Spring Training and I'm glad to see that we're not going to pay him much for that effort. There is no word on how the incentives are structured, but I imagine that it involves a lot IP clauses.
Byrdak's one year/$1 million contract seems a little excessive for the lefty-only specialist, but we've thrown that kind of change around a myriad of parts like that all off season while avoiding spending anything of significance on anything of significance. C'est la vie.
The Astros failed to reach an accord with Geary and Wandy and have filed their arbitration numbers. I'm very interested to see the results of this cases. Perhaps some savings can free up the pay roll necessary to bring back Wigginton, who is currently being shunned by the market.