The Astros have signed 26-year old switch hitting catcher Carlos Corporan to a minor league deal. Corporan played in 87 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 83 of 286 (.290 avg, .870 OPS) with 38 runs scored, 12 homers, 50 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He got into 1 game in his major league career in 2009 with the Brewers and he was 1 for 1 with a run. Corporan will battle for the backup catcher job for the Astros next spring.

37-year old Tim Byrdak and 29-year old Gustavo Chacin have both elected to become free agents after rejecting minor league assignments from the Astros. Byrdak pitched in 64 games (0 starts) for the Astros last season and he was 2-2 with a 3.49 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP. He pitched in 199 games (0 starts) in three years with the Astros and he was 5-5 with a 3.53 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. Chacin pitched in 44 games (0 starts) for the Astros last season and he was 2-2 with 1 save, a 4.70 ERA and a 1.85 WHIP. I don’t see either of these guys coming back to the Astros in 2011.

30-year old righty starting pitcher Brett Myers finished tied with Matt Cain of the Giants for 10th in the voting for the N.L. Cy Young Award. Myers started 33 games for the Astros last season and he was 14-8 with a 3.14 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. Myers has now pitched in 273 games (216 starts) in his first nine years in the majors and he is 87-71 with 21 saves, a 4.20 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. Myers was outstanding last season and the Astros hope he will have another good year in 2011 as the #1 starter.

Brad Mills looked like he was over his head early last season. But then after the Astros traded Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman the Astros picked it up a notch and a lot of credit to that has to go to Mills. The Astros finished 76-86 (46.9%) last season and the Astros expect him to improve on that in 2011 and it’s hard to believe that he won’t.

The Astros have acquired 31-year old righty swinging SS/2B Clint Barmes from the Rockies for 27-year old righty starter/reliever Felipe Paulino. Barmes played in 133 games for the Rockies last season and he was 91 of 387 (.235 avg, .656 OPS) with 43 runs scored, 8 homers, 50 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Barmes has now played in 665 games in 8 years in the majors and he is 582 of 2,291 (.254 avg, .704 OPS) with 292 runs scored, 61 homers, 285 RBIs and 39 stolen bases. Paulino pitched in 19 games (14 starts) for the Astros last season and he was 1-9 with a 5.11 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP. In parts of three seasons with the Astros, Paulino pitched in 47 games (34 starts) in which he was 6-21 with a 5.83 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP. Barmes will probably slide over to shortstop with the Astros. He is a solid defensive player at SS and he has some power so he should be a huge upgrade over the Black Hole at the position in 2010 that the Astros had.

The Astros have signed 26-year old righty reliever/starter Fernando Rodriguez to a minor league deal. He pitched in 31 games (17 starts) in AAA-ball last season and he was 4-6 with a 5.92 ERA and a 1.81 WHIP. Rodriguez gave up a stunning 134 hits last season while also walking 42 batters in only 97 1/3 innings pitched. He also pitched in 1 game (0 starts) for the Angels in 2009 and he was 0-0 with a 27.00 ERA and a 4.50 WHIP. Maybe a change of scenery will do Rodriguez some good.

The Astros have signed 28-year old righty reliever Ross Wolf to a minor league deal. Wolf pitched in 11 games (0 starts) for the A’s last season and he was 0-0 with a 4.26 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. He also pitched in 35 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball last season and he was 0-3 with 3 saves, a 2.62 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP. Wolf has now pitched in 25 games (0 starts) in parts of two years in the majors and he is 0-1 with a 7.92 ERA and a 1.80 WHIP. I like that the Astros are stockpiling guys on minor league contracts to compete for jobs in the bullpen.

The Astros have re-signed 28-year old switch hitting 2B/SS Anderson Hernandez to a minor league deal. Hernandez played in 54 games for the Indians & Astros last season and he was 24 of 109 (.220 avg, .552 OPS) with 13 runs scored, 0 homers, 3 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He has now played in 240 games in his six years in the majors and he is 155 of 643 (.241 avg, .614 OPS) with 69 runs scored, 4 homers, 60 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. He will get a chance to win a bench job for the Astros next spring.

The Astros have signed 27-year old righty reliever Casey Fien to a minor league deal. Fien pitched in 2 games for the Tigers last season and he was 0-0 with a 10.13 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. He also pitched in 44 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball last year and he was 3-3 with 8 saves, a 2.60 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. Fien has now pitched in 11 games (0 starts) in his two years in the majors and he is 0-1 with a 8.36 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP. This is a good gamble for Fien who was once considered one of the Tigers’ top prospects.

The Astros only have two free agents heading into this winter to decide on and neither of them are an impact player. Here is how I see the Astros handling these decisions:

Brian Moehler: 38-year old righty reliever/starter Brian Moehler pitched in 20 games (8 starts) for the Astros last season and he was 1-4 with a 4.92 ERA and a 1.62 WHIP. VERDICT: The Astros should finally wave goodbye to Moehler which is something they should have done a couple of years ago.

Geoff Blum: 37-year old switch hitting infielder Geoff Blum played in 93 games for the Astros last season and he was 54 of 202 (.267 avg, .678 OPS) with 22 runs scored, 2 homers and 22 RBIs. VERDICT: The Astros declined their option for the 2011 season on Blum and it looks like they want to go into a different direction.