Wandy Rodriguez's contract extension is the big news out of Houston today, but here are some other Astros-related items of note…
- The Astros set a 5pm deadline today to reach agreements with any remaining arbitration-eligible players, according to a team press release. The club beat the deadline with Rodriguez, but not with Hunter Pence, so the Astros and the 27-year-old outfielder will go to an arbitration hearing. As MLBTR's ArbTracker shows, Pence is Houston's last unsigned arb-eligible player. The club offered $5.15MM, while Pence is asking for $6.9MM in his second arbitration year. Pence is a Super Two player, so he still has two more arb years left after this one.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post has the breakdown of Rodriguez's contract (Twitter link). The southpaw will earn $7MM next season, $10MM in 2012 and $13MM in 2013. There is a vesting option worth $13MM in 2014 that has a $2.5MM buyout. Rodriguez also receives a $1.5MM signing bonus.
- MLB.com's Brian McTaggart notes that Houston now has its top four starters (Rodriguez, Brett Myers, J.A. Happ and Bud Norris) all under team control through at least 2012.
- Nelson Figueroa talks to Astros senior director of social media Alyson Footer about how relieved he is to be on a guaranteed contract for the first time in his eight-year Major League career.
Good move by the ‘Stros considering that he wanted 10.25 million this year and they probably would have lost him to free agency or would have had to pay him an even more ridiculous amount of money.