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.