The Astros have signed 33-year old righty swinging 1B/3B Mike Hessman to a minor league deal. Hessman played in 48 games in Japan last year and he was 25 for 130 (.192 avg, .637 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 6 homers and 14 RBIs. He last played in the majors back in 2010 with the New York Mets. Hessman has played in 109 games in his first five years in the majors and he is 42 for 223 (.188 avg, .694 OPS) with 29 runs scored, 14 homers and 33 RBIs. He has also whiffed 79 times already in his major league career as he has some pretty big holes in his swing. That being said, Hessman will get a shot to compete for a bench job this spring.

The Astros have signed 36-year old righty starting pitcher Livan Hernandez to a minor league deal. He pitched in 29 games (all starts) for the Nationals last year and he was 8-13 with a 4.47 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. Hernandez has now pitched in 476 games (474 starts) in his first 16 years in the majors and he is 174-176 with a 4.39 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. Hernandez will enter the battle to be the Astros’ #5 starter in 2012 this spring.

The Astros have signed 28-year old lefty starter/reliever Zach Duke to a minor league deal. Duke pitched in 21 games (9 starts) for the Diamondbacks last year and he was 3-4 with 1 save, a 4.93 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP. He has now pitched in 181 games (168 starts) in his first 7 years in the majors and he is 48-74 with 1 save, a 4.56 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP. Duke will likely have a good chance of making the Astros’ pitching staff this spring, but he role would be up in the air as he can start or relieve.

The Astros have designated 28-year old righty swinging shortstop Angel Sanchez for assignment. Sanchez played in 110 games for the Astros last year and he was 69 for 288 (.240 avg, .590 OPS) with 35 runs scored, 1 homer, 28 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He played in 175 games in his two years with the Astros and he was 139 for 538 (.258 avg, .624 OPS) with 65 runs scored, 1 homer, 53 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. The Astros need to try to trade Sanchez because there is no way that he will accept an outright assignment to AAA.

UPDATE: (2/1/2012) - Angel Sanchez has cleared waivers and he has accepted a minor league assignment from the Astros, so he will be in spring training with the team.

The Astros have signed 33-year old lefty swinging outfielder Jack Cust to a 1-year deal with a club option for 2013. Cust played in 67 games for the Mariners last year and he was 48 for 225 (.213 avg, .673 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 3 homers and 23 RBIs. He has now played in 670 games in his first 10 years in the majors and he is 510 for 2,107 (.242 avg, .813 OPS) with 311 runs scored, 105 homers, 323 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. Cust likes to look at a lot of pitches as he has walked 444 times in his major league career so far, but, he also whiffs a lot (819 times in his career so far). Cust should be able to hit with a lot of power for the Astros when he’s in the lineup and I like this pickup for them.