Some good signings were made yesterday. Unfortunately, the Astros weren't involved in any of them.

The Padres signed LHP Chris Hammond to a 1 year, 750K deal. Scroll down a few posts to see what I think of Hammond; suffice to say, he's better than Mike Gallo.

The White Sox signed C A.J. Pierzynski to a 1 year, 2.25 milion dollar contract. "Clubhouse cancer"? "A dirty player"? Maybe, but A.J. has 773 career OPS. Brad Ausmus the last two years? 594, 631.

What the Astros did do (this morning, I believe) is make their final offer to Carlos Beltran, rumored to be in the neighborhood of 7 years for 100 - 105 million. Purpura declined to discuss the amount of Houston's proposal. "We feel it's a good offer," he said. "But to go any further wouldn't be prudent for the future of our organization."

Well, that's good to hear. At least Purpura doesn't WANT to mortgage the future with Beltran; for a while there, I thought he was planning on it. But if he's not, why haven't the Astros done anything else? If they don't get Beltran, it could get ugly.