Astros End Florida With Tie
Final Roster Spots Settle

Correa: Deadline pressure
(c) St. Louis Post-Dispatch
To complete what has been a lackluster spring, the 2021 Astros played one final sister-kisser, a 2-2 tie with their West Palm bunkmates, the Washington Nationals, for a 6-14-4 Grapefruit League record. Now the club flies to Oakland to begin the American League season on Thursday night while some players will fly to Corpus Christi to continue their development in the minor leagues.

Michael Brantley had a pair of RBI doubles to account for all the Houston scoring. Jake Odorizzi tossed three innings in his second spring start, allowing an unearned run on three hits and a walk.

Pitcher Lance McCullers was signed to a five-year extension which will carry him through the 2026 season. He'll earn $15.25 million in both 2022 and 2023 then receive $17 million each for the remaining three years.

The bigger prize, shortstop Carlos Correa, remains unsigned with a self-imposed Thursday deadline looming. Correa commented last week that Houston's opening bid was too low and that he must begin to think about become a free agent if the offer doesn't improve significantly. In the meantime, he told the Houston media this is all "just business" and he harbors no ill will. It appears there are attempts to make a last pitch for him.

Two veterans signed to non-roster status both came up short in their bids to make the Opening Day roster. Outfielder Steven Souza and reliever Steve Cishek were both released. Cishek was released at his own request as he sensed he would not make the club. Keeping the two veterans off the final roster might have been connected to freeing up payroll for Correa while attempting to stay under baseball's luxury tax cap.

Another round of COVID protocol setbacks struck West Palm, ensnaring among them outfielder Myles Straw, infielder Abraham Toro and backup catcher Garrett Stubbs. Each are going through the mandatory quarantine as they re-test. Any players who had not been given the latest vaccines were to receive injections Monday night.

No official Opening Day roster has been released but it appears a 26-man roster has taken shape. The starting rotation will be Zack Greinke, Cristian Javier, McCullers, Jose Urquidy and either Brandon Bielak or Luis Garcia as a temporary placeholder for Odorizzi who is behind schedule after a late signing.

The rest of the pitching staff will consist of closer Ryan Pressly, lefties Blake Taylor and Brooks Raley along with righthhanders Joe Smith, Enoli Paredes, Ryne Stanek and Bryan Abreu. Free agent Pedro Baez will join the club once he is off the COVID restricted list while pitchers Josh James, Austin Pruitt, Andre Scrubb, Framber Valdez and Justin Verlander will sit due to various injuries.

Martin Maldonado and Jason Castro are set as catchers while infielders Yuli Gurriel, Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Aledmys Diaz and newcomer Rubel Garcia will join Correa around the horn. Brantley, Kyle Tucker and Chas McCormick will roam the outfield while Yordan Alvarez returns as the designated hitter. Straw is hoping to be cleared in time to make the final roster after a hot spring with the bat.

Toro is also hoping to be cleared but, for the time being, his backup infielder job was given to Garcia who was claimed from the Angels in late February. It's expected Toro will be sent to Corpus Christi to complete his return to action.

While this will be the first year the AAA affiliate will be the nearby Sugar Land Skeeters, their season won't start until May due a decree from Major League Baseball so the players targeted for AAA will also be playing and practicing at Corpus Christi.

The Astros announced they would begin the season at 50% fan capacity for April, they're still better off than most big league teams. The Texas Rangers announced they will play at 100% capacity after Governor Greg Abbott rescinded all mask mandates in the state.

Seven of the first nine games on Houston's schedule will be against their West Division rivals from Oakland, including the home opener on April 8th. The April calendar will consist of all AL West opponents except for three home dates against Detroit, two road games at Colorado and the opener of a May series against the American League champion Tampa Bay Rays.

- Bob Hulsey