Astros arbitration is settled

The Houston Astros had eight arbitration-eligible players this offseason. Thursday afternoon was the final day to reach agreements with each player. 

Houston avoided arbitration hearings by reaching  one-year deals with RHP Bryan Abreu, IF/OF Mauricio Dubón, RHP Luis Garcia, OF Chas McCormick, OF Jake Meyers, IF Isaac Paredes, SS Jeremy Peña and LHP Framber Valdez. 

Valdez, who had a 2.91 ERA and a 19 win season, settled for an $18 million deal. Newly-acquired third basemen Paredes was an All-Star a year ago. This garnered the Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico native a $6.625 contract. 

Peña settled on a $4.1 million deal. He also gets a $50,000 bonus if he becomes an All-Star, Cantu and Zo mention the official contracts of the other five players. 

Astros eye Verdugo

The Astros have stayed busy this offseason. They traded away Kyle Tucker for Paredes, Cam Smith and Hayden Wesenski. They also have signed three-time Gold Glove winner Christian Walker. Now Houston has their eye set on Alex Verdugo. 

They checked in with Verdugo however no offer has been made. 

Grae Kessinger, who made a diving stop to help the Astros seal a win in San Diego, was designated for assignment in December. Kessinger was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Matthew Linskey. 

Linskey shows promise

Linskey, 22, shows great upside. Zo and Cantu demonstrate a highlight video of the Humble, Texas native. The boys share impressive stats of Linskey and breakdown what he needs to work on to reach the major leagues. 

Tune in for another exciting episode of Full Seam Ahead. We are on every week for the best Astros content. You can find Full Seam Ahead on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.