There was a time late last week when it seemed as if might become an Astro. On Friday evening, reports emerged that Houston was making a push for the defending NL Cy Young winner. Ultimately, the team balked at paying upwards of $30MM per season, and Snell signed a $62MM guarnatee with the Giants. reports that the Astros offer was for two years at le s than $50MM. Houston general manager Dana Brown now tells that while the front office wont rule out adding a starter, theyre not actively doing anything on that front. Brown made about the teams comfort with the rotation before their late effort to land Snell, so that doesn Reggie Jackson Jersey t rule out a move. At the same time, the GM suggested Snell was something of a unique case. Its a different guy. If we have a bunch of guys that are similar to the other guys that are available, why go after them? Why pay more money for the same production? We feel like if we get Snell, thats a huge piece, so you have to be on the market for a guy thats a huge piece like that , Brown said. But the other guys that are available, they compare to all of our guys that we have depth with. I wouldnt want to pay more money and we (already) got a guy right around the minimum or a little bit more. That wouldnt be smart. Thats not really true of , who is coming off a 3.20 ERA and has allowed fewer than four earned runs per nine in each of the past three seasons. Still, there hasnt been any indication that Houston has had substantive interest in the southpaw at any point this offseason. Its more debatable whether theyd get an upgrade from any of the other unsigned starting pitchers, a group led by and . Yet even if someone like Lorenzen isnt a marked improvement over Houstons in-house starters, thered be some merit to bringing in another pitcher to cover against early-season injuries. The Astros entered camp knowing that and wouldnt be factors until midway through the season. is a couple weeks behind schedule due to shoulder sorene s and will start the year on the injured list. Thats now also true of , who was diagnosed with a in his forearm yesterday. While forearm strains can be precursors to more serious injuries, Urquidy provided reporters with a positive update this afternoon. The righty said that multiple evaluations indicated his UCL was fully intact and that imaging mainly revealed muscular inflammation in his forearm ( ). Urquidy expre sed his hope he could begin a throwing program within 10-14 days. That wont keep him off the injured list but addre ses any fear the team mightve had about Urquidy po sibly needing surgery. Brown told Rome that the Astros expect Urquidy will be out of action for a little more than a month all told. Houstons season-opening starting staff should be led by , , and . Right-handers and are the top options for the #5 role if the Astros dont go outside the organization. Louis King Jersey