Brian McTaggart and Evan Drellich are both reporting that the Astros have agreed to terms with all players on the 40-Man roster. Jarred Cosart opted for a renewal, while 30 others agreed to terms without renewal.
Hell does that mean? you may ask. Well, I'll tell you.
Pre-arbitration players (those who haven't played in the Majors enough to receive arbitration) don't have much of a say in how much they make - it's typically around league minimum. I'll let Maury Brown take it from here:
The right of renewal gives a club a decided advantage in salary
negotiations and leaves the player with a choice. He can accept the
offer and sign his contract, or he can refuse to sign and face the
prospect of his team renewing his contract at a salary the club chooses,
a figure often less than the original offer.
So Cosart had his one-year contract renewed, while the Astros were able to offer a contract to 30 players at a rate of their own choosing, as long as the offer was (a) more than league minimum and (b) not more than a 20% pay cut.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
