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Latest News... Jeff Bagwell retires

He was anticipating this day for a long time, which is probably why Jeff Bagwell was more matter of fact than nostalgic when he announced his retirement Friday at Minute Maid Park. As Bagwell watched a highlight video on two flat screen televisions in the press conference room and gazed at dozens of posters reflecting back on every stage of his career -- from the fresh-faced rookie to the rough veteran -- he showed little emotion, except to flash friendly smiles toward club owner Drayton McLane and general manager Tim Purpura.

This retirement was a formality. More than a year has passed since Bagwell last played baseball, and his announcement Friday merely confirmed what all have known for quite some time: the playing career is over.

"Most of you that know me know that I have had a tough time for the last four or five years with my shoulder, which took a lot out of me both on the field and off the field, mentally," Bagwell said. "This is a day that I knew was coming. I'm OK with it. I feel blessed to have been part of the Houston Astros for 15, 16 years. This is my home, this is my family."

Bagwell's well-documented shoulder problems cut short a career that was already considered the most impressive in Astros history. He leaves the game with 449 home runs, 1,529 RBIs and the remnants of a degenerative shoulder that will probably need to be replaced sometime in the next decade.

He leaves with no regrets, knowing he tried everything humanly possible to finish his career on his terms. His health dictated otherwise, and he says he is at peace with all of it.

"If I just didn't feel like doing it anymore, I think it would have been tough," Bagwell said. "But the injury factor took a lot out of me. It was my time. At times as players, you're not really a realist. You feel like you can go on forever and you want certain things. I had to learn that I just couldn't do it."

That reality came crashing down full force late in March, when he gathered reporters before a Spring Training game and said he would be unable to start the season as a healthy player. He didn't go as far as to say, "This is it. I'm done." But he knew he was headed in that direction.

"As we all know, as close as last [season] I was still saying I could do it," he said. "Once I figured out for sure that I could not do it, that day in March, I was OK with it. I gave every single thing I could to the game, to the Astros. I gave whatever I could do to get out there and try to play. I couldn't do it any more. That eased it for me."

His longtime teammate, Craig Biggio, felt a sense of loss, no matter how much he had prepared for the day when Bagwell would no longer share the right side of the infield with him.

"I missed him last year," Biggio said. "He and I were together for so long, last year was kind of the changing of the guard. He's gone and I'm soon to follow. That's part of baseball. I miss having him around, but all good things have to come to an end sooner or later. I think our legacy, the way we play the game and the way that we went about our business, hopefully, that's what the fans will remember the most."

If animosity still exits between Bagwell and McLane following last spring's well-publicized disagreement involving the condition of Bagwell's shoulder, they masked it well Friday. McLane and Purpura thanked Bagwell for his contributions and welcomed him to his next stage of his baseball life.

"I want to personally thank you for what you have meant to this franchise, as a great player, a leader and a great human being," McLane said. "We are certainly indebted to you and certainly look forward to your continued involvement."

Added Purpura: "You and Craig [Biggio] have set the tone for what we do in the organization, how we play our game, what we teach our young players. I think it's fitting that now your career is over that you're going to continue to work with us. I really look forward to it."

This gathering was as much about what Bagwell will do next as it was about what he's done up until now. The 15-year Hall of Fame caliber career is over. Bagwell's presence on the team, however, continues.

Bagwell has signed a personal services contract that will begin immediately and run through 2009, and while he will no longer reside in his familiar spot at first base, he'll be easily spotted in many areas of the organization.

Bagwell is now part of the baseball operations staff, and he'll do a little bit of everything, as an instructor, evaluator and a voice of experience. He'll be a key special assistant to Purpura, who will put Bagwell to work as early as next month when the annual Jeff Bagwell Elite Hitters Camp begins.

The camp, held in conjunction with the Nolan Ryan Elite Pitchers Camp, will provide the club's most coveted young hitters -- both Major and Minor Leaguers -- an opportunity to refine and work on their games before Spring Training. Bagwell will work with the hitters, while Ryan fulfills the same duties with the up-and-coming pitchers.

Bagwell will also travel with the Major League club on selected road trips and will observe the organization's Minor League clubs during the regular season. He will also make various promotional appearances during the year, including the Astros FanFest and winter caravans.

Purpura, who will also add Roger Clemens to his consulting staff once the Rocket decides to finally hang it up, relishes the opportunity to fortify his braintrust with some of the best to ever play the game.

"As a general manager, I'm greedy," Purpura said. "I want the best people around me, to give me advice, to give me information, to give me their thoughts. Someone who has been in the game recently, knows the players, knows the personalities, that's a great asset. It's a great gift for a general manager to have somebody of Jeff's ability to [help me] evaluate. I saw a lot of that when he was on the DL -- spending time with guys, giving guys advice. He'll continue to do that."

As a player, Bagwell was considered one of the most astute observers of the game who not only loved to play baseball, but loved to talk about it, too. In that respect, his new job should indeed be a "win-win" for everyone, as Purpura said.

"Hitting is obviously something I enjoy talking about," Bagwell said. "When I go to Spring Training, I'll get to work with Minor League kids and be able to work with big league guys on different things. I think Tim's going to get me involved as much as I want to get involved. I'm excited about that, especially the player development side where you get to see young kids. You may say one thing out of 40 things that might actually make a difference, that can click for one or two kids."

Considering the source, it's likely that the "kids" will be listening.

*GO 'STROS!!*
Latest News... Astros trade for Jason Jennings

The Rockies and Astros completed a five-player trade on Tuesday, with the Astros receiving right-handed pitchers Jason Jennings and Miguel Asencio and the Rockies getting center fielder Willy Taveras and right-handed pitchers Jason Hirsh and Taylor Buchholz. The deal helps both clubs fill needs.

The Rockies' attempt to lock up Jennings, their No. 1 draft choice in 1999 and twice their Opening Day starter, was foiled by a rapidly rising free-agent market. As a result, they wanted to replace Jennings with front-end ability. The Rockies also have a hole in center field.

The Astros needed a starting pitcher to replace Andy Pettitte, who agreed to a contract with the Yankees on Friday. The fact the trade was completed is an indication that Houston believes it can sign Jennings beyond 2007, when he will receive $5.5 million under an option that the Rockies picked up after the 2006 season.

The best-known players in the trade are Jennings, 28, who is 58-56 with a 4.74 ERA in 156 career starts, and Taveras, who turns 25 on Christmas Day and has a .284 average and 68 stolen bases in 311 career games.

Jennings had the second-lowest run support in the Majors last season, when he went 9-13 with a 3.78 ERA. Now he will pitch 186 miles from Baylor University, where he played collegiate ball and earned collegiate player of the year honors in 1999. Jennings has more wins than any pitcher in the Rockies' 14-season history.

Taveras batted .278 with 33 steals, one home run and 30 RBIs in 2006. He also hit .349 during a 30-game hitting streak that was the second-longest in the Majors last season (the Phillies' Chase Utley went 35 games) and longest by five games in Astros history.

Throughout negotiations with the Astros, the Rockies insisted on receiving Hirsh, the 2006 Triple-A Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Year by going 13-2 with a 2.10 ERA in 23 starts for Round Rock. He also went 3-4 with a 6.04 ERA in nine starts with the Astros. Hirsh, who turns 25 on Feb. 20, was the Astros' top draft pick in 2003.

Buchholz, 25, went 6-10 with a 5.89 ERA in 22 games, including 19 starts, for the Astros as a rookie in 2006. Buchholz originally was a sixth-round pick of the Phillies in 2000. The Astros acquired Buchholz and fellow pitchers Brandon Duckworth and Ezequiel Astacio from the Phillies for closer Billy Wagner in November 2003.

*GO 'STROS!!*
Latest News... Pettite Back to Yankees

Andy Pettitte has agreed to a one-year contract with the New York Yankees, his agent, Randy Hendricks, confirmed through an e-mail to MLB.com on Friday. The deal will be finalized following a physical. The contract is worth $16 million plus a player option for 2008 at the same amount.

"We told the Astros we would do the same deal at $14 [million]," Hendricks said. "They had been stuck on $12 [million] and essentially said, 'Take it or leave it.' The aborted [Jon] Garland trade proves they had no intention of increasing their offer. So there was nothing more to wait for except a decision by Andy, which he made this afternoon."

Houston was close to trading for Garland, a starting pitcher for the Chicago White Sox, on Thursday. The Astros were reportedly offering Taylor Buchholz, Willy Taveras and Jason Hirsh. The deal seemingly fell apart at the end, and the White Sox's skepticism toward Buchholz's health may have been a factor.

The Astros wanted Pettitte back but not at the price of a second-year player option, which takes the control out of the club's hands. Hendricks said that Pettitte would not pick up the option if he was hurt, but general manager Tim Purpura wasn't buying it.

"That's nonsense," Purpura said. "The [players] union would never let them do that. That's a misrepresentation.

"From a club point of view, that's a two-year deal. With one year with a player option, [Pettitte] gets to decide what's going to happen. From a club standpoint, it's a two-year deal. You have to look at it as a $28-million commitment."

Pettitte, 34, announced on Wednesday that he intended to pitch in 2007 and not retire, and it was clear that he would decide between Houston, where he spent the last three years, or the Yankees, with whom he won four World Series rings during a nine-year tenure from 1995-2003.

Pettitte was 14-13 with a 4.20 ERA in 2006 and was 37-26 over three years with the Astros. He had major elbow surgery in 2004, but he made a solid comeback in 2005, posting 17 wins while earning Houston's Pitcher of the Year honors.

The left-hander made 35 starts in 2006, matching his career high. He had a poor first half -- posting a 7-9 record and a 5.28 ERA -- but put together a strong second half, going 7-4 with a 2.80 ERA.

"It's been a brutal several days trying to come to this decision," Pettitte told KRIV, a Houston television station. "It's been extremely difficult. That's really all I can say right now.

"It's been an emotional day. It's been an emotional couple of days. Tomorrow, I am going to try and set something up and get everybody [in the media] together and we will talk about everything, and maybe I can be thinking a little clearer than I am right now."

Pettitte will be addressing the media on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. CT.

Losing Pettitte means the Astros will have to seek a No. 2 starter elsewhere. They could become more active in the free-agent market, although it's more likely the club will acquire a starting pitcher through a trade. The Garland deal could resurface, and the Astros also have several more proposals on the table.

But this is undoubtedly a tough blow for the Astros, who enjoyed two of their best seasons while Pettitte was in a Houston uniform. They reached the '04 National League Championship Series, even though Pettitte was out with injury, and they reached the World Series in '05 with he, Roy Oswalt and Roger Clemens at the top of the rotation.

"It's definitely a disappointment," Purpura said. "Maybe, I'm the eternal optimist, but you always hope that you can get a resolution when you have differences. The gulf was too wide, and we didn't feel that we could go where they wanted to go."

As for how this will affect the Astros' relationship with Clemens remains to be seen. Pettitte and Clemens are inseparable in their baseball lives, and while the right-hander has a 10-year personal services contract with the Astros waiting for him when he retires, it's quite possible he could follow Pettitte to the Yankees.

It's unclear whether the Yankees would want him for a half-season or if they would afford him the "freedom clause" that the Astros awarded him, which allowed Clemens to come and go as he pleased and not make road trips when he wasn't scheduled to pitch.

"I try not to lump players together," Purpura said. "I don't think that's fair to a player to think that one circumstance will change what they think about the organization.

"I think there's a strong relationship between the Astros and Roger Clemens, whether he plays for us or not next year. With his future being involved with us on personal services basis, that relationship will always be strong. I hope that doesn't change."

On how this will affect Clemens' future with the Astros, Hendricks said, "It's way too early to tell."

*GO 'STROS!!*