It would be a surprise to most if the Astros become players in the Cole Hamels sweepstakes, considering his annual salary of $24 million is about half of what the Astros' total payrolls sunk to in recent lowly years.
However, according to CBSSports.com Baseball Insider Jon Heyman, Scott Kazmir (a Houston native), Clay Buchholz and Kyle Lohse (ties to general manager Jeff Luhnow) are the three pitchers to watch for in Houston, should they become available.