IIRC, LaTroy Hawkins is a free agent. There's no guarantee the Astros will land him. Hawkins made $3.75 million this season, and stands to make somewhere in that neighborhood in 2009, due to his performance for the Astros down the stretch. I doubt the Astros are going to get in a bidding war for Hawkins, and its more likely that there will be a bidding war for Hawkins than Brocail. Thus, in trying to keep Brocail at a reduced rate, the Astros are looking for insurance in their BP, because if they lose both Hawkins and Brocail, then the BP looks much weaker, IMO. Brocail was nails in the early part of the season and only started showing problems with being overworked. When Hawkins came aboard, his workload decreased, and we started seeing improvement out of Brocail. I'd have no problem with Brocail being in the 2009 bullpen at a reduced salary for a reduced workload.