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Franco Signs With Astros Who is going to take care of the garden in the bullpen at Shea? The Houston Astros must be desperate. Actually, they are. The second-oldest Franco, John, the oldest active pitcher in the major leagues (Julio Franco, 46, is the oldest active player), agreed to a $700,000, one-year contract with the Astros. They're in serious need of bullpen help, especially after shaky relief pitching cost them three games in the NL Championship Series last season and five overall in the postseason. So how desperate are they? They are so desperate they signed 44-year-old relief pitcher John Franco on Sunday. The fact he's a left-hander worked in Franco's favor. Franco spent the last 15 seasons with the New York Mets, going 2-7 with a 5.28 ERA. The Mets didn't try to re-sign him. Franco, a four-time All-Star, has 424 saves, second only to Lee Smith's 478. Franco's 1,088 appearances trail only Jesse Orosco (1,252). No reports of whether or not John Franco will continue to wear a NYC Department of Sanitation t-shirt under his Astros uniform, like the one he donned for years with the Mets. Franco wore the shirt in honor of his late father who was a garbage man in NYC. One thing is for certain, Franco will pitch like garbage with his new team.