Astros pick up lefty reliever Guduan’s deal

The Astros selected the contract of lefthander Reymin Guduan to their 40-man roster Saturday, ensuring they won’t lose the homegrown reliever to another organization.

Guduan, 24, would have become a minor league free agent if the Astros had not added him to the roster before Tuesday. The Dominican has a live arm — his fastball has registered in the high 90s, his slider in the mid-80s — but has control woes.

The 6-4 Guduan is probably ticketed to begin next season in Class AAA, where he spent the final 3½ months of 2016. His inability to consistently find the strike zone persisted (34 walks in 43 innings), and he had a 5.23 ERA in his first stint in the Pacific Coast League.

The Astros are set to enter free agency Monday (11:01 p.m.) with 10 relievers on their 40-man roster when including Chris Devenski and Michael Feliz, who came into spring training last year as starters and could return to that role.

They will look to add a lefthander to the bullpen after a career-worst season by Tony Sipp, their lone lefthander in the bullpen through most of 2016. Their other lefthanded reliever, Kevin Chapman, is a candidate to be outrighted to Class AAA if the team wants to clear a spot on its 40-man roster, which stands at 37. In other baseball news: • Yoenis Cespedes, 31, has opted out of the remaining two years of his contract with the Mets to become a free agent, a person familiar with the decision told the Associated Press.

• The Royals declined their $7 million option on righthander Luke Hochevar, 33. rankings are published Monday after advancing to the Paris Masters final without playing a point.

Murray, 29, benefited from Milos Raonic’s withdrawal from the semifinals one hour before the match. Raonic withdrew because of a right leg injury.

Murray only needed to make the final in Paris to take the top spot off Serbia’s Novak Djokovic.

Murray faces American John Isner in the final Sunday.