'Stros may sue over Bagwell insurance claim

So it looks like the Astros may have to fight to get the money from their insurance claim on Jeff Bagwell. The team had sought $15.6 million of the $17 million in salary it had promised Bagwell, who announced this weekend that he may be out of baseball for good, but the claim might have been hurt by the team's decisions to keep the injury-plagued first baseman in through the World Series in the fall and allow him to come to spring training this year. If insurance company Connecticut General doesn't reconsider its decision to deny the Astros their claim, the team says it'll take the company to court.

Bagwell has suffered from shoulder problems since 2001, and last season he missed 115 games after surgery. He came off the DL on Sept. 9 last year and ended up as the designated hitter in the Astros' first two games in the World Series. On Jan. 12, orthopedic surgeon James Andrews examined Bagwell and declared him totally disabled, and on Jan. 27 the Astros filed the claim with Connecticut General. A couple of weeks ago, Connecticut General told the Astros it was denying the claim because it found "no adverse change in Mr. Bagwell's condition or ability to play baseball" between the end of last season, when he was still an active member of the roster, and the time the policy expired Jan. 31.

Complicating the matter was Bagwell's desicion to participate in spring training this year, which he did with the consent of team physician David Lintner. That's a kay to the Astros' claim: Insurance benefits are denied if a disabled player participates in training or practices unless it's with the blessing of the team doctor, so the 'Stros say Bagwell heading to Florida was perfectly OK. The team hopes to use that and other information — including Bagwell's Saturday press conference at which he said he might never play baseball again — to make Connecticut General change its mind. Let the game begin!