Wandy Rodriguez

Sports Illustrated’s Jon Heyman wrote Friday that the Astros would like to unload pitchers Wandy Rodriguez and Brett Myers before outfielder Hunter Pence.

Rodriguez is 3-3 with a 3.67 ERA this season, but the 32-year-old righty still has $39 million left on his contract through 2014. Part of that price tag comes from his 2014 option becoming a player-option should he get traded. Heyman also wrote that AL teams such as the Red Sox and Yankees don’t think Rodriguez could make it in the American League.

Myers is 3-10 with a 4.70 ERA. The right-hander will turn 31 in August and is due $11 million in 2012.

Heyman added that new Astros owner Jim Crane wants the team to cut $16 million off its payroll, but Carlos Lee — the highest-paid player on the Astros at $18.5 million — cannot be traded due to his unspectacular .274 batting average and seven home runs (he had averaged more than 27 in his previous 12 seasons).