ST. LOUIS -- It's unlikely Craig Biggio will play anywhere but Houston in 2007, but the Astros and Biggio's agent, Barry Axelrod, have not made much progress as they try to agree on the terms of a one-year contract for the 19-year veteran.

The issue is money. Biggio will be receiving a raise from his $4 million salary of 2006. How much of a raise appears to be a sticking point.

"We're trying to bridge the gap, and there's certainly a difference of opinion on what a player's value is in the market place," general manager Tim Purpura said. "We've had our thoughts; they have their thoughts. We've had conversations back and forth, but it's not close to being done at this point."

Axelrod and Purpura spoke twice on Tuesday in an effort, according to Axelrod, to "find creative ways to get to the point we want. It's not an issue. We'll get there."

Biggio is 70 hits short of 3,000, a milestone he'll likely reach in the latter part of June or early July. Next year will probably be his last as an active player, and Biggio will likely be interested in committing to a personal-service contract with the club, a la Roger Clemens and likely Jeff Bagwell.

But first, 2007 must be resolved. Axelrod still has hope that Biggio's contract will be signed prior to the deadline for players to file for free agency -- the day after the conclusion of the World Series.

"We would love it to be [resolved]," Axelrod said. "We hope so. If we have to go through the procedure of filing [for free agency] we will. We would rather not have that happen. We're working on it."

Biggio's status is not the only issue the Astros are working on this offseason. They are currently holding their organizational meetings, during which Purpura and his staff are going over free agents and potential trade partners. They're also discussing in-house personnel as they set a foundation for what the 2007 club may look like.

The No. 1 offseason priority is adding offense, but a close second is addressing the starting pitching. If Andy Pettitte and Clemens decide not to return in '07 -- so far, neither has announced a decision -- then the Astros have to build a rotation that consists of Roy Oswalt and a slew of unprovens.

"Depending on Andy and, to some extent, Roger, we want to preserve our starting pitching depth we have," Purpura said. "It's tough to win without offense, but it's impossible to win without pitching. That's a 1b or No. 2 priority -- starting pitching."

Ideally, the Astros would like to also add a left-handed reliever to compliment Trever Miller, who had a solid season in '06, recording a 3.02 ERA over 70 appearances. Miller had an especially good second half, turning in a 1.04 ERA in August and a 0.82 ERA in September.

The Astros also have to decide where -- if at all -- Morgan Ensberg and Jason Lane fit into the equation, and whether they're interested in signing soon-to-be free agent Aubrey Huff.

"We haven't explored that, yet, at this stage," Purpura said. "I'm fairly certain [Huff] will test the free agent market."