2016-7 Houston Astros Off Season

The Astros do have things going on worth noting so without further ado let's take a look at some of the stuff Houston has going on.

The Astros have begun the $19MM renovation to the center field area which includes bringing in the deep center field wall in to about where the warning track is now. Of course that means that the Park will be saying so long to Tal's Hill which was a predominant feature way back when the new stadium opened in 2000 and it was first called The Ballpark at Union Station. The site had been the old Union Station railroad station and that is why there is the train that traverses left field. The name of the park changed to Enron Field after the investment and energy company bought the naming rights later prior to the start of the season in 2000. It remained Enron Field until the year 2002 when the collapse of Enron Corporation because of scandal and controversy. The Astros had a 30 year naming rights deal with Enron but when the company went bankrupt the Astros sought to distance themselves from anything to do with Enron. After some legal hassle Houston bought out from under the naming rights deal for $2.1MM and from February to July of 2002 the stadium was simply named Astros Field. In June of 2002 Houston sold the naming rights to the Minute Maid orange juice company which is a subsidiary of the Coca-Cola Corporation for $100MM over 30 years and Minute Maid Park was born. It is affectionately referred to as "The Juice Box" because of this affiliation. The center field fence, which was the deepest in all of the big league parks will move in from 436 ft to 409. The three flag poles in center field, one of which was in the field of play will also be removed. It is slated to become a gathering area where people can stand and watch the game as an extension of standing room viewing in left center field. Here's a little more in depth look at what's going on with the Park from an article from Astros.com

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/205642648/astros-removing-tals-hill-at-minute-maid-park/

The Arizona Fall League is underway and Houston's #29 prospect Ramon Laureano wins the first Player of the Week award for hitting .571 with two doubles, two triples, three RBIs and eight runs scored through the first week of games. That my friends if the textbook definition of scorching hot in baseball terms. This is the kind of slugger that Houston needs to fill some gaps in the lineup. Is he ready for a shot in the bigs? Who knows and Houston doesn't have to make that call until next February.

The Astros just concluded the last sessions of the fall instructional camp for young prospects at their spring training home in Kissimmee Florida last Friday. The facility that has been the Astros spring training home since 1985, barring unforeseen issues, has closed the doors on Osceola County Stadium with an eye on moving in to their new joint facility shared with the Washington Nationals at a new ballpark called The Ballpark at the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach.

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/206123186/astros-hold-instructional-league-in-kissimmee/

Don't forget to vote for the Esurance Baseball Awards while you can. Houston's own Jose Altuve is among 5 nominees for Best Major Leaguer. He is in a group that includes Boston's Mookie Betts, The Angels Mike Trout, Toronto's Josh Donaldson and Chicago Cubs' Kris Bryant. Altuve is also up for Best Hitter along with Bryant, Trout and Washington's Daniel Murphy and Boston's David Ortiz.

George Springer is up for an award as well. He is in a group up for Best Play, Offense of the 2016 season for his 1st inning home heroics on June 24th against Kansas City. Springer led off the game with a triple and the Astros batted around and with the bases loaded he hit a grand slam. Springer became the first player in the modern era of baseball to triple and grand slam in the first inning of a game. Given his circus catches in right field I'm surprised one of Springer's 'web gems' isn't among the contenders for Best Play, Defense. Here's a link to the voting page in case you want to throw a little love to a couple of Houston's best.

https://securea.mlb.com/mlb/awards/y2016/mlb-awards/

Boy oh boy, are the Astros cleaning house. Not only are they doing away from Tal's Hill and renovating the center field area to expand the fan experience at the Juice Box they are going to have a completely new TV broadcasting crew. Bill Brown retired at the end of the regular season, or rather 3 days before the end of the regular season, when he did his final broadcasts in the final Astros home stand. Brown did not travel to Anaheim to do the final 3 games against the Angels. One of the guys who did do the Angels series was former Astros catcher and long time Astros broadcaster Alan Ashby but Ashby won't be returning in 2017. There has been no mention of what the status is of Geoff Blum who did road games with Ashby and he also did a few games in Houston with Brown. This will be a bit of a traumatic change much like the changes in the radio broadcast booth when Milo Hamilton retired a few years ago. Steve Sparks and Robert Ford. Geoff Blum filled in from time to time on the radio broadcasts as well. I wouldn't mind if Blummer is named the color man for the broadcasts because I think he does a good job. It's still going to be weird not hearing Brown do the TV play by play. After 30 years it will be just out of sync for a while.

Dallas Keuchel, Colby Rasmus and George Springer has all been named finalists for the Gold Glove award. Congrats to all and I hope Keuchel and Springer win. It's not like I have anything against Rasmus but it would be weird for him to win when he is probably not returning to the Astros in 2017. Especially after the weird way he ended the season refusing to play in the last 3 weeks of the season. Maybe he didn't refuse to play, maybe he was benched because he wasn't hitting worth a darn and he didn't like it, but either way he looked like a guy who had already left the building.

Mike Acosta‏@AstrosTalk Oct 14 The center field flag poles were removed today. Pictured is the U.S Flag pole about to be rested on the field. New poles go in next year.pic.twitter.com/tLlQZJlHtW

Congrats to Jose Altuve who was named the Sporting News Player of the Year for 2016. He could win another bevy of awards and he's already wrapped up his 2nd batting crown in 3 years after finishing the season with a .338 BA which was 20 points higher than his nearest competition of a pair of Boston players, Mookie Betts and Dustin Pedroia. It should be noted that the last 10 winners of the SNPOTY award also won the MLB MVP award. That would be something if he won that one too!

http://www.chron.com/sports/astros/article/Jose-Altuve-named-the-Sporting-News-Player-of-10417103.php

Astros bench coach Trey Hillman will have a new address next season. As a matter of fact he will have a new country of residence as he has been named the manager of SK Wyverns in the league in South Korea. In case you didn't know what a Wyvern is, it is a two legged dragon with a barbed tail. Hopefully Hillman will take 3rd base coach Gary Pettis and hitting coach Dave Hudgins with him.

Last but not least is the Astros voided their prospective deal with Cuban pitching prospect Cionel Perez. The Astros voided the deal after an issue came up in Perez' physical. Prior to voiding the deal the Astros had offered Perez the largest deal offered to an international player of $5.15MM back in September. Just because the deal is voided doesn't mean the Astros have given up on Perez and deal could be worked out assuming the problem with his physical isn't a deal breaker. Or more of a deal breaker than it already has been.

There has already been movement in the organization in the past week.

1. Houston claimed Norrichika Aoki off waivers from Seattle.

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/208059692/astros-claim-norichika-aoki-off-waivers/

2. The Astros pick up the option on Evan Gattis' contract. Gattis started the season as the backup to Jason Castro but by the end of the 2016 campaign Gattis showed he was an equal to Castro as a defensive catcher and much better as a hitter than Castro so he, in effect, became the starting catcher for the Astros. Castro is a free agent and while I have nothing against Castro I just think the Astros can do better. I have no problem with Evan Gattis being the starting catcher for the Astros next season.

3. Veteran reliever Pat Neshak has been dealt to the Phillies for a player to be named later or cash. Neshak was due a $6.5MM roster bonus or the Astros could have bought out his contract for 500K. As it was, the trade was made and the Phillies paid Neshak his bonus. Neshak is 36 years old and he's been in the league for 11 years, the last two with Houston.

4. Houston added minor league prospect Reymin Guduan to their 40 man roster yesterday. Guduan was slated to be minor league free agent had Houston not made the move. He is the Astros #27 prospect and he split time last season between AA Corpus Christi and AAA Fresno where he posted a combined 3-3 record with a 4.18 ERA and 2 saves. What Guduan brings to the table is he's a lefty, which Houston is in very short supply of, and he is a hard thrower. Since he is now on the 40 man roster he gets an automatic invitation to spring training and can compete for spot on the 25 man regular season roster.

Houston's David Paulino was named one of the 9 top players in the Arizona Fall League All Star game.

An article on Astros.com claims that the best is yet to come from Houston middle infield of Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa. Let's hope they are right! The website gives an outlook of what the opening day starters are next April. I can't say I agree with them but who knows. It's fun to kick the tires a little in the off season.

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/207518282/astros-2017-opening-day-preview/

The offseason awards are rolling in, mainly for Jose Altuve, but there are other Astros who have been recognized too.

> George Springer and Colby Rasmus were one of 3 finalists for winning the Best Defensive Player of the Year for their position award for their position but both lost. The Yankees Brett Gardner won over Rasmus in left field and Boston's Mookie Betts won for Right Field over Springer. I didn't watch the Red Sox play much and on the awards show there was a strong case for Springer to win but the Baseball Writers Association of America who handed out the awards are predominantly in the northeast part of the country. Betts was good and I am definitely biases but I've seen Springer make too many plays to think Betts didn't get some yankee push to beat out Springer.

One award Jose Altuve didn't win was Defensive POTY. That one went to Boston's Dustin Pedroia. Altuve did win his 3rd Silver Slugger Award and it goes right along with his 2nd batting title in 3 years. Earlier in October Altuve won 3 Player's Choice Awards, Major League Player of the Year, American League Most Outstanding Player and his second consecutive Majestic Always Award. That is in addition to being named the Sporting News Player of the Year. It's almost a shoe-in that Altuve will win the BBWAA MVP award when it, and the other major awards, will be announced next week.

Altuve isn't the only one to win an award this offseason. Dallas Keuchel was awarded his 3rd consecutive Gold Glove award. This was a surprise to me considering that Keuchel missed the last month and half of the season with shoulder inflammation. It's nice to see the team getting some recognition.

This article from Astros.com talks about how Houston could be big players in free agency this winter. The Astros declined to make qualifying offers to it's four free agents Jason Castro, Doug Fister, Colby Rasmus and Luis Valbuena. The options for these players are discussed in the article.

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/208185330/astros-should-be-major-players-in-free-agency/

The Astros said goodbye a short while ago to their bench coach Trey Hillman who took a job managing for a Korean league team. The coaching spot didn't stay vacant long as Houston managed to lure former 14 year veteran player, Alex Cora out of retirement--sort of. He's been coaching in his home country of Puerto Rico, even working with current Astro and fellow Puerto Rican, Carlos Correa last offseason. Here's the article about the hire from Astros.com. Now, if only the Astros would replace 3rd base coach Gary Pettis and hitting instructor Dave Hudgins.

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/208911120/astros-hire-alex-cora-as-bench-coach/

In an interview GM Jeff Luhnow said the Astros "are open for business" meaning they are in the market to spend some money for some free agent help. I don't know if I truly believe him because the Astros have not been active in free agency since they signed Roger Clemons and Andy Pettit. That was years and several administrations ago. Since the Astros last big free agent push way back before the 2003 season Houston has only really dipped a toe into the free agent waters. They did absolutely nothing this past summer other than trading P Scott Feldman to the Rangers. In 2015 they went and did a deal to get OF Carlos Gomez with P Mike Fiers thrown in for their best hitting prospect at the time Brett Phillips and 3 other prospects in a deal with the Milwaukee Brewers. Fiers was the best part of that deal as he threw the first no hitter ever at the Juice Box in 2015 and he was a solid starter for Houston this past season. Gomez contributed little in his time in Houston. He stayed hurt most of the time and when he played he didn't offer much in the way of offense which is why Houston traded for him in the first place. Houston got sick of Gomez striking out and knocking himself down when he over swung at pitches both of which occurred all too frequently. So excuse me for being a little skeptical when Luhnow says the Astros are in the market for quality hitting in free agency. I just don't trust them to actually spend money on a player. We should know something soon because Luhnow said he hopes to have a couple of deals done prior to the beginning of the Hot Stove meetings on December 4th.

The Astros have jumped up and made some moves. I’m not sure if I’m happy about the moves they have made but make them they did.

First the Astros made a deal to get C Brian McCann from the Yankees. It cost the team 2 prospects.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2654920-brian-mccann-to-astros-latest-trade-details-comments-and-reaction

Just a short while after the McCann deal was done, the Astros signed free agent OF Josh Reddick to a four year $52MM deal.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2668071-josh-reddick-to-astros-latest-contract-details-comments-reaction

If you remember the Astros have already signed OF Norichika Aoki back in October and on Monday they signed P Charlie Morton. So, the Astros have replaced Doug Fister with Morton, for all intents and purposes they have replaced Colby Rasmus and Preston Tucker with Aoki and Reddick and they have replaced Jason Castro with McCann. Shopping list is complete. Or is it? Who’s to say if a superstar comes free that Houston won’t say, “what the heck, let’s go get him.” We’ll see.

Jose Altuve became the first player in ages who won the Sporting News MVP award to NOT win the MLB MVP. That honor went to the Angels Mike Trout. Trout is good but he didn’t have the year Altuve did. Not only that, but Altuve won the Player’s Choice MVP. This doesn’t make sense to me, not at all. Not only that, but Altuve didn’t even come in second place! That was Boston’s Mookie Betts. The extra little kick in the nuts was the fact that Altuve didn’t even get a first place vote! Screw the Baseball Writers Association of America. The east and west coast bias is in full view, so all I have to say to them is best said by Eric Cartman.

Just a quick note, the Astros have given former top prospect Jonathan Singleton his outright release from the 40 man roster to AAA Fresno. They also lost IF Nolan Fontana when he was claimed off waivers by the Angels. This frees up a roster spot that could enable the Astros from signing another free agent or make a trade if something tasty comes along. The Astros gave Singleton a 5 year $10MM contract when they brought him up from the minors a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, Singleton never lived up to the hype in the big leagues where he took striking out to whole new levels. He wasn't as big a King of the K's that Chris Carter was but he was definitely in the conversation. As a side note Carter joins the long list of Astros to move on to another team only to become much better than he was in Houston. This time around it was Chris Carter who was released after the 2015 season and was signed to a one year deal by Milwaukee where he had career numbers with the Brewers. He had 41 home runs on the season and 94 RBIs. He only hit .222 but his .321 on base percentage means he learned to take his walks. Carter also struck out 206 times but when you hit homers and drive in runs teams will forgive a strike out or 200. Here's a link from Astros.com that talks about the move to ship Singleton back to AAA.

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/209231898/jon-singleton-outrighted-as-astros-clear-space/

Damn, I didn’t even realize the baseball player’s collective bargaining agreement was set to expire and on Mike and Mike this morning they announced a new agreement had been reached! The absolute best thing about the new deal isn’t the fact there will be no strike, even though that is a very good thing, the best thing is they got rid of the ridiculous home field advantage thing in the World Series that was determined by the winner of the All Star game. It was such a lame, Bud Selig, thing to do to generate interest in the mid-summer classic. Home field advantage will go back to being decided by the pennant winner with the best record just as it should be. Here’s an article from Astros.com that has a brief outline of the new 5 year agreement.

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/209969472/mlb-owners-players-agree-to-new-labor-deal/

The acquisition of free agent Josh Riddick means that Houston will have a new center fielder in 2016. That new man in center is going to be George Springer and for his part he is looking forward to the position change. Here’s a look at what Springer feels about the Astros offseason and his new role on the team.

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/209891544/george-springer-ready-for-more-work-in-center/

The Astros have stuff going on even though it’s December. They came to terms on a one year deal with Carlos Beltran worth $16MM. Bleacher Report said that Astros owner Jim Crane said that the Astros are done making deals for position players with the Beltran deal. Beltran was with the Astros in 2004 where he ignited the team into a Wild Card spot in the post season. He helped Houston finally get past the Atlanta Braves in the Divisional Round of the playoffs but the Astros were halted in the NLCS by the St Louis Cardinals. Beltran did set a then record of at least one home run in five consecutive playoff games. It was to no avail however as the Cards just had too much for Houston to overcome. Don’t expect the same 2004 Carlos Beltran in 2017. In 2004 Beltran was 26 and in his prime but now at 39 he is just a shadow of that guy. The good thing is, that shadow of Carlos Beltran we knew from 2004 hit .295 with an OPS of .850 in 151 games. He hit 29 HRs and drove in 73 runs which are numbers that are better than the numbers of Jason Castro, Colby Rasmus, Jake Marisnick, AJ Reed and Preston Tucker combined. Beltran may not have the skills to play center or right field any more but he could play some left but his main value will be as a DH.

That said, Houston is rumored to still be in the market for 33 year old Edwin Encarnacion who is a free agent most recently from the Toronto Blue Jays. Encarnacion is a DH/1B and he would fill a big need in the Astros lineup. If the Astros could get him it would make their lineup pretty formidable. Certainly much better than the one they struggled through the past season with.

The Astros lineup projects like this:

1. CF George Springer

2. 3B Alex Bregman

3. 2B Jose Altuve

4. SS Carlos Correa

5. RF Josh Riddick

6. LF Evan Gattis

7. DH Carlos Beltran

8. 1B Yulieski Gurriel

9. C Brian McCann

The one area where Houston may not be done making deals is for a starting quality pitcher. Rumor has it that Houston is willing to make a deal for Chicago White Sox ace Chris Sale. The Tampa Bay Rays’ Chris Archer is also on the Astros radar. Houston needs a quality starting pitcher because there has to be some concern over the shoulder issues Dallas Keuchel had that caused him to miss the last 6 weeks of the season not to mention the ongoing worry over Lance McCuller’s elbow that caused him to miss the final two months of the season. I swear I believe McCullers is headed for Tommy John surgery, I just wish they’d get it over with so he can move on with his career. I don’t think it is very cool to have a guy who only is able to play half the season. If the Astros could land both Sale and Archer then we could ice down the champagne and print the World Series champs t-shirts right now.

Speaking of contracts, the Astros have 7 players arbitration eligible that they tendered offers to last Friday. That was also the deadline for teams to make such offers to their A-E players. The next step will be to work out contracts for these players for 2017. It doesn’t mean they can’t come to long term deals with them it just means they need to get them under contract. Well, all but one as Houston came to terms on a deal with free agent signee Norichika Aoki for a one year $5.5 MM deal thus avoiding arbitration altogether. Once the deals are done with these A-E players the Astros total payroll with be on the north side of $100 MM for the first time since 2009.

Right now the biggest offseason news is Jeff Bagwell's impending consideration for being voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Seven times his name has been on the ballot and seven times he has gone away disappointed. He has watched his best friend on the team, Craig Biggio, get his moment and he was the first Astro elected to the HOF in 2015. Last year he received 71.6% of the voters to agree he deserves to be in The Hall. All a player needs is 75% to be elected. No player who has received over 70% of the vote did not eventually get into the HOF, most in the year following such a high vote total. This is Baggy's year. You just have to believe it especially considering his numbers are HOF worthy and he put most of those numbers up in the cavernous Astrodome long acknowledged as a pitcher's ball park. The article linked below from ClimbingTal'sHill.com by Eric Huysman talks about all the reasons Bagwell DESERVES to be in the HOF.

http://climbingtalshill.com/2016/12/19/jeff-bagwell-deserves-to-be-in-the-mlb-hall-of-fame/

The Astros signed Cuban pitcher Cionel Perez to a $2MM deal. This is after they signed him to a $5.15MM deal which would have cost Houston double that as they blew past their international salary cap so they would be levied a huge luxury tax as a result. The Astros voided the original deal after finding a problem with his elbow and they eventually resigned the player to the lower deal. The Astros are happy but Perez is really not saying he feels like he has been robbed by the Astros. Certainly not the best way to begin a relationship but for a poor Cuban kid the reality of that $2MM will sink in and he will bide his time for his next deal.

Rumors, according to Bleacher Report, are that Houston has been in talks with the Detroit Tigers about a trade involving starting pitcher Justin Wilson coming to Houston. It is not clear what the Astros would be willing to give up is unclear but the Cubs are also said to be trying to work a deal for Wilson as well. So far this is only rumors.

What has come to light is during the Winter Meetings Houston tried to make a deal for White Sox LHP Justin Quintana but the Sox wanted P Joe Musgrove, RHP Carlos Martes and OF Kyle Tucker. The price was just too high and the Astros moved on.

Despite the fact that Houston has been pretty active in free agency this offseason they claimed after the Carlos Beltran deal they were done signing players. Things got clarified some when they said they were done pursuing position players but they would be open to signing a pitcher or two. Right now Bleacher Report says the Astros are interested in KC pitchers Yordano "Ace" Ventura, the 99 mph fastball hurler, and Danny Duffy. It's just talk to keep people warm during the winter.

The Astros have signed C former Twins catcher Juan Centeno to a minors deal with an invitation to Spring Training. The deal was completed last night and is chronicled in this article from ClimbingTal'sHill.com.

http://climbingtalshill.com/2016/12/19/astros-sign-catcher-centeno-to-milb-deal/

The Astros have finalized their TV broadcast team for the coming season and beyond. Todd Kalas has been tabbed to replace Bill Brown, who retired after the 2016 season after 30 years in the TV booth all with the Astros, as play by play man. He will be joined by former Astro Geoff Blum who had been the color man on road game broadcasts over the last couple of years. Blum becomes the full time color man replacing long time Astros broadcaster Alan Ashby whose contract was not renewed this offseason.

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/212093578/todd-kalas-geoff-blum-lead-astros-tv-booth/

The first free agent the Astros signed this offseason was Japanese player Norichika Aoki. Astros.com is calling him the key to the Astros offseason. In the link below they will explain why but I'll steal some of the article's thunder by telling you the main reason is because he doesn't strike out. In the last half dozen years Houston has been the poster child for K's setting the record for futility in MLB history in 2013 with over 1,500 wiffs. The Astros have been rebuilding this team over the last six years and they have been trying to replace the K-kings with guys who know how to make contact. The Astros outfield has had some good defensive players but they haven't been able to a good contact hitter and that is exactly what Aoki is. The guy just doesn't strike out. Instead he makes you work to get him out by putting the ball in play. This could mean the end of Jake Marisnick's time in Houston. Marisnick is a terrific defensive player and he's been good for saving a lot of runs because of his speed to run down balls that has turned hits into outs and he has a terrific arm and he's gunned down more than his fair share of baserunners over the last couple of years. The issue with Jake is at the plate. He's barely a .200 hitter and he strikes out way too much. It he was a contact hitter he would probably better his batting average because of his speed legging out hits other guys could not. He would be a lot like Jose Altuve in that regard but, alas, that is not the case. Because he's good in the clubhouse and he is a great defensive player and because he is a very fast runner he could make the final 25 as a utility man but don't be surprised if Houston lets him go this coming spring.

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/211500590/norichika-aoki-under-the-radar-for-busy-astros/

Is it of any interest to you that Houston made a serious run to get Edwin Encarnacion? It was 3 year deal worth $66MM but Encarnacion ended up signing with Cleveland anyway for more money. It seemed as though the Astros lost interest in Encarnacion after they agreed to terms with Carlos Beltran. People in baseball are really loving this deal Houston made with Beltran even though he is a shadow of the superstar that kicked ass for Houston way back in 2004.

There is report that Toronto 1B Jose Bautista is open to a one year deal. Houston has said they are done with signing offensive players but c'mon, Jose Bautista? You gotta take a shot at this guy don't you? As of today he is still unsigned but it is being reported by Bleacher Report that Bautista and the Blue Jays are in active discussion about a deal. That doesn't mean squat. I am actively in love with Jennifer Lawrence but I have absolutely no shot with her under any condition. Take the bull by the horns, as it were, Houston. I would rather have an embarrassment of riches rather and a player short, wouldn't you?

Here's a link to the holiday greetings from Dallas Kuechel who began throwing last week. As well as the page with a bunch of other items from Kuechel's twitter account. You'll need to scroll down a bit to get to him throwing. It looks like he had been working hard prior to his throwing session going by how much he was obviously sweating.

From the feature, "Climbing Tal's Hill" website comes a look at what the role will be for Evan Gattis in 2017. He had a breakout season of sorts as he claimed the starting catcher's spot and produced at the plate. Gattis is still a young player and he needs to be in the lineup regularly IMO. If the Astros didn't have shit for a hitting coach that could help the players who strike out too much there could be some super stars in this lineup already. BTW, now that Tal's Hill is a thing of the past what is this website going to call itself?

http://climbingtalshill.com/2016/12/20/astros-what-exactly-is-evan-gattis-role-for-2017/

The sun has broken through and the rain is gone and darned if it didn't all happen when I looked up the spring training schedule! Right now the only clouds in the sky are white fluffy ones and they are way off on the horizon. What was a total shit day is down just gorgeous and it all seemed to clear up when I started looking at baseball stuff. Just so you know it is just six weeks and 2 days before pitchers and catchers show up at the Astros brand new spring training facility they share with the Washington Nationals in West Palm Beach Florida. Dates for when the Nats report is still TBA although it can't be too far removed from when Houston arrives. What that means in a little over a week after the Super Bowl players will report to spring training and baseball season will officially begin. Nice.

I guess that since my football season got kicked in the nuts over this past weekend I can start looking elsewhere for some small modicum of comfort. Yeah, the Texans and Cowboys screwed the poor old pooch and now I’m left trying to figure out who I want to go on and win Super Bowl LI in Houston in early February. All I know is, of the 4 remaining teams in the playoffs I absolutely don’t want the egg sucking Steelers to win it all. I’m sick and tired of people drooling all over Aaron Rodgers so screw the Packers. The Falcons are not a hateful team and they have only been to the big dance one time and they lost. I am also a poetic justice man and it would be a hoot if Roger Goodell had to hand the Lombardi Trophy to the Patriot’s Bill Belichick and Goodell’s favorite whipping boy Tom Brady. I have at least narrowed down by finalists to reach the Super Bowl. Atlanta finally puts an end to Aaron Rodgers and the Packers. Good riddance, go home cheese heads. The Patriots stomp a mudhole in Steelers. So my hope is after next Sunday’s games we will have a Falcons-Patriots Super Bowl. Okay, now that’s out of the way let’s talk baseball.

Today, of course, is January 16th in the year of our Lord 2017. What that means is that spring training is less than a month away. There has been some news over the last few days so let’s get you up to date.

Houston has avoided arbitration on 3 of 7 eligible players. Dallas Keuchel, George Springer and Jake Marisnick have all agreed to one year deals. Mike Fiers, Colin McHugh, Marwin Gonzalez and Will Harris are all in negotiations with the Astros hoping to avoid arbitration. With the 3 that have signed I don’t think there is any reason why a long term deal can’t be worked out but whether that’s something the Astros would want to do is another matter. If I’m the Astros GM I want to have a sit-down with all three individually so I can lay my cards on the table.

To Keuchel I’d say, “Dallas, you are the top of our pitching rotation but we want to see if you have any lingering issues with the shoulder injury that shut you down last season. I hope you understand it’s hard for us to commit to a long term deal with you until that issue has been resolved. At any rate, we have a deal for 2017 and there is nothing stopping us from talking long term deal later in the season.”

To Springer I’d say, “George, we love you and we are glad to have avoided arbitration. We would love to start talking about a long term deal but right now we feel you are not where we want you to be as a hitter. You have elite player skills in the field and you show elite player tendencies at the plate but, George, you just strike out too much to be considered an elite player. We need to see you improve in much the same ways Jose (Altuve) has improved over the past few years. We want you to cut down on the K’s and increase your OBP by working more walks. We would like to see a 2 strike approach of not swinging for the fence so much as focusing on making contact and use the whole field. We know you can do this George, when you are in your zone that is exactly what you do. We know it’s in there we just want to see it on a more consistent basis. It will probably cost the team more money in the long run because if you do these things we’re asking you to do we will be paying you elite player money.”

And finally, to Jake Marisnick I’d say, “Jake, Jake, Jake. We love you man. You are great in the clubhouse, you’re a helluva defensive player and you have a canon for an arm. Not only that but you are fast as greased lightning which makes you a dangerous player on the bases and in the field. But, Jake, you strike out way too much for us to depend on you as an everyday player. We need you to cut down on the K’s --- a lot. We want you to focus on being a contact hitter. Use the whole field and make the other team play defense against you. If you do that then you will even get some cheap infield hits like Jose (Altuve) does. Put the ball in play and let your speed carry you the rest of the way. We’ve seen you have the ability to use the whole field and we love the fact that you have displayed some good bat control but you have got to cut down on the strike outs. Do that, raise your BA 50 points, and you will make filling out a lineup card every day a real difficult because you will have earned the right to expect to play pretty often if not every day.

So, here is the article from Astros.com about these arbitration eligible players.

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/213465802/keuchel-springer-marisnick-agree-to-deals/

The Astros plan to invite 18 prospects and veteran players to spring training next month. Here is the article from Astros.com listing these additions to the spring training roster.

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/213465042/astros-extend-18-non-roster-invites-to-camp/

It’s time to cross your fingers because the final voting for the Baseball Hall of Fame is this week. The reason you cross your fingers is because Jeff Bagwell stands a real chance of finally making it to Cooperstown. This will be Jeff Bagwell’s 7 year of eligibility for the HOF and if history of the voting means anything this should be Baggie’s year. Here’s an old article from November of last year by SI’s Jay Jaffe touting Jeff Bagwell’s credentials for the HOF. HOF voting is Wednesday.

http://www.si.com/mlb/2016/11/30/

4 days ago my son's wishes came true. Since he was a little boy Jeff Bagwell was his favorite player. And just like kids do he emulated Baggy all the way down to his unusual batting stance. My son could hit the ball too hitting like that. He didn't have the power of Bagwell but he hit for a pretty good average and he even jacked one out in little league (11-12 year olds). Over the last six years watching Bagwell climb up the ladder toward getting the necessary 75% of the BBWAA votes needed. Baggy came excruciatingly close last year garnering 71% of the 75% of votes needed for HOF induction. Bagwell got 315 of the 330 votes needed to enter the HOF. No player who had gotten 70% or more but less than 75% failed to enter the HOF so it seemed a foregone conclusion that Baggy would make it in 2017. Weird things happen to Houston franchises though so I wasn't all that confident this was going to be Bagwell's year. It is a pretty sparse induction class with just 3 players Bagwell, Tim Raines and Ivan Rodriguez entering the Hall along with the most gutless BB commissioner ever, Bud Selig and legendary baseball executive John Schuerholz, the first GM to lead a team from both leagues to a world championship. He was GM of the 1985 Kansas City Royals and he was GM of the 1995 Atlanta Braves. Here's a link to ESPN.com that talks about Bagwell's induction. It's a really nice article.

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/18494331/for-jeff-bagwell-long-wait-deep-wounds-close-hall-fame

The only person I really have a problem with getting into the HOF is Selig. He tries to hang his hat on being the first commissioner to institute random drug testing in baseball but it wasn't all that great an accomplishment. You don't want me to go on about all the gutless, crappy things Selig did. The one thing that I hate about Selig is when Jim Crane bought the Astros from Drayton McClain a few years back one of the conditions of the sale to get approval from the MLB league office was to accept a move of the Astros from the National League, where they had been since their inception as the Colt 45's, to the American League. One NL team needed to move to the AL to make a balanced schedule. Before Houston's move to the AL the NL had 16 teams and the AL had 14. To create a balanced schedule an NL team had to move. Selig decided the sale of the Astros was the perfect opportunity to strong arm a new owner into the move. The most logical source of the team move was the NL Central which had 6 teams. Along with Houston and Milwaukee there was St Louis, Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. If you look at those teams it was most logical to move the Brewers. They had been in the AL from their inception in 1969 until the move to the NL in 1998. The only reason I can fathom why the Brewers moved to the AL was because they were getting pounded by the rest of the AL but it was in the AL in 1982 that the Brewers made their only World Series appearance with future HOF players like Robin Yount and Paul Molitor. Every other team in the then NL Central were life long National League teams and it just made sense to move the Brewers. Selig didn't want to move and he forced the Astros to swallow the move and even though I am sort of grateful considering the Cubs and Cardinals are the class of the NL Central the move was still a chicken shit thing for Selig to do.

In a sad note, Kansas City Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura was killed this morning in a car accident in the Dominican Republic. Ventura, the fireball throwing pitcher for KC, was only 25 years old.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2688516-royals-sp-yordano-ventura-dies-at-age-25

Astros Of Preston Tucker had a lousy season in 2016 and a lot of that is attributable to a bad shoulder which required surgery to repair about 4 months ago. In an article from the Houston Chronical Tucker claims his about 95% completely healed but he has yet to do any baseball related activity. He is scheduled to do a follow up visit to his doctor around the first of February and he expects to be cleared for all baseball activity. That would only give Tucker about 2 weeks before the start of spring training and it is still up in the air as to whether or not he can join the team from day 1. The offseason additions of Josh Riddick and Nori Aoki will make earning a roster spot very difficult. He may be better off in AAA anyway as he fully recuperates from his surgery.

The Astros and P Mike Fiers have agreed to a deal for one year for $3.45MM and thus allows the Astros and Fiers to avoid arbitration. The final number is exactly half way between the $3.9MM Fiers was asking for and the $3.0MM the Astros were offering. This leaves just three players that are still arbitration eligible, P Collin McHugh, P Will Harris and utility man Marwin Gonzalez. Fiers went 11-8 with a 4.48 ERA in 31 games (30 starts) for the Astros last year, allowing 187 hits and striking out 134 in 168 2/3 innings. He'll compete for a spot in the rotation this year with newcomer Charlie Morton, Joe Musgrove and Brad Peacock. If McHugh, Harris and Gonzalez can't come to an agreement with the Astros by the end of the month their cases will go to a 3 man arbitration hearing who will decide if they side with the player or the team for the final salary number. I would expect something to get done soon because all three players are key pieces to the Astros team this season.

Finally, here's a video from Astros.com where new catcher Brian McCann talks about being confused with new team mate Evan Gattis.

http://m.mlb.com/hou/video/topic/8879000/v1220583683/mccann-discusses-being-confused-for-gattis-at-fanfest/?c_id=hou

Okay, one more video. This is Jeff Bagwell joining MLB Network to talk about how he played 1B.

http://m.mlb.com/hou/video/topic/213773748/v1220310183/newly-elected-bagwell-demonstrates-playing-first-base/?c_id=hou

Here comes spring training! It is less than 3 weeks away as pitchers and catchers in the so-called grapefruit league in Florida are scheduled to report on February 14th and the first workouts with pitchers and catchers is slated for the 15th. The Super Bowl is next Sunday the 5th of February which means within 10 days of the official end of the 2016 NFL season we get baseball. I wish I had James Earl Jones voice to say that last sentence because it deserves a voice to convey the drama of the impending season. The short soliloquy he gives in "Field of Dreams" to give hope to Kevin Costner's character, Ray Kinsella, is classic and Jones deep baritone voice is perfect. I can't resist, here's a link to that speech and when you hit 'play' just close your eyes and let your imagination take you where Jones voice is leading. Perfect.

I don't know why people get so sentimental about baseball. Maybe it's movies like Field of Dreams and For The Love of the Game. Maybe it really does take us back to childhood memories of pickup games with our buddies, choosing up side and playing for hours and having a blast. Kids nowadays don't do that so much. The kids that wanted to do that and took the lead to organize schoolmates for these games are now playing on select teams and touring the countryside playing tournaments. Without the leadership of those boys the rest of the kids who might be enticed into playing pickup games are too busy playing video games. I think the select teams are all well and good but isn't there something lost when kids get together and govern themselves, picking team captains, tossing up a bat and catching it and alternating captains hand over hand to the knob of the bat to see who picks first? Then, when teams are selected do the bat toss again to see who gets to bat first? Then, they play the game. They decide on rules to meet the needs of the game to make it fair and they settle their own arguments. Nobody stays mad long because you forget about it when you get back to the game. You learn to deal with people there on those vacant lots or abandoned fields. You learn to grow up in profound ways that isn't taught by coaches of select teams. It's all business. Yeah, you get to play baseball but it's not the same. When I was a kid and I played baseball I loved it. I loved practicing and I loved the games but I also loved calling my friends and having them meet at the school yard and play ball. It's a big loss for kids in my opinion that seems like it will never come back. The pickup games you still see are basketball games and it's good to see that culture isn't totally lost. Baseball is coming and that is a good thing and I can hardly wait.

The Astros have 5 players on the MLB top 100 prospects list and here's the article from Astros.com listing these players. The amount of top 100 prospects is down from previous years because a bunch of them are now on the 25 man roster. You have George Springer, Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman, Colin Moran, Chris Devenski, David Paulino and Joe Musgrove to name a few. The Astros had MLB's best farm system for two years running and many of those players are now with the big club and some were moved for veteran players like Ken Giles, Jake Marisnick and others over the years. What that means is the future is now for Houston. The acquisition of Josh Reddick, Brian McCann and Nori Aoki as well as the acquisition of Cuban star Yulieski Gurriel last September upgrades the Astros offense, and defense, tremendously. If Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers come back healthy and, in McCuller's case, stay healthy the Astros should have a very nice pitching staff. It could be that Houston is still sending out feelers to find another above average starter and a couple of the prospects listed in the linked article could be on the table if the right guy comes along.

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/214555046/astros-place-five-on-mlb-top-100-prospect-list/

Astros owner Jim Crane is being inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame this weekend. What many people probably don't know about Crane is that he was a darn good baseball player in college at D-II school Central Missouri. He was part of a team that made it to the D-II College World Series. Crane played at Central Missouri from 1973-76, going 21-8 with a 2.42 ERA. He ranks first in career complete games (23), shutouts (seven) and third in career strikeouts (215). He still holds the program's single-game strikeout record (18), and in 1997, he was inducted into the Central Missouri Athletic Hall of Fame. The induction ceremonies are today with Crane and other Missouri standout athletes like St Louis Cardinals Vince Young, Kansas City Chiefs Bill Kenney, Kansas City outfielder Amos Otis and the Central Missouri baseball program. Way to go, Jim!

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/214540786/jim-crane-inducted-in-missouri-sports-hof/

The St Louis Cardinals were caught hacking the Astros web business, caught red handed and red faced from the embarrassment of being caught. MLB handed down the punishment of a pretty heinous cybercrime and many feel the Cardinals got off light. You can judge for yourself whether the MLB folks cut them too much slack. Here are the penalties, 1) the Cardinals were fined $2MM which is more than the estimated loss calculated by the government in their investigation and 2) the real damning penalty was that the Astros were awarded the Cardinals’ top two draft picks in this year’s draft. It’s just Houston’s lousy luck that St Louis doesn’t have a first round pick this year The Astros will get the Cardinals 2nd round pick (#56) and their Competitive Balance B pick which comes between the 2nd and 3rd rounds (#75). This will give Houston 5 picks in the top 100 picks in the draft. This could go a long way toward the Astros restocking their minor league system. The draft choices taken from St Louis is the most severe penalty of its kind ever handed down by the MLB league office. In the link below is the entire article from Astros.com and embedded in the article is a link to the entire judgement handed down by MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred.

Lance McCullers did some prep work for his post MLB career by becoming a reporter at the opening of the Super Bowl festivities and it was all recorded on snap chat. He even got a scowl from media nemesis Bill Belichick so he must have done something right!

http://m.mlb.com/cutfour/2017/01/30/214774674

The Astros are going to get some quality help when they head to West Palm Beach (believe it or not WPB is more of a pain in the ass to type than Kissimmee!) in two weeks. Former Astros player and manager Phil Garner will be heading down to Florida to help out a Astros training camp.

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/214730524/phil-garner-will-help-out-astros-at-camp/

The Astros website is making a suggestion to baseball fans by scheduling a baseball spring training tour of the Florida MLB team venues. Spring training begins in 16 days and pitchers and catchers report in just 15 days. Florida is terrific this time of year and if you are a baseball fan Grapefruit League parks are a real option for a mid-winter vacation and it’s cheaper than snow skiing.

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/214403304/ballpark-tours-offer-experiences-of-a-lifetime/

The St Louis Cardinals were caught hacking the Astros web business, caught red handed and red faced from the embarrassment of being caught. MLB handed down the punishment of a pretty heinous cybercrime and many feel the Cardinals got off light. You can judge for yourself whether the MLB folks cut them too much slack. Here are the penalties, 1) the Cardinals were fined $2MM which is more than the estimated loss calculated by the government in their investigation and 2) the real damning penalty was that the Astros were awarded the Cardinals’ top two draft picks in this year’s draft. It’s just Houston’s lousy luck that St Louis doesn’t have a first round pick this year The Astros will get the Cardinals 2nd round pick (#56) and their Competitive Balance B pick which comes between the 2nd and 3rd rounds (#75). This will give Houston 5 picks in the top 100 picks in the draft. This could go a long way toward the Astros restocking their minor league system. The draft choices taken from St Louis is the most severe penalty of its kind ever handed down by the MLB league office. In the link below is the entire article from Astros.com and embedded in the article is a link to the entire judgement handed down by MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred.

 

Lance McCullers did some prep work for his post MLB career by becoming a reporter at the opening of the Super Bowl festivities and it was all recorded on snap chat. He even got a scowl from media nemesis Bill Belichick so he must have done something right!

 

http://m.mlb.com/cutfour/2017/01/30/214774674

 

The Astros are going to get some quality help when they head to West Palm Beach (believe it or not WPB is more of a pain in the ass to type than Kissimmee!) in two weeks. Former Astros player and manager Phil Garner will be heading down to Florida to help out a Astros training camp.

 

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/214730524/phil-garner-will-help-out-astros-at-camp/

 

The Astros website is making a suggestion to baseball fans by scheduling a baseball spring training tour of the Florida MLB team venues. Spring training begins in 16 days and pitchers and catchers report in just 15 days. Florida is terrific this time of year and if you are a baseball fan Grapefruit League parks are a real option for a mid-winter vacation and it’s cheaper than snow skiing.

 

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/214403304/ballpark-tours-offer-experiences-of-a-lifetime/

I think the "lousy luck" thing is where most feel they got off easy. They knew something like this was coming. Most people think that's why they had no problem giving up their 1st round pick to get Dexter Fowler before the penalties came down. The Astros should have gotten their 1st and 2nd. The difference in the slot money allowed for signing is a lot between a 1st and that comp pick. At least they got something. I believe the 2 mil pretty much covers the slot money for the 2 picks they did get.

It's kind of old news Spoonbill but I agree that the Cardinals did some flim-flamming to get rid of their 1st round pick because goodness knows Dexter Fowler isn't worth a 1st round pick. I know that if we can see that the MLB commissioner can see it and if I was in his shoes I wouldn't let the Cards slide that easy. After all, they did hack the Astros data base which is absolutely no fair. If I'm Rob Manfred I take the first two picks in the 2017 draft and their first round pick in 2018 and forbid the Cardinals to deal the pick in the meantime. That, and the 2 mil fine and you could consider the Cardinals organization duly spanked. Either that or on top of the penalties already levied take the Cardinals top two prospects and give them to Houston. Either way it sends a clear message that you will pay dearly for cyber crime. Or how about this, do what the NCAA does and ban the Cardinals from post season play for 2 years. Yeah, I kinda like that one.

Do you realize that it is only 3 days away from pitchers and catchers reporting to their new spring training facility in Boca Raton?! 4 days until the first workouts and by Friday the whole team will be in full swing into spring training??!! The real question marks will be whether Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers are healthy and more importantly can stay that way. They are the key to the Astros success in their starting rotation. Keuchel is the only lefty in that rotation so he is the key ingredient. You really wish the Astros were a little more diverse sort of like what I consider the best starting rotation ever the 1995 Atlanta Braves rotation with Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Steve Avery and Kent Mercker. Glavine, Avery and Mercker were lefties while Maddux and Smoltz were righties.

To compare these staffs is difficult but I'll give it try. Keuchel is the ace of the Astros staff when healthy and he comes from the left side like Glavine and he pitches a lot like Glavine. If Keuchel can last as long as Glavine nobody around Houston will complain one bit. Keuchel and Glavine are nibblers. They make their bones on the black and at the knees. They have similar low to mid nineties fastballs with excellent off speed pitches. One of Glavine's out pitches was the circle change while Keuchel leans on his sinker and a slider as his out pitches.

Collin McHugh is more like Greg Maddux in that neither would overpower you with their fastball. Instead they relied on location and deception to get batters out. Greg Maddux was the only pitcher better than Tom Glavine in the 90's and both are in the Hall of Fame because of their stellar careers. You would hope that Keuchel and McHugh can be the new millennium dynamic duo. Two years ago Keuchel won his first Cy Young notching a 20-8 record, the most wins in baseball in 2015. McHugh was right behind him with 19 wins and the Astros prospects looked good heading into the 2016 season but Keuchel hurt himself early in the campaign, possibly in his first start at Yankee stadium on a very cold day. I can't prove it but Keuchel was never the same pitcher after that game as he stumbled to a 9-12 record and while he never went on the DL he never pitched another inning after mid August. McHugh without Keuchel leading the way also struggled in 2016. He did pitch well enough to earn double digit wins leading the Astros with a 13-10 record. If both Keuchel and McHugh can bounce back that will be a very good thing for the Astros.

Lance McCullers is a really good pitcher. He can throw with power with a + fastball and he has good offspeed stuff as well. He was first brought up in 2015 and he pitched a limited amount of innings and his allotted innings were used up by the first of September when Houston sat him down for the rest of the season. He also suffered some elbow issues which made sitting him the smart move. McCullers came back in 2016 stumbling out of the gate. He missed a lot of the first part of the season with a sort elbow that was very slow to heal. Once he did come back he showed why the Astros were so high on him but he began having elbow issues again in the summer and by the end of July he was done for the season. I have thought McCullers should have just gone ahead and got the Tommy John surgery he seems headed for but I understand why he hasn't. Tommy John surgery will cost a pitched a year and a half in rehab, possibly two years before he's fully healthy so I get the he and the Astros would like to avoid TJ surgery if they can. When he's on he reminds me of John Smoltz. Both are power pitchers with good off speed stuff. Smoltz eventually moved into the bullpen where he had a great career as a closer and all told his career landed him in the Hall of Fame with his friends Maddux and Glavine.

So, you see what I've done is blow up expectations for the top 3 guys in the Astros rotation by comparing them to 3 Hall of Famers. Not really very fair of me was it especially since Keuchel and McCullers need to prove they can stay healthy?

Want a dark horse to make the rotation? How about Chris Devenski? The guy just was awesome as the Astros long reliever. He finished with a 4-4 record with included 5 starts and he had the best ERA on the team with a 2.16 in 108.1 innings pitched in 2016. I say Devenski is a dark horse because the Astros have 5 guys who will battle for 2 or 3 spots depending on the health of McCullers or Keuchel. There is Mike Fiers, newcomer Charlie Morton, Joe Musgrove, David Paulino and Brad Peacock who will all be competing for a spot in the Astros rotation. And no, I'm not forgetting about Michael Feliz either. The Astros have an embarrassment of riches at pitcher the only question is who will stand up and take advantage of the opportunity? The process begins on Wednesday.....or should I say WEDNESDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today pitchers and catchers report for spring training! Tomorrow 2017 baseball officially begins!! On top of that the Astros will not be in Kissimmee where their spring training facilities were for so many years. They will move into their new spring training home in West Palm Beach today. The Astros will share the site with the Washington Nationals in a move to a modern 21st century facility that you will see isn’t quite completely ready in the article linked below. With football over with for all intents and purposes, unless you’re a draft geek, there is definitely a void to be filled.

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/215920654/new-spring-facility-set-to-welcome-astros/

The first spring training game will be Saturday February 25th against the Detroit Tigers at their facility but in the meantime we will see articles about how the team looks as they gear up for the upcoming season. Of course the biggest news will be how Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers look as they are both coming off an injury plagued season in 2016. Their health could be the key to the success or failure of 2017 season. Houston has also upgraded their offensive capabilities by letting go some guys who did good things for Houston but ultimately they did not generate enough offense. Gone are Luis Valbuena, Jason Castro and Colby Rasmus and replacing them are Josh Reddick, Brian McCann and Nori Aoki signaling a definite upgrade on the Astros position player roster. The Astros also have a new starting pitcher candidate in Charlie Morton who was signed in the offseason and gone is reliever Pat Neshak. The Astros are hoping that Keuchel and McCullers are really healthy so the top 3 starters would be Keuchel, McCullers and Collin McHugh leaving Morton, Chris Devenski, Mike Fiers, Brad Peacock, Michael Feliz, Joe Musgrove and David Paulino to battle it out for the other 2 spots in the starting rotation. As good as Devenski was in long relief last year he may be battling his own success as a reliever as well as the other pitchers for a spot as a starter. I think, barring injury, Mike Fiers is going to earn a spot. As an end of the rotation guy Fiers is a really good option and it’s hard to sit the only guy in Minute Maid Park history to throw a no-hitter for the Astros which Fiers did in 2015. In 2016 Fiers was serviceable with an 11-8 record with a 4.48 ERA in 31 appearances with 30 starts. He ate up some innings, 168.2, with 134 K’s posting a WHIP of 1.36. The only way Fiers isn’t in the starting rotation, IMO, is if he just sucks this spring or a couple of the other contenders are just lights out. Joe Musgrove and Michael Feliz are definite contenders for the starting rotation. Houston has a bit of an embarrassment of riches in young pitchers and it will be hard to find spots for all of them.

Bob Watson was one of the first great Astros players. In the article linked below we find out that Watson had more to contend with than the fastballs by Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson. The 1960’s was a time of racial turmoil and social upheaval and prejudice was still a real issue. Watson was also baseball’s first black GM and it was with Houston. The linked article below is a really nice look back at Watson’s career.

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/215810926/bob-watson-overcame-racism-in-astros-career/

You want to help when you go into a job. Your own personal pride drives you enough that you want to do your part. We go to work when we feel lousy and ought to be in bed because there is that something inside of us that won’t give in to aches and pains or fever and chills or inflamed rotator cuffs. We want to gut these things out because you just want to be there for your co-workers or out of loyalty to your employer or because you are just bat-crap crazy. That’s apparently what was wrong with Dallas Keuchel last season. In the article linked below from Astros.com Keuchel talks about how he tried to pitch through shoulder pain with less than stellar results like a 9-12 W/L record and 4.55 ERA in 26 starts in 2016. Everyone who talked about Keuchel in games he pitched last year speculated that perhaps his mechanics were off or some other reason why you wasn’t getting the results he enjoyed in 2015. Little did anyone know he went into the season with a pain in his throwing shoulder. Even though he gutted out a complete game win on opening day in New York against the Yankees that freezing cold weather on that day probably didn’t do him any good and he was never the same the rest of the season. In the article Keuchel says he feels like a new man and that is certainly great news.

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/216126678/dallas-keuchel-had-shoulder-pain-all-of-2016/

So, spring training has begun. Just prior to the start of the spring activities Collin McHugh became the last of the seven arbitration eligible players to get his 2017 contract settled. The arbitration board ruled in favor of McHugh who will now make $3.85MM this season which is what he was asking for instead of the $3.35MM the Astros were offering. There’s nothing like a cool half mil to brighten up your outlook for spring training! McHugh deserved the extra money. He has been the Astros best pitcher over the last two seasons, Dallas Keuchel’s Cy Young 2015 season notwithstanding. Over the last two campaigns McHugh has gone 32-19 and he led the Astros in wins last season with 13 after notching 19 in 2015 2nd only to the 20 wins Keuchel had to lead the majors in wins and earn his first Cy Young award. McHugh struggled with his command some last season and that needs to improve but to have your 2nd or 3rd man in your starting rotation projecting double digit wins that’s pretty important for any team. With the addition of guys like Josh Reddick, Brian McCann and Nori Aoki it looks like McHugh and the rest of the Astros staff should get more run support which should translate into more wins for the starting pitchers.

This spring the Astros will be joined by two former members of the organization. Starting pitcher Roy Oswalt and 3rd baseman and later Astros manager Phil Garner will be in West Palm Beach as guest instructors. Oswalt was the ace of the Astros staff for 10 years during the period of the greatest success by the team culminating in 2005 when the Astros made their first, and so far only, World Series appearance. Phil Garner was known as “Scrap Iron” because he was such a tough player. He later managed the Astros from 2004 to 2007 which included that trip to the World Series. It will be good have both of these guys imparting their experience and expertise to this young Astros team.

Dallas Keuchel may not be worrying about his left shoulder so far but Evan Gattis is already feeling inflammation in his right (throwing) shoulder. He was held out of bullpen work yesterday as he got an anti-inflammatory shot in the shoulder to, as he put it, nip this thing in the bud before it gets to be a problem. He was limited to hitting off a tee yesterday and likely will be only allowed to hit the next couple of days to give the shot a chance to do its thing and give the shoulder a chance to calm down. Gattis said that, “…it’s no big deal.”, when he talked to reporters yesterday.

A final thought for today, I was thinking about Collin McHugh and as I mentioned earlier how good he’s been the past two seasons for the Astros it occurred to me that while McHugh has won a lot of games for Houston it hasn’t really been about him being dominant against opponents in notching those wins. Having an ERA over 4 can attest to the fact that he hasn’t been a “dominant” pitcher by any means. What McHugh is however is gritty with an almost bulldog-like tenacity that keeps him battling even though he may not have his best stuff. Dallas Keuchel is the same type of pitcher, mentally tough, determined with a never-say-die attitude. The difference between them is that Keuchel’s demeanor on the mound is more intimidating than McHugh’s. With his fiery attitude and that mountain man beard there is definitely an intimidation factor to Keuchel. McHugh, on the other hand looks like somebody’s 15 year old kid brother. Randy Johnson was scary. Nolan Ryan was scary. Collin McHugh is like a teddy bear but he’s a teddy bear that gets the job done. I suppose that is why McHugh reminds me of Orel Hershiser who had his best seasons in the 1980’s with the LA Dodgers. Hershiser wasn’t intimidating but he got the job done. Because of his tenacity and grit Hershiser’s nickname was Bulldog. We can only hope that McHugh has the career similar to Hershiser and we hope he has a year like Hershiser did in 1988 when he led the majors in wins, won the Cy Young, won a Gold Glove award, set an MLB record for 59 consecutive scoreless innings, won the World Series and was named MVP of the NL League Championship Series and MVP of the World Series. A pitcher just can’t do more than that and it would be awesome if Houston got a season like that from McHugh.

It's getting to the point that it's not spring training unless Astros prospect LJ Hoes gets suspended for failing a drug test. That's not fair to the Astros or Hoes because he hasn't been with the team for 2 years. Last year he spent with Baltimore but this week it was announced he will be suspended for 50 games. That suspension won't start until a team signs him to a contract and it might be hard for a team to sign a player they won't have available for nearly two months. At 27 years of age Hoes may be seeing his MLB career in the rearview mirror.

I like Jake Marisnick. He is a whale of a defensive player with a surprisingly strong arm. He is so good in the field he is considered the Astros best defensive outfielder. Pretty sweet compliment considering he is in the same company with Josh Reddick and George Springer. The problem with Jake has been his bat. Last year he hit .209 with 5 HR's and 21 RBI's. Pretty weak numbers there. He does have above average speed which could turn into more than his 10 steals (in 15 attempts) if he can just get on base more. He is always brought in to pinch run in critical situations which is a testament to that speed. In the link below the article from Astros.com talks about Jake's offseason concentration on improving his hitting.

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/216443770/astros-jake-marisnick-out-to-improve-offense/

The Astros signed former Cuban National Team star Yulieski Gurriel last summer. Gurriel was a 3rd baseman but with the emergence of former 1st round pick Alex Bregman at 3rd base last year the Astros needed to find a spot for Gurriel. The only real open position was 1st base so this spring the Astros and Gurriel are working to make the transition to a new position.

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/216394570/astros-yulieski-gurriel-moving-to-first-base/

The injury front has Evan Gattis saying his sore shoulder is doing much better. He spent a few days just doing some hitting but not participating in catchers drills.

Lance McCullers depends on his curve ball and this past week in a discussion with his orthopedic surgeon he was told that, because of the way he holds the ball and his arm action in throwing the pitch, he puts minimal stress on his elbow. McCullers was up and down from the DL last season because of elbow soreness. This spring he has been working on slight changes in his mechanics to help alleviate the shoulder and elbow problems that have plagued him early in his career. McCullers says his goal is to make 34-35 starts during the season a help the Astros with a potential deep run in the playoffs. Let's hope he is able to fulfill those goals.

Carlos Correa had his wisdom teeth pulled last Thursday which is questionable timing considering position players were to report for spring training the same day and begin practicing the next day, Friday. The dentist told him to take it easy for 4 or 5 days before beginning his work with the team which means he should be on the field tomorrow or Wednesday. You wonder why he didn't get it done a week earlier but such is life.

Michael Feliz is looking like a guy Houston will use in long relief out of the bullpen. So far this spring he has been elevating his fastball and pitching with confidence.

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/216464432/astros-like-michael-feliz-for-strikeout-totals/

The Astros first spring training game is this Saturday against Detroit.

The Astros begin spring training games on Saturady and it will be the first time we get to see the revamped lineup. Well, a little glimpse maybe. The first and foremost thing we will see as ST begins is some of the young prospects that were invited to ST with a lot of familiar faces in the crowd like Tyler White, AJ Reed and Colin Moran not to mention a big dose of Max Stassi. Another thing that will complicate the ST game lineups is the upcoming World Baseball Classic. Houston has 8 players who will participate for various countries and they will begin leaving to join their country’s roster as early as next week. Linked below is an article from Astros.com about the challenges for AJ Hinch and opportunities that will present themselves to a bunch of Astros prospects. The WBBC lasts from March 6 until March 16.

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/216824780/aj-hinch-on-spring-training-2017-classic/

The first 5 games of ST will not feature any appearances by the top 3 guys in the Astros starting pitching rotation. All three, Dallas Keuchel, Lance McCullers and Collin McHugh are on their own pitching program and will not pitch in a live ST Game for the first week or so. Below is an article from Astros.com in which AJ Hinch outlines his starting pitchers for the first 5 games of ST.

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/216716308/aj-hinch-shares-pitching-plan-for-astros/

Brad Peacock will get the ball to start ST against Detroit Saturday afternoon. Peacock gets an added bonus this spring because he will be playing just a few short miles from his home in Wellington Fla.

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/216824778/brad-peacock-on-spring-training-near-home/

Baseball began for the Astros on Saturday as they faced the Detroit Tigers at their Lakeland Fla home field, Joker Marchant Stadium. The Astros looked good in spots but P Edison Frias probably wishes he had slept in as he gave up 3 hits after a leadoff walk, all in a row, all back-to-back-to-back homers by Andrew Romine, Ian Kinsler and Victor Martinez and he was then ejected for hitting the next batter, Miguel Cabrera, in the arm with an errant curve ball. In all Frias pitched to 5 batters giving up a walk, 3 home runs with a hit batsman before he was tossed. Cabrera wasn’t mad at Frias because he probably realized that the kid just couldn’t locate his pitches and Frias said as much after the game. Brad Peacock started the game and he went 2 scoreless innings before giving way to Frias in the 3rd. Peacock’s outing was encouraging for a guy who hopes to crack the starting rotation. It wasn’t a great day for Astros pitching as prospects Cy Snead (2 runs in 2 innings of work) and CJ Riefenhauser (1 run in 1 inning of work) allowed runs in the 5-7 innings that extended the Tigers lead after that 4 run 3rd. The real disappointment came from Kevin Chapman who is also vying for that final spot in the Astros rotation. In 2/3 of an inning he gave up 4 hits 4 runs, 2 earned, and he had a walk, a K and he gave up a home run. The Astros offense scored 2 runs in the 4th and 2 more in the 8th but that was it and the 4 runs they scored wasn’t enough to overcome a bad pitching day by most of the Astros staff that pitched on Saturday. The final score was 11-4 but that doesn’t matter so much, it’s spring training and 7 of the runs allowed were by guys who will be in minor league camp by mid-March anyway.

On Sunday the Astros pitching fared much, much better against the Atlanta Braves. Houston won the game on the strength of a Max Stassi 2 run home run in the eighth inning making the final score 3-2. The Braves opened the scoring in the 1st on a Freddie Freeman RBI single to give the Tribe a 1-0 early advantage. Evan Gattis singled in Nori Aoki in the 3rd to tie the game and no other runs were scored in the game until Stassi’s HR in the 8th gave Houston a 3-1 lead. Astros prospect Keegan Yuhl came on in the 9th for Houston and he was able to close out the game but not without giving up a 2 out RBI single to the Braves Christian Walker to close the gap to 3-2. That’s as far as the Braves got as Yuhl retired Travis Demeritte on a fly ball to left to end the game. Astros starter Brady Rogers had a decent outing as he is also is in the hunt for the final Astros starting spot as he allowed 2 hits and a run in his 2 innings of work. In between Rodgers and Yuhl the Astros sent Luke Gregerson, Jordan Jankowski, Ashur Tolliver, Aaron West, Reymin Guduan and Tyson Perez to the mound and none of those 6 pitchers allowed a run in the 6 total innings they pitched. The only real bitch you could have is how ineffective the Houston hitters were with runners in scoring position. They went 1-13 in those situations and you would hope to see better than that. That’s okay though because it’s spring training and most of the hitters in the lineup yesterday, on the weekend for that matter, were guys who won’t be on the field or the roster come April.

Saturday was a perfect day. Temps were in the 60’s most of the day, the sun was out and there was no wind to speak of. I had an errand to run in the morning and the first song I heard when I got in my truck was “Center Field” by John Fogerty. The Astros preseason games began after lunch and Lamar was already playing. Apparently the guys from Fairfield University were more inspired by the day than our Cards as they beat the then 6-1 LU team 6-2 in a game that started at 10:30 am. I didn’t know one thing about Fairfield U until I looked them up and it turns out they are in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and, yes, they are a D-I school. The Cards and Stags played 4 games beginning on Friday. Fairfield took the opener 7-6 handing Lamar their first loss of the season but Lamar bounced back on Saturday winning both games of a double header 19-9 and 5-1 before losing Sunday morning to Fairfield 6-2 giving the Cards their 2nd loss on the season. This was Fairfield’s open weekend of their baseball season. It suppose they are getting the late start because they are from Connecticut and it’s still probably colder than a well digger’s backside up there (it’s 32o at 8 am this morning). You’d have to say it’s a great beginning for them to split a series on the road while it’s disappointing for Lamar to lose it’s first two games of the season. Either way all I can hear in my head is, “….put me in coach I’m ready to play, today. Put me in coach I’m ready to play today. Look at me, I can be centerfield….”

The Astros have been up and down so far this week. On Monday, the first day the regular position starters all played together, except Carlos Correa who made his spring debut on Sunday, rallied for 4 runs in the top of the ninth to erase a 2-1 Mets lead and turn it into what became a 5-2 Astros win. 6 Astros pitchers combined for the victory with the 5 man to pitch Keegan Yuhl getting the win with a scoreless 8th and Framber Valdez got the save. Joe Musgrove got the start giving up just one run in 2 innings of work while the 4th pitcher in the Astros lineup allowed a run in his one inning of work. Both men gave up their run via a solo home run. The Mets’ Asdrubal Cabrera hit his in the 1st to lead off the game and Wilmer Flores hit his with 2 out in the 7th. Houston got their first run on an RBI single in the 3rd and they scored their 4 runs in 9th on an RBI single by AJ Reed, a bases loaded walk to Anibal Sierra and a 2-run RBI by Tony Kemp. If the Astros had run the bases better they might have scored 10 runs in the inning instead of 4.

On Tuesday Houston played their 4th straight road game but fortunately they were in their home park in West Palm Beach. The Astros share the facility with the Washington Nationals and they hosted the game yesterday against Houston. The Nats beat Houston 4-3 in what was a decently pitched ball game by both sides. Houston actually had a 3-2 lead heading into the bottom of the 8th but Edison Frias gave up 2 hits and a run in the 8th while Ashur Tolliver gave up a walk off 2 out home run to the Nats Michael Taylor. Houston’s offense came on a Carlos Beltran 2-run HR with Carlos Correa on base. The Beltran dinger was the first to be hit in the Astros/Nats new ball park. The Astros 3rd run came off an RBI fielder’s choice double play with the bases loaded. Carlos Correa grounded to Wilmer Difoe at short to begin a Difoe to Murphy to Snyder DP with the bases loaded that scored Tony Kemp from 3rd. Houston used a whopping 9 pitchers yesterday beginning with Mike Fiers and ending with Ashur Toliver. Beside Frias and Tolliver allowing runs Ken Giles, who came on in the 4th, allowed 3 hits, including a solo HR to the Nat’s catcher Derek Norris, in just one inning of work. Everyone else all pitched scoreless innings. Mike Fiers was the only one to go more than one inning,he pitched two just as the other starters have done so far this spring. In the first he gave up back-to-back doubles to Daniel Murphy and Bryce Harper who drove in the only run Fiers allowed. In the second Fiers gave up two more hits, both singles and both with 2 outs, before his day was done and a fly out by Trea Turner.

Today the Astros play their second game in the their new home park and this time they are the home team. They host the Marlins who are giving the home team a lousy welcome to the park. They currently lead Houston 5-1 in the top of the 4th inning. Chris Devenski started the game and he was supposed to go two innings but he struggled badly allowing 4 runs on just 2 hits with 2 walks and a K. Three of the runs Miami scored came on a 3-run homer by SS Miguel Rojas, the Marlins #9 hitter, with one out in the 2nd. That was all AJ Hinch could take of Devenski who had a very disappointing 1st outing of the spring. Taking Devenski’s place was Trent Thornton who went the final 2/3 of the 2nd inning and Francisco Martes who, in 2 innings of work, allowed 2 hits and 1 run. Houston got it’s only run of the game so far from an RBI single by Yuli Gurreil that plated Josh Reddick. The Astros are coming up in the bottom of the 4th with Evan Gattis, Max Stassi and Gurriel the first 3 batters of the inning.