*I talked about the Astros last night with Sammy, my friend Joe's 10-year old son, for about half an hour last night.
*You may not have heard of Sammy before, but our guest on Lima Time Time tonight may sound familiar: Lance McCullers, Jr.
*Buster Olney writes that it would be a good idea for A.J. Hinch to tuck Josh Reddick in the #2-hole, and put as much distance between him and Brian McCann in the lineup as possible.
*Ken Rosenthal says that Alex Bregman would have to highlight a trade for Chris Sale.
*Richard Justice gives an overview of the major players and pimps in free agency...dependent on the new CBA being ratified soon.
*Speaking of the CBA, which expires at 11:59pm Wednesday, there are "high hopes" for a deal getting done but the possibility of an off-season lockout remains. Allegedly on the table is MLB cutting the compensation clause of signing big-name free agent.
*Former Astros minor-leaguer, and minor-league manager Josh Bonifay became the Rangers' major-league field coordinator last week. Bonifay was announced as the Astros minor-league player development coordinator in September.
*FanGraphs' David Laurilia wrote in his Sunday links column (scroll down about halfway) that Chris Devenski was 2016's most valuable rookie pitcher.
*This article is missing a pretty major part (fear, violence, terror) of Fidel Castro's reign in Cuba, but here's an article describing the importance of sports - particularly baseball - and culture under Castro.
*SABR: A bomb threat in 1970 gave fans the opportunity to mingle on the field with Twins players.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
