Sunday, January 22, 2017

Sunday Morning Hot Links

Yesterday was FanFest at Minute Maid Park in one of the checkpoints of the offseason. We're 23 days away from Pitchers & Catchers reporting. 

*26,000 people came to FanFest. Hinch, on expectations:
Our players understand our hopes and where we are. I want us to embrace that, I want us to take it seriously and have a good time. Winning an offseason or being active in adding all these guys doesn't mean anything. You have to go out and play the games. 

Click the link to read about how predictably excited everyone is.

*Jeff Luhnow said yesterday that he doesn't envision the Astros making any additions between now and the beginning of the season. Taking him at his word, this means the Astros won't be adding another starting pitcher, or a lefty reliever option beyond Tony Sipp. Or if you want to get really nuts he's trying to brainwash the White Sox into lowering the price on Jose Quintana, or the Rays with Chris Archer. Luhnow:
I feel good about the roster we have right now. The roster we have is probably the roster we're going to have to start the season. We're always open to considering ways to improve it, but right now I'd set the expectations low there's going to be any major changes. We've got a good roster of guys that I think can compete for the division title this year. 

*Brian McCann is ready to go.

*Preston Tucker says he feels good, but he hasn't yet taken any swings after surgery on his shoulder

*The Astros signed RHP Dayan Diaz to a minor-league deal with an invite to Spring Training. Diaz, 27, was in the Astros system until the end of the 2012 season. He has a 2.47 ERA in 113IP at Triple-A. 

*The Astros hosted a Prospect Development Pipeline event yesterday. 

*Jeff Bagwell's election to the HOF should be a source of Connecticut pride, writes this guy from Connecticut.

*FanGraphs: What would a post-expansion MLB look like? 

*Awful news out of the Dominican Republic as Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura died in a car accident. Separately, former MLB infielder Andy Marte died in a car accident.