Saturday Evening Hot Links

The sweetest sound in the world is ice melting off your roof.

*Ryan Pressly is presumably the closer for 2021. Brent Strom:

My guess right now is Ryan Pressly, who did a great job last year, save for two games. He only had like two bad outings last year...one game in Arizona that kind of blew him up a little bit, and then again in Texas, where his velocity was way below and a guy hit a home run to tie it up. Right now, I would say he is probably the leaders, having been with us.

Pressly allowed 5H/3ER, 1K:2BB in his first two appearances (0.2IP, nine batters faced), settling at a 40.50 ERA by the time both Verlander and Osuna were done for the year. Over his next 21 appearances, Pressly allowed 16H/5ER, 28K:5BB, 2.21 ERA / 1.03 WHIP, including that Texas game Strom mentioned. Dusty Baker just wants him healthy.

Strom also noted that Steve Cishek (which seems like a promising report on the chances of Cishek making the Opening Day roster), Joe Smith, and Pedro Baez could factor into the closer role, and that it's up to Dusty Baker. 

In that link we also find that Andre Scrubb and Bryan Abreu are drawing early praise, there's an awful lot of pitchers in camp, and Dusty Baker had very nice things to say about Pedro Gomez (who seemed like a very good person). 

*And here we find a very good article from Chandler Rome on the importance of Brent Strom. Strom:

There's this feeling out there that we do something super special as an organization. I think we just do our due diligence and we turn every rock over to try to find how we can help whatever pitchers we acquire. 

I truly hope there's a Brent Strom understudy.

*Joe Smith is very happy to be back with the Astros. Dusty, on Smith:

Joe is one of the leaders on this team. Guys listen to him, they gravitate toward him, they follow him. Not only is it great to have Joe in the bullpen, but he's a quality guy that we all trust. 

*Framber Valdez: "I want to have some nasty pitches this year." I, too, would like Framber to have some nasty pitches this year. 

*Jerome Solomon: Dusty isn't the retiring type.

*SI's first Power Rankings of 2021 have the Astros at #8. 

*Forrest Whitley, who may or may not exist, is in West Palm Beach but not working out at the team complex, for some reason. James Click:

Occasionally, out of an abundance of caution, there are protocol steps that have to be taken players and personnel are cleared to report. We expect those steps to be completed soon, which will still give everyone enough time to prepare for the season.

Related: Here is a really good interview from FanGraphs with the aforementioned possibly-alive Forrest Whitley, who is a Trevor Bauer fanboy. It's in there, I swear. Also, there's this quote:

Everything I've done since I've been with the Astros has...pretty much been self-driven. I haven't had much outside influence. I'm pretty stubborn. I don't always like to listen to people.

If there's anything that the Astros have been about since 2012, it's definitely without a doubt just sort of letting players do whatever they want. (But also keep in mind the above-linked interview with Brent Strom). 

But there's also this one: "It goes without saying that this season is super, super important for me."

It's a really, really insightful read, lots of mechanics/grip analysis. Good interview, and it's not pay-walled, so have at it. I'm actually really excited to see what Forrest Whitley does this year. But also I hope he stops listening to Tyler Bauer. 

*Missed this, from earlier in the week when the state was freezing over, but Keith Law released his Astros' farm system report. Law:

The Astros are still finding hidden value through R&D and some great work on the player development side, and have a number of guys who look like breakout candidates for 2021, if we get a minor-league season.

The Top 20 - click the link to read the write-ups:

1. Forrest Whitley

2. Luis Garcia

3. Pedro Leon

4. Hunter Brown

5. Jeremy Pena

6. Jairo Solis

7. Korey Lee

8. Shawn Dubin

9. Colin Barber

10. Jordan Brewer

11. Tyler Ivey

12. Alex Santos

13. Brett Conine

14. Luis Santana

15. Freudis Nova

16. Alex McKenna

17. Joe Perez

18. Nathan Perry

19. Zach Daniels

20. Austin Hansen

Jeremy Pena is #66 on FanGraphs' Top 100 prospects list. Brett Conine is #70 and Forrest Whitley is #100 on Dan Szymborski's Top 100 ZiPS prospect list for 2021. 

Kevin Goldstein is podcasting again!

*Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve teamed up to provide 25,000 meals to children affected by the storm this week.

*Outside: Lessons from the 100 most influential studies in sports medicine.

*A Musical Selection:

Monday Morning Hot Links

The Astros lost their first official Spring Training game of the season, 2-1, not that it really matters.

-Framber Valdez threw 2IP, 0H/0ER, 3K:1BB, and got up to 95mph.
-Kyle Tucker was 0x3 with 1K.
-Alex De Goti (Italian for "Alex of Goti") was 1x1 with a double and a walk.
-Drew Ferguson (RBI) and Nick Tanielu had the other extra-base hits.

*Dusty plans to leave George Springer in the leadoff spot. Dusty:
If it's not broke, don't fix it.

Altuve, Bregman, Gurriel, and Correa will be in Lakeland for Monday's game against the Tigers - their Spring debuts. That's almost three hours on a bus each way. Sounds fun. Bryan Abreu will start against Future Astros Great Matthew Boyd.

*You really need to read this McTaggart piece on Dusty Baker and his literally-one-time player Adam Greenberg.

*Dusty, on Kyle Tucker:
The sky's the limit on what he can do. Sometimes you either have to wait for your opportunity or take your opportunity. That's the position he's in now.

*The Astros are expecting more out of Zack Greinke in 2020.

Greinke, on getting pulled in favor of Will Harris in Game 7, noted that was pretty much how he'd been used all season:
I just (pitched) my five innings, six innings, and let the bullpen do the rest. That's kind of how I was being used. It was kind of expected.

*Chandler Rome on new relievers Blake Taylor (Jake Marisnick trade) and Andre Scrubb (Tyler White trade).

Sign-Stealing Stuff

*The Astros did not confiscate the signs from Saturday's Grapefruit League opener. It is the policy of FITTEAM WHATEVER IT'S CALLED STADIUM to not allow signs into the stadium.

*Mike Fiers was cheered by fans before making his 2020 Spring debut.

*I updated the Sign-Stealing Timeline to include a Buster Olney report from September 6, 2017 that the Red Sox had evidence the Yankees were using a YES Network camera trained on Boston's bench coach in order to steal signs. You can read the whole timeline in its entirety here.

*"He let the Astros players slide. Now he's paying for it." From the NY Times: The Trials of Rob Manfred.

Other Stuff

*Madison Bumgarner has been competing in rodeos under a fake name.

*Is Houston's Jonny Rhodes the most subversive chef in the country?

*Wired: Wikipedia is the last best place on the internet.

*A Musical Selection:

Friday Morning Hot Links

Good morning! The Astros had their last off-day until [squints] Monday. They open a series against the Cardinals tonight.

*Don't forget to pick up your tickets to tomorrow's Lima Time Time Live Show at The Secret Group! Tickets are $5 and yes, we get a cut. Now is your chance to get all of your friends together and help us make a little scratch.

*Next up: You need this redesigned Air Yordan shirt. And this Michael Brantley: Professional Hitter shirt.

*Alright, on to Bidness.

*Anyone who is a Tony Kemp fan (which is limited to Any Human on Earth) has the Sad as it was announced he will be DFA'd in advance of Carlos Correa's activation from the DL.

We all know the situation:
-Tony Kemp seems like a legitimately great human being.
-Tony Kemp was out of options, so he would have to pass through waivers (he won't) in order to get sent back to Round Rock.
-Myles Straw is a little more versatile, and is definitely faster, providing more late-game options for Hinch. Ultimately the Astros went with Straw.
-Tony Kemp can now be included in any trade package put together between now and the 31st.

Kemp, 2019: .227/.308/.417, 29K:16BB
Straw, 2019: .256/.376/.321, 20K:15BB

You could make a case that the Astros did this to themselves by bringing Kemp up in 2017 for a total of 17 games - two in April, and then again as a September call-up. He made ten starts in those 17 games, burning an option year. Why was Kemp brought up in April 2017? Because Teoscar Hernandez was injured in a collision with Altuve in his first MLB game of the 2017 season (April 25). Teoscar Hernandez was playing because Jake Marisnick was on the 7-Day Concussion List, and came back five days later. That's stupid. Kemp was optioned back to Fresno after two games. It sucks for Tony Kemp, it sucks for us. Kemp will find a landing spot with a team and get an opportunity. And he still has a Ring. Best of luck to Tony Kemp in the future. Him and Evan Gattis hugging is one of the greatest things in franchise history. Better than Jeff Kent's helmet flip.

It also frees up one spot on the 40-Man Roster. Tyler White's DFA combined with Kemp's DFA makes it 38, but adding Correa from the 60-Day IL will bring it to 39. The Trade Deadline is five days away.

Let's look back at the 2013 Draft, and do a Where Are They Now?
1-1: Mark Appel. Retired.
2-40: Andrew Thurman: Traded to Atlanta in the Evan Gattis/James Hoyt deal, January 2015.
3-74: Kent Emanuel. 4.26 ERA in Round Rock in 2019.
4-107: Conrad Gregor. Last played in the Astros Org in 2016. Currently with New Jersey, of the independent Canadian-American Association.
5-137: Tony Kemp. DFA'd, July 2019.
6-167: Jacob Nottingham. Traded to Oakland in the Scott Kazmir deal, July 2015. Currently with the Brewers' organization.
7-197: James Ramsey. Last played in 2016.
8-227: Jason Martin: Traded to Pittsburgh in the Gerrit Cole deal, January 2018.
9-257: Brian Holberton: Last played in 2015.
10-287: Austin Nicely: Last played in the Astros Org in 2015. Currently pitching for Evansville in the independent Frontier League.

Only Kent Emanuel is still with the Astros (from the 1st 10 Rounds). Kemp, Nottingham, and Martin made it to the Majors from the Astros' 2013 Draft. Oh there was one more guy: 33rd Round pick Tyler White and...

*The Astros traded Tyler White to the Dodgers for 24-year old reliever Andre Scrubb. Scrubb throws in the mid-90s with a "funky delivery." A former 8th Round pick by the Dodgers, Scrubb has a 2.37 ERA / 1.21 WHIP in 57IP (66K:28BB) for Double-A Tulsa. He'll report to Corpus.

Tyler White is a sweetheart and had very nice things to say about the Astros on Instagram.

*The Mets "want to move" Noah Syndergaard and a "Rival Exec" said that the price for Noah Syndergaard is "a Top 30 prospect and a couple of other solid pieces."

*An AL scout says the Astros need a starting pitcher, but the farm system isn't as deep as you might think. In order to take care of the first thing, the Astros might have to deal Tucker or Whitley.

*Still other Unnamed Execs think the Deadline will be quiet through the weekend and then pop off on Monday.

*Marcus Stroman news:
-Joel Sherman says he's likely the biggest-named pitcher to get traded.
-Andy Martino says the Blue Jays might actually extend him.
-Jon Morosi says he has sources that say both Kyle Tucker for Stroman wouldn't be enough and that the Astros wouldn't trade Tucker for Stroman straight up."

*Madison Bumgarner news:
-Mark Feinsand says the Giants will hang on to him.
-Hank Schulman says the Giants haven't made a decision either way.

No one knows anything about anything. And anyone claiming otherwise is either lying, or is an idiot.

*Troy Tulowitzki retired, ending a 13-year career hampered by injuries. Tulo spent 10 seasons in Colorado, hitting .299/.371/.513. Then he got traded to Toronto and from mid-2015 through 2019 played in a total of 243 games, hitting .249/.313/.416. He was really good, and a really good Colorado hitter. Now he'll be an assistant coach for the University of Texas.

*Protests in Puerto Rico got their governor to resign.

*How Stan Smith went from a decent tennis player to the most popular trainer on the planet.

*A Musical Selection and damn if it's not a referendum on society right now: