Wednesday Morning Hot Links

Here's wut u knead 2 no to win your watercooler:

*The Astros have spent just over $97m per All-Star over the past ten years. 

*21st Round pick Mac Marshall tells NOLA.com that he "wants to be at LSU" and has not been in contact with the Astros. 

*Jeff Luhnow denies that the Astros are using Brady Aiken's physical against him as leverage, while Jim Callis wonders if Aiken would command $25-30m were he to be granted free agency by MLB. Luhnow:

We took Brady Aiken with the No. 1 pick in the Draft. That's not a pick you play games with. It's absurd that anyone would think that. 

*MLBPA Executive Director Tony Clark said of the recent Astros/Aiken blowup:

It is disappointing on any number of levels to think what has happened in that situation and what has happened with respect to the integrity of the draft process in general. You can be assured that the manipulation we think that happened in this case is going to lead us to have some conversations.

*In that link, "A Person With Knowledge of the Situation" said that Aiken had a UCL, just "not much."

*Here's a profile on undrafted free agent signee Aaron Vaughn.

*Brett Wallace was traded to Toronto for cash considerations.

Brett Wallace signs minor-league deal with Baltimore

Brett Wallace agrees to minor league deal. Taking physical. Will report to twin lakes #Orioles
— Roch Kubatko (@masnRoch) March 23, 2014

Brett Wallace released

Jose Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle tweeted out this morning that the Astros have released Brett Wallace.

For realz:

"He's been a big part of this organization for past few years, but we didn't see a role for him at the big league level," Luhnow on Wallace.
— Jose de Jesus Ortiz (@OrtizKicks) March 12, 2014

Back when the Astros flipped Anthony Gose to Toronto for Wallace, we said - naively - "Looks like the Astros got their 1B of the future!"

Keith Law wrote at the time:
He's twice as valuable a prospect as Gose. Despite concerns over his lateral mobility, he's a capable first baseman who will hit for average, get on base and have enough power to be an above-average or better player there.

Toronto GM Alex Anthopoulos said:
We thought long and hard about this. We tried to find ways to make this trade without including Brett Wallace, but the Astros were pretty adamant that Brett was going to need to be part of this, and we ultimately made the decision. We felt this was the right move for us.

Wallace debuted in 2008, hitting .337/.427/.530 between Low-A Quad Cities and Double-A Springfield, earning him a #40 prospect ranking from Baseball America and a #37 ranking from Baseball Prospectus. He followed that up with a .293/.367/.455 line between Springfield, Triple-A Memphis, and Triple-A Sacramento after he was traded to Oakland in the Matt Holliday deal. Wallace jumped to #27 in BA's Top 100 prior to 2010. Traded to Toronto in the Michael Taylor deal, Wallace hit .301/.359/.509 for Triple-A Las Vegas.

And then he came to Houston. In 51 games at the end of the 2010 season, Wallace hit .222/.296/.319 for the Astros. He showed flashes of the player he was in the minors and got multiple chances to prove himself. In April 2011, Wallace started the season hitting .388/.458/.529, and then didn't have an OPS over .800 in any month for the rest of the season. In August 2012, he hit .287/.344/.483 with four homers, and then followed that up with a .608 OPS in September.

2013 happened. He opened the season on a 1x24 stretch with 17 strikeouts (22 of his first 46 PAs of the season ended with him walking back to the dugout with a blank, dazed look in his eyes). When Wallace came back from OKC, he hit 11 homers in July and August, but collapsed again in September. In parts of four seasons (1077 PAs), Wallace hit .242/.313/.391 with 318 strikeouts, 80 walks, and 29 home runs for the Astros. This was a make-or-break Spring for Brett Wallace. We like to say that Spring Training doesn't matter, unless it does. That Wallace was 2x14 with eight strikeouts in eight games this month meant that the Astros had to pull the plug on Wallace.

Wallace's legacy - for me (it may be something else for you) - is that sometimes can't-miss prospects miss. Acquiring Wallace was one of the jewels of Ed Wade's tenure. Maybe it's my own fault for thinking that Wallace was the 1B heir to Jeff Bagwell - not as good, of course, but the guy who would be at first for the next ten to fifteen years. You won't find anyone who thought that this is how Brett Wallace's Houston story would end.

Astros proceeding without Amador

Jeff Luhnow held a press conference this morning,(which is basically, like, three guys) and the main topic of conversation was 1B candidate Japhet Amador.

According to basically everyone on Twitter, Amador is in Mexico for unspecified family reasons, and will not be reporting to Spring Training. Luhnow said:
He’s not going to be here, and we don’t know what the next steps are with him. For now, he needs to spend some time with his family, so he won’t be showing up here today. Other than that, we expect everybody else to be here...When things happen to your family, you tend not to think about next steps. We’re going to give him the time that he needs, but right now we’re proceeding as if he’s not going be here during Spring Training.

So obviously this is terrible, and we hope for nothing but the best for Japhet Amador and his family.

It also means that the 1B job got a little more interesting. A few short weeks ago the Astros had the following candidates to play first base:

Japhet Amador
Jesus Guzman
Marc Krauss
Jon Singleton
Brett Wallace

Well. Wallace was optioned off the 40-Man roster, and now Amador will not apparently be participating in Spring Training. So that leaves Guzman, Krauss, and Singleton (I'm proceeding as though Chris Carter will be the rotating DH, and get some time in LF and periodically at 1B).

Marc Krauss hit .209/.267/.366 in 52 games (146 PAs) for the Astros last year. Small sample size and all that, but he also only hit .111/.183/.185 with almost as many walks (5) as hits (6) at Minute Maid Park. He hit .275/.326/.488 on the road.

Jesus Guzman at least played in 126 games for San Diego last season (318 PAs) and hit .226/.297/.378 and seriously can somebody just get on base. He did seem to be hamstrung by Petco Park, though, hitting .164/.248/.209 at home, while hitting .279/.339/.526 on the road. All nine of Guzman's homers came away from Petco last season.


Everyone knows Singleton had a bad year, mainly due to the 50-game suspension, and didn't hit well during the season. But he regrouped in the Puerto Rican Winter League, hitting .268/.396/.537. But Singleton hasn't arrived at camp yet, which he should probably do fairly quickly, seeing as how today is the report date for all players.

Brett Wallace has a chance to earn the spot back, I guess, but first he'd have to earn a spot back on the 40-Man roster. Which means someone would have to earn a spot off of the 40-Man roster. Japhet Amador is not on the 40-Man, so today's news doesn't exactly open a door for Wallace - not that it really would, anyway, since it's not as though the 1B job was ever Amador's to lose.

Gonna be interesting to see how this plays out.

Monday Morning Link Dump

Here's what you might have missed while you suffered through another miserable winter weekend.

*We did an Astros fantasy preview with the guys at Razzball and dropped a Babe Ruth/Willie Mays comp on George Herman Babe Springer.

*Jeff Luhnow: "Our games are going to be on TV. Whether everybody can get ’em or not remains to be seen."

*Here is a brilliant yet devastating take on the Olympic Ring fiasco from the Opening Ceremonies. 

*Mets' manager Terry Collins really hopes that the Astros and Blue Jays work out their Palm Beach County Spring Training site.

*Brett Wallace's high school coach can't fathom MLB without Brett Wallace. "I’m just hoping that somebody gives him a chance, because I think he can obviously play in the major leagues. He’s proven that he can hit in the major leagues." O_O

Brett Wallace DFA'ed

In a surprise move (to me, anyway) the Astros designated Brett Wallace for assignment to make room for Jerome Williams on the 40-Man roster.

The Astros have ten days to trade, release, or outright Wallace to OKC.

Bo Porter said:
When it comes down to the roster construction...we have to make again the best decision for the Houston Astros today with a watchful eye on tomorrow.

In parts of four seasons with the Astros, Wallace has hit .242/.313/.391, with 318K in 1077 PAs. This is odd, since in parts of five seasons at Triple-A, Wallace posted a .308/.375/.500 line with 349K in 1607 PAs.

Also in the mix at 1B is Jesus Guzman, Chris Carter, and possibly Jon Singleton.

Feldman's deal is front-loaded

We've been talking about this for a long time: Why don't teams front-load contracts? You pay for the performance you're going to get immediately, and if it doesn't work out quite as you had hoped, said player can be traded with an easier contract to take on. I know we talked about it with the Crawfish Boxes on the Astros Boxes Podcast.

Well, that's what the Astros have done with Scott Feldman's contract, according to Evan Drellich.


Scott Feldman’s three-year, $30 million deal is weighted slightly toward the start of the deal.

So the Astros have a little less than $10m to spend. Where does that leave the Astros with Shin-Soo Choo?


I think it’s natural that when a player is still out there of his caliber that a lot of teams are going to be associated with it, but beyond that, I don’t comment on particular players. He’s a good player and he’s going to have interest from a lot of clubs. 

We also learn:
*Jesus Guzman can either platoon with Wallace at 1B, or Wallace can play 3B or Guzman can play in the OF.
*Singleton is probably going to be a mid-season call-up.
*Colorado's Collin McHugh will be developed as a starter.

Winter Meetings Day 1 running post

We'll be keeping track of events of some importance at the Winter Meetings here...

6:12pm: For whatever reason, the Chronicle decided to ask Ron Washington what he thought about the Astros. He likes Bo Porter, and he likes Scott Feldman. Also, Jeff Luhnow and the Astros promised their new acquisitions that they wouldn't become immediate trade bait.

6:05pm: If you saw What The Heck Bobby's cumulative Winter Ball stats, you would see that Jon Singleton is hitting .283/.405/.565. That doesn't mean that the Astros aren't willing to *try* to upgrade at 1B - even with "Chris Carter" and "Brett Wallace" on the 40-Man.

5:31pm: Jayson Stark says the Astros are looking for a reliever who might be able to close. Among them? Jose Veras.

4:57pm: Apparently Lucas Harrell is drawing some trade interest.

4:14pm: Three execs talked to Buster Olney, all of whom guessed David Price would end up in Seattle.

4:09pm: Jonathan Mayo has a Rule 5 preview

3:00pm: Astros officially announce the release of Eric Thames

2:00pm: Alex White is throwing off the mound in Kissimmee and is on track to begin Spring Training healthy.

1:30pm: One GM says Chris Sale isn't really on the market.

12:51pm: According to McTaggart, the Astros will "take a flier" on a Rule 5 pick

11:58am: The White Sox would want a package better than what David Price will get to trade Chris Sale.

11:56am: The Phillies are shopping Domonic Brown. (Brown hit .272/.324/.494 with 97K in 540 PAs in 2013).

11:10am: Angels outfielder Mark Trumbo is "in play."

10:18am: Lancaster GM Derek Sharp was named the California League Executive of the Year

10:12am: White Sox pitcher Chris Sale is available for a ridiculous package of players in return.

10:03am: Astros announce they have hired Tom Koch-Weser as Coordinator of Advance Information, and will be responsible for advanced scouting, with an emphasis on video. Koch-Weser has written for Yahoo Sports as well as the blog for STATS.

9:56am: Roy Halladay is retiring.

9:10am: Joe Torre, Wife-beatin' Bobby Cox, and Drunk Drivin' Tony LaRussa have been unanimously elected by the Veterans' Committee to the Hall of Fame.

8:10am: Rakuten's president may not post Masahiro Tanaka this season.

7:19am: Matt Kemp's agent will be surprised if he isn't traded this off-season.

6:11am: Jon Heyman says Reid Ryan is a nice guy. (Ed. Note: Today needs to get going.)

Brian McTaggart: Luhnow looking at another reliver and a bat this week.

Evan Drellich: Astros preparing for Thursday's Rule 5 draft.

Bedard "unlikely to return"

In Brian McTaggart's latest "Astros ready to spend some money" article, we find that the Astros are likely going to pursue a veteran starter because "Erik Bedard is unlikely to return."

That's okay with me.

Elsewhere, among possible non-tender candidates, McTaggart has listed J.D. Martinez, Brett Wallace, and our old pal Lucas Harrell.

This will be an interesting off-season, because the players they sign will give a little insight into how the front office views the development of the prospects coming up. Or at least it will, in theory.

Welp, to wrap up what has turned into a terrible trainwreck of a post, I'm glad baseball season is over.

Employees of the Month: June 2013

Remember all Employees of the Month get to park up front, and 5% off in the Team Store...

Houston

Pitcher: Bud Norris. Despite a 2.77 ERA/1.15 WHIP, and holding opponents to a .632 OPS (with 33K:9BB in 39IP), Norris went 1-3.

Hitter: Chris Carter. This one wasn't even close. Carter hit .241/.357/.518 with five homers and eight doubles. Thirteen of his 20 hits in June went for extra-bases. And he only struck out in 34% of his plate appearances. Yay.

Oklahoma City

Pitcher: Jason Stoffel. This one could have gone a few different ways: Asher Wojciechowski and Brad Peacock had excellent months, but we're giving it to Stoffel, who held opponents to a .200/.286/.260 line in ten appearances (15.2IP), allowing 10H/3ER, 13K:6BB.

Hitter: Brett Wallace. In 27 June games before his call-up to Houston, Wallace was hitting .327/.372/.540 (all, amazingly, worse than his May).

Corpus

Pitcher: David Martinez. Ridiculousness. Opponents in seven June games hit .193/.204/.330 as Martinez went 2-2 with a 2.35 ERA/0.75 WHIP. He struck out 24 batters, and walked just two.

Hitter: George Springer. Yeah, he cooled off from two straight months of 1.000+ OPS hitting, but he still went .296/.386/.500 in 27 June games, including five June games at OKC.

Lancaster

Pitcher: Could have also gone with David Rollins, but our choice is Tommy Shirley. In 20IP, he allowed 10H/6ER, 21K:5BB for a 2.70 ERA/0.75 WHIP in June.

Hitter: Tough one. But MP Cokinos hit .392/.500/.633 with 7K:14BB and ten doubles in 23 June games. 

Quad Cities

Pitcher: Lance McCullers. In six June appearances, he went 3-0 with a 2.30 ERA/0.99 WHIP, with 33K:9BB in 27.1IP. Opponents hit .188/.264/.240 - and that's with a .286 BABIP.

Hitter: Carlos Correa hit .370/.413/.510 in 25 June games, with 14K:7BB. Now let's just hope that hand is okay, having gotten plunked on it twice in a week.

Jake Elmore, Brett Wallace called up

The Astros have decided to not bring up another reliever in Wade LeBlanc's absence and have instead called up both Jake Elmore and Brett Wallace.

Elmore is hitting .300/.383/.434 and gives the Astros flexibility in the middle infield while Wallace - hitting .326/.398/.554 (.355/.406/.559 in June) - gives the Astros another option at 3B with the occasional 1B start, as well.

Let's hope that Wallace can improve on his .042/.115/.042 line in his first 26 PAs this season with Houston.

PreStros Morning Report: June 4

Oklahoma City (32-25), tied

It was 4-2 heading into the bottom of the 6th when Albuquerque got themselves a 5-run inning, and cruised to a 10-2 win over OKC. Phil Humber allowed 5H/4R (2ER), 2K:1BB in 4.2IP; C.J. Fick allowed 2H/4R (3ER), 1K:1BB in 1IP; Rhiner Cruz allowed one of Fick's and one of his own with 2H/2R (1ER), 1K:2BB in 1.1IP; Kevin Chapman struck out the side in a perfect 8th inning.

Brett Wallace was 3x4 with a walk; Jake Elmore was 2x5; Robbie Grossman (SB), Marc Krauss, Che-Hsuan Lin and Cody Clark (RBI) had a hit and a walk each.

(J.R. Towles was 0x4 with 2K for Albuquerque)

Man of the Match: Brett Wallace!

Corpus (36-21), 4.0 up

Corpus defeated Midland, 9-5, but our hearts are broken for a different reason. After four scoreless innings to start the game, pushing his ER-less streak to 36.2IP, Jake Buchanan allowed two line drives to put runners on the corner with nobody out, and a soft grounder got a double play, but allowed a run to score, snapping the streak. He would allow an unearned run later in the inning. Buchanan throws 5IP, 7H/2R (1ER), 2K:1BB, raising his ERA all the way up to 0.85. Carlos Quevedo allowed 3H/2ER, 0K:1BB in 2.1IP; Sergio Escalona gave up a hit and a walk in 0.2IP; Kenny Long's Corpus struggles continued with 1H/1ER on a solo homer in 1IP.

Ben Orloff was 4x5 with a double; Jose Martinez was 3x5 with 3RBI, SB (the top two spots in the lineup were 7x10 with a double and four runs scored). Drew Muren was 2x2 with a stolen base after replacing George Springer who apparently made a hard dive into 3rd base. Domingo Santana (2RBI) and Jonathan Meyer (BB, RBI) had two hits each. Justin Maxwell was 0x3 with a strikeout and a stolen base in his first rehab start.

Man of the Match: Jose Martinez

Lancaster (35-23), 5.0 up

Second game at Stockton, second loss at Stockton as the JetHawks fall, 4-2. Aaron West threw 5IP, 5H/3ER, 1K:0BB; Theron Geith allowed an unearned run on a hit and two walks in 1.1IP; Michael Dimock gave up a 1H/0ER, 2K:0BB in 1.2IP.

Andrew Aplin and Chris Epps had two hits each; Brandon Meredith (RBI) and Preston Tucker (SB) had your other hits. Telvin Nash provided a sac fly. Joe Sclafani and Delino DeShields were 0x3 with a walk.

Man of the Match: Uh. Preston Tucker?

Quad Cities (32-24), 4GB

Off.

DSL Astros (2-1), 0.5GB

Astros pitchers combined for a 4-hit shutout of the DSL Red Sox, winning 2-0. Edwin Villaroel allowed 3H/0ER, 3K:0BB in 5IP; Joselo Pinales gave up 1H/0ER, 3K:1BB in 3IP and Harold Arauz threw a perfect 9th inning.

Arturo Michelena and Jesus Bermejo had a hit and an RBI each; Hector Roa provided a triple, Victor Tavarez a double, and Jean Estrella stole a base and scored a run.

Man of the Match: Edwin Villaroel

Minor-League Employees of the Month: May 2013

It's that time of the month for us here at Astros County. Time to announce the PreStros Employees of the Month for May 2013. Winners get to park up front and 10% off in the team store.

Oklahoma City

Pitcher: Jarred Cosart. 2-2 in May with a 2.67 ERA/1.44 WHIP (which is skewed thanks to a seven-walk performance on May 28), struck out 28 batters in 27IP.

Hitter: Brett Wallace. Yeah, he had 28 strikeouts in 28 games for OKC in May, but he also hit .324/.403/.571 with six home runs and 26RBI.

Corpus Christi

Pitcher: Jake Buchanan. It's not even close. Buchanan didn't allow an earned run in the month of May. In 27.2IP, he allowed 16H/0ER, 19K:2BB.

Hitter: George Springer. For the second straight month, Springer posted an OPS over 1.000, this time hitting .303/.415/.596 with eight home runs and 21 RBI.

Lancaster

Pitcher: Brady Rodgers. In 29.2IP, Rodgers allowed 24H/9ER, 22K:7BB and holding opponents to a .222 average. In his final four starts of the month, he threw 17IP, allowing 12H/4ER, with 14K:4BB.

Hitter: Chris Epps. In 20 games for Lancaster in May, Epps hit .361/.447/.667. He had 26 hits - 15 of which were for extra-bases (10 doubles, three triples, two homers), with 23K:12BB and was 5x6 on stolen bases.

Quad Cities

Pitcher: Lance McCullers. McCullers got his first professional win on May 28, completing a month in which he allowed 16H/5ER, with 26K:14BB in 24IP.

Hitter: Carlos Correa. After hitting .221/.384/.397 in April, Correa turned it on with a .349/.423/.442 line in May, with just 12 strikeouts and 11 walks.

PreStros Morning Report: May 18

Oklahoma City (24-17)

Sacramento got six runs in the 5th inning and Jarred Cosart suffered his first loss of the season - and his first since July 27, 2012 in a 6-3 Sacramento win. Cosart allowed 4H/3ER, 4K:3BB in 4.1IP to raise his ERA to 2.49. Josh Zeid allowed the next three runs on two hits and two walks in 0.2IP. Alex Sogard pitched in his second Triple-A game of the season and threw a perfect IP; Eric Berger and Jose Valdez each threw a scoreless inning with a strikeout.

Brett Wallace was 2x4 with a double, a homer (his 6th of the season), and 3RBI; Fernando Martinez was 2x4. Jonathan Villar was 0x5 with 4K.

Man of the Match: Brett WallAAAAce

Corpus (24-18)

It was 2-0 Midland in the 1st. Then it was 5-0 Midland in the 3rd. Corpus got one back in the top of the 4th but Midland responded with four runs in the bottom half of the 4th and skated it out for a 12-4 win over the Hooks. Nick Tropeano had a rare bad start, allowing 7H/7ER, 3K:3BB in 3.2IP; Bobby Doran allowed 3H/4ER, 3K:1BB in 2IP and Our Boy Kenny Long allowed 3H/1ER, 1K:1BB in 2.1IP. (Midland's Anthony Aliotti was 4x5 with a double, 3HR, and 8RBI).

Enrique Hernandez (2B, RBI) and Domingo Santana (2B, 2RBI, outfield assist) had three hits each. Jio Mier, Ben Orloff, and Max Stassi (2B) had your other hits.

Man of the Match: Domingo Santana

Lancaster (24-18)

Lancaster had a 4-2 lead over Visalia heading into the bottom of the 6th, but then the, um, Visalias scored the next six runs to beat Lancaster (who committed three errors) 8-4. Tommy Shirley struck out nine batters, allowing 5H/2ER and 2BB in 4IP; Jonas Dufek allowed two baseunners in 1IP; Blair Walters gave up 3H/3R (1ER), 0K:2BB in 0.1IP and Theron Geith allowed 3H/3ER, 1K:1BB in 2.2IP.

Brandon Meredith was 1x2 with a three-run homer and 4RBI total. MP Cokinos was 1x2 with a double and two walks. Delino DeShields had a double and a walk. Telvin Nash was 0x4 with two errors.

Man of the Match: Tommy Shirley.

Quad Cities (23-18)

And Beloit completed the 0-for-4 day for the affiliates, scoring five runs in the last two innings of a 5-3 win over the River Bandits. Vincent Velasquez allowed 3H/0ER, 5K:2BB in 5IP; Jamaine Cotton gave up two unearned runs on 2H/1BB in 2IP; Mitchell Lambson allowed a hit and a walk in 0.2IP and John Neely got the BS/L with 4H/3ER, 1K:1BB in the final 1.1IP.

Carlos Correa extended his hitting streak to nine games (hitting .400/.462/.429 in those nine games) but has had one extra-base hit since his 2HR game on April 21. Teoscar Hernandez got an RBI triple - his 4th triple of the season; Miles Hamblin, Jordan Scott and Ariel Ovando had a hit and a walk each; Jesse Wierzbicki and Austin Elkins had two walks and a stolen base each.

Man of the Match: Vincent Velasquez

Pre Stros Morning Report May 5th

AAA

Game 1

Oklahoma City (17-11)

The Redhawks dropped the 1st game of a double header against the Iowa Cubs (10-16) Sunday, 5-2. Oklahoma took the lead in the top of the 2nd. Mark Krauss (R, BB, K) walked to lead off the inning and advanced to second on a Brett Wallace (H, BB, K) single. Jonathan Villar (2K) reached on a sac bunt to load the bases with no outs. Carlos Perez (H, R, HR, RBI) popped to short for the first out. The 2nd out came on a sac fly off the bat of Andrew Simunic (RBI, BB) that scored Marc Krauss. The Hooks took the lead again in the top of the 4th on Carlos Perez's first AAA homer, but fell behind for good in the bottom half of the inning. Trevor Crowe (2H, CS) had 2 hits. Jake Elmore (H, 2B, SB) hit his 8th double of the year and also swiped a bag.

Brett Oberholtzer (1-3) was tagged with the loss. (3.2IP, 6H, 4R, 3ER, 2BB, 3K, HR)
Josh Zeid tossed 1 inning. (2H, ER, 3BB)
Rhiner Cruz pitched the final 1.1 innings. (BB)

Man of the match: Carlos Perez

Game 2

Oklahoma City (18-11)

The Redhawks earned their 18th win of the season in the 2nd match of a double header with the Iowa Cubs (10-17), taking the game 4-2 in 10 innings. The I-Cubs scored a run in the bottom of the first, but Oklahoma City put up 2 of their own in the top of the 2nd. Brett Wallace (3H, 2R, 2HR, 2RBI, K) hit his 3rd homer of the season with one out in the inning, a solo shot to center. Andrew Simunic (H, R, K) scored on a single of the bat of Cody Clark (2H, R, RBI, K). The game was all tied up going into the 9th and the Redhawks put up a run to take the lead on Brett Wallace's 2nd homer of the game, a solo shot to right. Iowa matched the run in the bottom of the inning, sending the game to extras. Cody Clark led of the 10th with a single and advanced to 2nd on a sac bunt from Trevor Crowe (BB, K, SB). Che-Hsuan Lin (H, RBI) singled to center with 2 outs and scored Cody Clark, which proved to be the game winning run. Jake Elmore (H, 2K, SB) and Jason Jaramillo (H, 2K) each had a base hit. Jimmy Paredes (2H, 2B, BB) hit his 9th double of the year.

Hyle Hallock started the 2nd game of the double header. (4IP, 4H, ER, 2BB)
Jason Stoffel pitched 1.2 perfect innings. (0K)
Kevin Chapman got his first blown save of the year with a 1 out appearance. (0.1IP, 2H, ER, BB, K)
C.J Fick threw 2 scoreless innings. (2H, K)
Jose Valdez (2-0) also got a blown save, his 2nd of the year, but set himself up for the win. (2H, ER, 3BB, K)
Eric Berger earned his 1st save of the year. (1IP, H, K)

Man of the match: Brett Wallace

AA

Corpus Christi (18-12)

The Hooks took the 2nd game of a 4 game series with the San Antonio Missions (15-15) on Sunday, 7-3. Corpus started the scoring in the top of the 2nd with a 2 run frame. Jiovani Mier (H, R, HR, 2RBI) hit his 2nd home run of the season, a two run shot to center that scored Enrique Hernandez (2H, R, BB). The Hooks put up a run in the 3rd inning to retake the lead after the Mission matched their run out put in the 2nd. George Springer (H, 2R, HR, RBI, K, 2SB) reached base on a fielding error by Reymond Fuentes and ended up on 2nd. Springer stole 3rd and eventually scored on a ground out from still rehabbing J.D. Martinez (3H, R, HR, 4RBI, K). In the 5th, the Hooks had their biggest frame. Zach Johnson (H, R) led off the inning with a single and advanced to 2nd after a walk from Austin Wates (R, BB, 2K). J.D. Martinez homer to left center scoring Johnson and Wates and putting the Hooks on top 6-2. Corpus scored their final run in the 7th via George Springer's 10th home run of the season, a solo shot to right with 2 outs in the inning. Jonathan Meyer had a hit and a K.

Bobby Doran (4-0) got the win. (5IP, 3H, 2ER, BB, 4K, HR)
Nick Tropeano earned his 4th save of the year. (4IP, 4H, ER, HR)

Man of the match: George Springer

A

Lancaster (17-12)

The Jethawks defeated the High Desert Mavericks (16-14) 4-1 on Sunday. Lancaster only scored in one inning, the 7th, but it was a 4 run frame. Telvin Nash (2H, R, 2B) singled to lead off the inning and scored from first on a double off the bat of Tyler Heineman (2H, R, 2B). Heineman advanced to 3rd on a throwing error and scored on a single from Brandon Meredith (H, R, RBI). Meredith advanced to 2nd on a ground out by Carlos Perdomo (BB, SB). Nolan Fontana  (2H, 3B, CS) singled to left putting runners on 1st and 3rd. Fontana was erased after being caught trying to steal 2nd. MP Cokinos (H, R, HR, 2RBI) predictably homered to left after the caught stealing. It was Cokinos 2nd jack of the year. Matt Duffy went 1 for 3 with a single.

The combination of Blair Walters (5IP, 2H, ER, 2BB, 4K) and Aaron West (1-1) (4IP, 3H, 5K) would hold the Mavericks to 1 run on 5 hits.

Men of the match: Blair Walters and Aaron West.

Low A

Quad Cities (17-11)

The River Bandits defeated the West Michigan Whitecaps (13-15) 5-4 on Sunday. Quad Cities scored in the top of the 1st to start the game. Teoscar Hernandez (2H, 2R, 2B, BB, K) led of the inning with a walk and advanced to 2nd on a Joe Sclafani (2H, 2B, RBI, BB) walk. Austin Elkins (H, R, RBI) advanced the runners with a sac bunt. Ryan Dineen (2BB) walked to load the bases and Ariel Ovando (RBI, BB, 2K) walked in an RBI for the first run of the game. The River Bandits put up fence posts in the 4th and 5th. In the 4th Teoscar Hernandez singled with 2 outs and reached 3rd on an errant pick off attempt. Joe Sclafani scored Hernandez with a double to center. In the 5th Jesse Wierzbicki (R, 4BB, K) led of the inning with a walk and advanced to 2nd on a balk. Terrell Joyce (H, RBI, 2K, CS, PO) singled with 2 outs and scored Wierzbicki. Quad Cities would again score a run in consecutive innings in the 7th and 8th. In the 7th Austin Elkins singled to lead off the inning and reached 2nd on a passed ball. Wierzbicki scored on a fielding error by right fielder Zach Kirksey. In the 8th Brian Blasik (H, R, 2BB, K) walked to lead off the inning and reached 2nd on a sac bunt off the bat of Teoscar Hernandez. Joe Sclafani hit an infield single to put runners on the corners. Blasik scored on a sac bunt from Austin Elkins that would prove to be the game winning run.

Lance McCullers was, simply put, a bad melon farmer on Sunday afternoon, turning in his strongest start of the year. (5IP, 2H, 0ER, BB, 9K)
Daniel Minor got the hold after pitching 1.2 innings. (1.2IP, 4H, 3R, 1ER, BB, 2K)
Michael Dimock (4-0) got the blown save (1) but also earned the win. (0.1IP, 2H, ER)
Mitchell Lambson earned his 2nd hold of the year. (1.2IP, BB, 2K)
John Neely got the final out for his 5th save on the year. (0.1IP, 2BB, K)

Man of the match: Lance McCullers. In the top 10 in K's in the Midwest League with 29.in 26.2 IP.

Astros send down Brett Wallace

The Astros announced this morning that they have sent Brett Wallace to Triple-A Oklahoma City and promoted Brandon Laird.

So this means I can delete that "What To Do With Brett Wallace" post. Wallace's strikeout issues thus far in 2013 are well-documented. Despite playing in less than half of the Astros' games this season, he's still 14th in the Majors in strikeouts. And his .042/.115/.042 line in 2013 (for a -53 OPS) just wasn't helping a team in desperate need of hitting and/or at least getting on base.

I thought coming in to this season that it was Wallace's last shot. In the minors the guy just raked. In 401 minor-league games he hit .307/.381/.491. And at Triple-A he maintained a .304/.370/.490 slash line...in four seasons.

But that success hasn't translated at the Major League level for the former #27-ranked prospect in all of baseball (coming into 2010), for whatever reason - be it Brad Mills' inconsistent use of Wallace early in his ML career, or just an inability to hit.

In 239 games (818 plate appearances), Wallace hit .243/.316/.366. The power just never showed up. He has 16 career home runs, 38 doubles, and two triples.

I don't know what this means for Wallace. Hopefully he can figure it out, and if I'm reading this right, he has one option left after this season. He'll at least get everyday ABs at Oklahoma City - God knows he wasn't getting them with Houston over the last week. But he'll be 27 in August - do we know already know all there is to know?

Brandon Laird, meanwhile, makes the jump to the Majors. Laird was killing it in OKC (12 games, 55 PAs), hitting .353/.364/.569, with seven of his 18 hits going for extra-bases. He's also struck out 12 times. In 17 games in 2012 for Houston, he hit .257/.297/.371, so now we'll see what we have in Brandon Laird.

In order to allow the roster spot for Laird, the Astros designated Xavier Cedeno for assignment, which means the Astros care about my liver. Yesterday I tweeted:

New non-profit idea: For every appearance Xavier Cedeno makes, I'll drink a bottle of bourbon

I can't give you any more proof that the Astros care about us than that...

Also, since there's an open spot on the 25-Man roster, the Astros will call up a pitcher at some point soon. Or they'll add Julio Borbon. Who knows?

Update: Luhnow gave some thoughts on the ordeal. On Wallace:
"He needs [to get] a steady diet of at-bats at Triple-A and find the swing and approach the way it was [in Spring Training]. This is not the Brett Wallace we've gotten to know and developed. It's in there, and he needs to get back to that.

On Cedeno:
"We want to keep him in the organization. We're going to review all of our options at this point." 

Brett Wallace gets the day off

Brian Smith tweeted out the lineup for tonight's game against the A's, and you will not be seeing Brett Wallace (MLB-leading 11) - or Rick Ankiel (tied for 2nd with 9) - build on their strikeout totals.

1. Jose Altuve - DH
2. Ronny Cedeno - SS
3. Chris Carter - LF
4. Carlos Pena - 1B
5. Justin Maxwell - CF
6. Jason Castro - C
7. J.D. Martinez - RF
8. Matt Dominguez - 3B
9. Marwin Gonzalez - 2B

Brett Wallace getting more reps at 3B?

In Christina Kahrl's excellent piece on the Astros moving to the AL, we find out a number of things regarding the Astros' plans, such as:

*Even with Matt Dominguez at 3B, Brett Wallace is going to see some time there.
*Chris Carter will get some LF experience.
*Nate Freiman really needs to hit to get a chance of staying with the Astros.
*There's going to be a lot of movement between Houston and OKC, especially regarding the pitching staff.

Comparing the 2012 Astros' Position Players to the League Average

After meeting Bill Brown, Jose Altuve, Brett Wallace, and J.R. Richard on Friday, I was intoxicated by the small taste of that which I have been craving since the end of last season. Baseball. It was my first experience meeting major league personnel in any capacity, (other than running in to Larry Dierker at Larry's Big Bamboo), and it left an impression on me to say the least.

Bill Brown asked my name and I couldn't help but grin from ear to ear like a 10 year old. It brought back the nostalgia of walking into the Astrodome when I was a kid, memories of orange folding chairs with huge cushions, and up close views of Kevin Bass and Jose Cruz at the plate seen through binoculars. I was young and simply enjoyed being there; a fan of the spectacle not yet involved in the love affair to come. It reminded me of an innocence that I will never have again. But part of that innocence lives on every season in positivity of possibility. It had me so ready for the season to begin that it was hard for me to look back at last year, a year that was the lowest of lows in the Astros' franchise relative to the major league club. But I did look back, and with an eye to the average player.

Recently I came across the numbers of the league average slash line of batting average/on base percentage/and slugging for every defensive position aside from pitcher from the 2012 season. Most people hear the word average and think not very good, but in the baseball world average is actually pretty good. These numbers are a compilation of at bats from anyone who played the position and swung the bat. Some of the numbers I have put together are slightly skewed by the fact I could no locate a position per at bat break down. So I had to lump in some players total at bats for one position, even though they contributed at multiple spots. However, the biggest chunks of AB's for each position were accounted for accurately, so that the numbers should only be slightly skewed.

C
League: .248/.318/.400
Houston:  .234/.313/.386
The catching platoon of Snyder and Castro were fairly close to league average last season. However, Snyder hit a lowly .176 compared to a .257 average from Jason Castro and a .269 average from limited ab's from Carlos Corporan. So if Castro can have more plate appearances this year and Corporan can provide as a serviceable back up, Houston should have a better showing at the catching position in 2013.

1B
League: .262/.336/.442
Houston: .266/.306/.428
Although I was not able to identify every AB at every position, I was able to only include the Houston at bats from players who were traded during the season. Carlos Lee, B. Wallace, and Scott Moore made up the majority of the AB's I used for the 1B position. Moore out slugged and got on base at a higher clip than Wallace and Lee but Lee hit for a better average than the Wallace and Moore. Wallace and Moore had similar averages and each out slugged Caballo. Overall probably a similar showing at the 1B position in 2013, depending on how much 1B Pena plays and if and when Singleton is called up. Probably higher slugging, similar OBP, and lower average.

2B
League: .257/.318/.383
Houston: .239/.286/.309
The majority of AB's came from Jose Altuve at the 2 bagger spot last year, but not all as Altuve did miss some time due to injury last year. These numbers are below average and well below average in the slugging department. If Altuve can stay healthy, these numbers probably look better.

3B
League: .266/.327/.427
Houston: .268/.329/.418
Surprisingly solid numbers at the 3b position last year. Between Chris Johnson's .276/.329/.428 and Matt Dominguez's .273/.310/.477 lines, the numbers look pretty good. But when you include the lines of Steve Pearce and Brandon Laird the average and slugging dip. Though Dominguez will likely not slug at a rate of .477 the 3rd base position could have another nice showing in 2013.

SS
League: .257/.318/.378
Houston .241/.296/.408
The only category where Houston' short stops performed above league average was in the slugging department, and a healthy Jed Lowrie, yes healthy, means the possibility of a similar result from the SS position in 2013.

LF
League: .261/.326./431
Houston: .227/.284/.356

CF
League: .265/.330/.418
Houston: .220/.303/.360

RF
League: .262/.327/.434
Houston: .220/.305/.406

The 3 outfield positions were where Houston really suffered last year, in all categories. It is pretty brutal to look at. The main silver lining I can see is the possibility of a higher slugging percentage provided by a full season of JMax and Fernando Martinez, who slugged 427 and 466 respectively. Take away Brian Bogusevics slash line of 203/310/229 and things are already looking better. A repeat of productivity from the outfield in 2013 would be tragic.

Here's to pitchers and catchers reporting in 2 weeks and to positivity of possibility.

Unzipped: Projecting the AL West

The ZIPS projections for the 2013 Astros season will be released later today, but instead of waiting for that, I decided to do a little projecting of my own.

Using baseballreference.com I established a home run  rate, strike out rate, and hit rate for each of the starting 9 of the 5 clubs in the AL West. I used mlb.com's depth chart to determine what players would be included. Using these numbers I projected what each player would do with a minimum number of major league at bats (486) if they started every game at that position. I did not include walks or obp because I was using the at bat stat for these projections and not plate appearances.

Instead of posting the actual numbers for each player, I decided to use the numbers to compare the overall output, in regards to these stats, by each team, giving a better idea of where the Astros could end up in relation to the rest of the AL West.

Disclaimer: These numbers are pulled from 2012 batting stats. Small sample size, potential FA signings, and pitching adjustments be damned.

Home Runs:
1. Houston Astros
2. LA Angels
3. Oakland Athletics
4. Texas Rangers
5. Seattle Mariners

Top 3 players home run rate:
1. Josh Hamilton - LA Angels 13.069 AB/HR
2. Chris Carter - Oakland Athletics 13.62 AB/HR
3. Justin Maxwell - Houston Astros 17.5 AB/HR

I found the biggest surprise to be the home run numbers. The Astros and the Angels were neck and neck in the total home run numbers.The Angels line up has more proven AB's while the Astros line up is a projection based on a smaller sample of AB's. So I figure Houston's players may experience greater periods of slumps than the Angels line up. Or maybe they will take some developmental strides and surprise some people. The truth probably lies somewhere in between.

Maxwell, Lowrie, and Dominguez project as the top 3 home run hitters on the Astros.

Strike Outs: (greatest to least)
1. Oakland Athletics
2. Houston Astros
3. Seattle Mariners
4. LA Angels
5. Texas Rangers

Top 3 K rates:
1. Mike Olt - Texas Rangers K/2.5 AB (very small sample size)
2. Carlos Pena - Houston Astros K/2.7 AB
3. Justin Maxwell - Houston Astros K/2.76 AB

Oakland barely edges Houston in strike out totals with Seattle not far behind. The Angels and Rangers show the most discipline at the plate and it's not very close.

Carlos Pena, Justin Maxwell, and Bret Wallace project to have the most strike outs for the Astros.

Batting Average:
1. LA Angels
2. Texas Rangers
3. Houston Astros
4. Seattle Mariners
5. Oakland Athletics

Top 3 Hit Rates:
1. Mike Trout - LA Angels Hit every 3.07 AB.
2. Adrian Beltre - Texas Rangers Hit every 3.11 AB.
3. Craig Gentry - Texas Rangers Hit every 3.27 AB.

Top Astro: Jose Altuve Hit every 3.44 AB

Jose Altuve, Matt Dominguez, and Jason Castro project to have to top 3 batting averages on the club..

The Rangers and Angels team batting average each projected about 25 points higher than Houston's team average, which projects about half as much of that over Seattle and Oakland.

So what can we take from this? Not a ton. This wasn't the most scientific method of projection and later today when Houston's ZIPS projections come out we can get a more precise estimate of how Houston's players will perform on an individual level. This was meant as more of sizing up the AL West in these categories to get a better idea of how Houston will compete in 2013.