I was wide awake at 3am so let's just get today over with, huh?
*Joe Musgrove will be SP4 to start the season, and the rotation will be Keuchel, McCullers, Morton, Musgrove, and Fiers.
*Which of course means that Collin McHugh and his dead arm will start the season on the DL. He'll make his Spring Training debut today, about three weeks too late.
*And now the only question is who will be the final arm out of the bullpen: James Hoyt or Jandel Gustave? Hinch:
It's miserable being this guy. Hoyt's been this guy for the last couple of years; Gustave is the first time being this close to the team, (Dayan) Diaz as well. I don't want them to put so much pressure on themselves in the last outing or two they're going to have.
Hinch is looking to see if they can get lefties out to help Sipp in times of trouble. The bullpen, as of now, is Giles, Gregerson, Harris, Feliz, Devenski, Sipp, and probably Brad Peacock to serve as a multiple-inning guy (read: Out-of-Options guy).
*And Tony Sipp was scratched from both weekend games due to a back issue.
*Josh Reddick wants to hit more lefty pitching.
*Nick Cafardo is the latest to write that the Astros are still in on Jose Quintana, though they're reluctant to part with Francis Martes in that deal. "One major league source" says that the White Sox could trade Quintana before Opening Day, which is in a week, of course.
*The Astros are impressed with Derek Fisher's base-stealing ability.
*New Astros play-by-play man Todd Kalas honored his Hall of Fame father with his home run call.
*The Astros traded catcher Tyler Heineman to, who else, the Brewers for "a player to be named later or cash considerations." How funny would it be if there was a player whose actual last name was Later. Or if their name was Cash Considerations. That'd be messed up. I'm very tired.
Heineman - the Astros' 8th Round pick out of UCLA in the 2012 draft - will be 26 in June. In 2015, between Corpus and Fresno, Heineman hit .285/.334/.379, good enough to spend all of 2016 in Fresno, where he hit .359/.344/.351. What with the emergence of Garrett Stubbs as a prospect, and with Juan Centeno's arrival, and Stassi's return to Fresno, there likely just wasn't playing time available for Heineman. Fare thee well, Tyler Heineman.
*The Astros released LHP C.J. Riefenhauser yesterday, and reassigned Jordan Jankowski, Tyson Perez, Alejandro Garcia, and Jon Kemmer to minor-league camp.
*Anthony Gose - who was an Astro for about eight minutes before getting traded to Toronto for Astros Great Brett Wallace - is about to be converted into a pitcher.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
Showing posts with label C.J. Riefenhauser. Show all posts
Showing posts with label C.J. Riefenhauser. Show all posts
Monday, March 27, 2017
Wednesday, December 7, 2016
Wednesday Morning Hot Links
*Boston got Chris Sale, which means the Astros didn't get Chris Sale (and also means the Ramgers didn't get Chris Sale, either). The cost was Yoan Moncada (maybe the best prospect in baseball) and Michael Kopech - a flame-throwing pitcher who apparently hit 105mph on the radar gun - plus two more prospects. The Chron's Jake Kaplan:
Market dynamics are such that the Astros probably wouldn't be able to acquire a pitcher the caliber of...Chris Archer or...Jose Quintana without parting with Alex Bregman as a centerpiece to the deal. That is a price they are not willing to meet.
Luhnow doesn't feel the urgency of adding a starting pitcher this week at the Winter Meetings:
I don't feel like we have to do anything this week necessarily, and it could be that if we have any moves left, it's going to happen after the winter meetings...but we're certainly active in finding out what's available and how much it would cost us.
Lots of good quotes from Luhnow on how he sees the rotation shaping up, so be sure to click and give that one a full read.
*As with free agency deals, the Sale trade provides a reference point for the Rays in negotiations for Chris Archer. Rays GM Erik Neander, of Chris Archer:
You're talking about a top-end talent with three years of control. The price to get those guys is not cheap.
*Excellent article from The Ringer's Michael Baumann: The Astros aren't trying to be the Cubs anymore.
*A.J. Hinch is pretty excited about filling out his lineup card next season:
It's been exciting...we were the most active team with the most success at getting to the finish line. We've got to be one of the [deepest] teams, position-player-wise, in our league.
*McTaggart thinks that the Astros are more keyed-in on Jake Odorizzi, Sonny Gray, and Drew Pomeranz than they are Chris Archer.
*The additions of Reddick and Beltran likely push Yuli Gurriel to 1B, and A.J. Hinch is just fine with that:
We threw him in the middle of the pennant race at first base in [South Ardmore] and he was a little raw because of the responsibilities that come with the position. But he can play infield. He has good footwork. He can handle the glove...him getting a full Spring Training of work at first base will do wonders for him.
*The Astros are going to prepare Chris Devenski as a starter going into Spring Training before determining if he's in the rotation or the bullpen. Luhnow:
He's going to be a multi-inning pitcher one way or another. Whether it's two or five or seven (innings), that remains to be seen.
*Michael Feliz, however, will likely stay in the bullpen until he can develop his changeup.
*The Astros signed LHP C.J. Riefenhauser to a minor-league deal with an invitation to Spring Training. Riefenhauser's MLB numbers don't exactly blow up your skirt, but the 26-year old is dealing with a small sample size there - he only allowed runs in four of his 17 appearances in 2015, and they were all 2-3ER allowed. Still, you see the Astros making yet another move to shore up their lefty reliever role. His 2.62 ERA/1.10 WHIP in Triple-A is worthy of at least a look.
*Carlos Gomez re-signed with the Rangers on a 1yr/$11.5m deal for 2017.
*The fun part will be the potential for a rematch, 19 times over, between Astros Great Brian McCann and Noted Asshole Carlos Gomez. From September 2013:
*With 19 ballots known so far, Bagwell is running at 86% in the BBWAA.
Market dynamics are such that the Astros probably wouldn't be able to acquire a pitcher the caliber of...Chris Archer or...Jose Quintana without parting with Alex Bregman as a centerpiece to the deal. That is a price they are not willing to meet.
Luhnow doesn't feel the urgency of adding a starting pitcher this week at the Winter Meetings:
I don't feel like we have to do anything this week necessarily, and it could be that if we have any moves left, it's going to happen after the winter meetings...but we're certainly active in finding out what's available and how much it would cost us.
Lots of good quotes from Luhnow on how he sees the rotation shaping up, so be sure to click and give that one a full read.
*As with free agency deals, the Sale trade provides a reference point for the Rays in negotiations for Chris Archer. Rays GM Erik Neander, of Chris Archer:
You're talking about a top-end talent with three years of control. The price to get those guys is not cheap.
*Excellent article from The Ringer's Michael Baumann: The Astros aren't trying to be the Cubs anymore.
*A.J. Hinch is pretty excited about filling out his lineup card next season:
It's been exciting...we were the most active team with the most success at getting to the finish line. We've got to be one of the [deepest] teams, position-player-wise, in our league.
*McTaggart thinks that the Astros are more keyed-in on Jake Odorizzi, Sonny Gray, and Drew Pomeranz than they are Chris Archer.
*The additions of Reddick and Beltran likely push Yuli Gurriel to 1B, and A.J. Hinch is just fine with that:
We threw him in the middle of the pennant race at first base in [South Ardmore] and he was a little raw because of the responsibilities that come with the position. But he can play infield. He has good footwork. He can handle the glove...him getting a full Spring Training of work at first base will do wonders for him.
*The Astros are going to prepare Chris Devenski as a starter going into Spring Training before determining if he's in the rotation or the bullpen. Luhnow:
He's going to be a multi-inning pitcher one way or another. Whether it's two or five or seven (innings), that remains to be seen.
*Michael Feliz, however, will likely stay in the bullpen until he can develop his changeup.
*The Astros signed LHP C.J. Riefenhauser to a minor-league deal with an invitation to Spring Training. Riefenhauser's MLB numbers don't exactly blow up your skirt, but the 26-year old is dealing with a small sample size there - he only allowed runs in four of his 17 appearances in 2015, and they were all 2-3ER allowed. Still, you see the Astros making yet another move to shore up their lefty reliever role. His 2.62 ERA/1.10 WHIP in Triple-A is worthy of at least a look.
*Carlos Gomez re-signed with the Rangers on a 1yr/$11.5m deal for 2017.
*The fun part will be the potential for a rematch, 19 times over, between Astros Great Brian McCann and Noted Asshole Carlos Gomez. From September 2013:
*With 19 ballots known so far, Bagwell is running at 86% in the BBWAA.
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