Tuesday Morning Hot Links

So the Winter Meetings are officially off and running...sort of.

*Jim Crane says he's willing to raise payroll if the opportunity presents itself, and we have zero reason to think that he won't do exactly that. Crane:

I'd say if the right situation came along - certainly we're not going over the [luxury-tax threshold] - but we could move closer to that. We were pretty high up in the food chain last year. A lot of teams realize the penalty is pretty severe if you go over. We'll stay within the strike zone. 

Baseball lingo! So a couple of things to note here: the Astros' payroll in 2018 was about $182m. The luxury tax threshold will be about $206m. As it stands right this very minute, Houston is looking at a $137m payroll for 2019. That's subtracting Keuchel, Marwin, and McCann's salaries. This is the last year of Altuve's professional life that he'll make less than $10m, and that $137m figure from B-Ref accounts for Gerrit Cole's projected $13.1m arbitration salary. 

Will the Astros add $45-65m in salaries this year? I could certainly spend Crane's money all day. Check back...at some point this offseason and find out!

*Chandler Rome has a good profile of Kyle Tucker, coming off a somewhat-disappointing MLB debut season. Tucker:

Last year was really cool. I tried - obviously, I wasn't going out there not trying - but I was a little in awe of all the stuff. This year, I don't care who I'm going to play against. I'm going to go out there and do well...I'm just going into this next season trying to do a lot of damage.

Good read, here. 

*Collin McHugh taught a class at Emory University. 

*Jon Heyman says the Astros are still in on Nelson Cruz, but now have competition with Minnesota and Tampa.

*Astros' new director of research and development Ehsan Bokhari was part of an analytics panel at the Winter Meetings. 

*Nate Eovaldi told Evan Drellich that he thought real hard about coming to Houston.

*Former Astros Great Rio Ruiz was claimed off waivers by Former Astros Great Mike Elias' Orioles. 

*Of the 11 games currently scheduled for Sunday Night Baseball, here is the breakdown by team:

-Boston: 5

-New York: 5

-Los Angeles: 4

-Chicago: 2

-Atlanta: 2

-St. Louis: 1

-Colorado: 1

-Pittsburgh: 1

-Philadelphia: 1

-Houston: 0

*Tom Verducci on why Dallas Keuchel isn't in higher demand.

*Mike Elias, on bringing Sig and his Wiffle Bat with him to Baltimore:

We were brought here primarily for scouting and player development purposes. I think we have the best track record - among the best track records in the industry - in this regard over certainly, the last several years, but even going over a 12-year, 14-year period dating back to St. Louis.

*There were some reports yesterday that the Mets, Yankees, and Marlins could be involved in a three-way trade that would send Noah Syndergaard to the Yankees, J.T. Realmuto to the Mets, and a haul of prospects to the Marlins. The Marlins downplayed that, but all indications are that the Marlins are looking to trade Realmuto. Realmuto is one known target of the Mets and two other, as-yet-unknown, teams. 

*The Hardball Times: The physics of getting hit by a pitch.

*The Guardian: The Murder that Shook Iceland. 

*A Musical Selection:

Saturday Morning Hot Links

*Okay, it's a little busier than I expected. So let's start here:

*Jose Altuve won the 5th Silver Slugger Award of his career. Astros Silver Sluggers, franchise history:

-Jose Altuve: 5
-Craig Biggio: 5
-Jeff Bagwell: 3
-Jose Cruz: 2
-Moises Alou: 1
-Glenn Davis: 1
-Morgan Ensberg: 1
-Mike Hampton: 1
-Carlos Lee: 1
-George Springer: 1
-Dickie Thon: 1

*Dallas Keuchel went on Fox Business yesterday to talk about investing in some company that makes disposable equipment to deal with sweat. Oh, and the Yankees:
For the right opportunity, I would happily shave this beard off...The lure of the city would be really cool. I like pitching in Yankee Stadium...I am hoping there's more teams then (sic) just a couple. I think everybody is in play right now.

/Hard, heavy sigh

*Larry Dierker says, of the loss of Keuchel, McCullers, and (possibly) Morton:
If you're not worried, you're stupid.

*Mike Petriello takes a look at five pitchers right in the Astros' wheelhouse who could use a little Stromming: Sonny Gray, Trevor Cahill, Garrett Richards, Drew Pomeranz, Jeremy Hellickson. Click the link for the rationale.

*In the wake of the departures of Sig Mejdal and Mike Fast, the Astros have restructured their research & development department. Among the hires:

-Ehsan Bokhari, who will lead the department, and comes from the Dodgers.
-Sarah Gelles, who will be the new program manager, and spent the last three seasons as Baltimore's director of analytics.

*Jake Kaplan writes in The Athletic about J.B. Bukauskas, a car wreck, and a season saved.

*Alex Bregman left a $500 tip as part of a YouTube channel in which he apparently focuses on delivering random acts of kindness.

*Randy Cesar, who had a Texas League record-breaking 42-game hitting streak, is now a free agent. Former Astros Greats also on the Minor League Free Agent list: Jake Buchanan, Preston Tucker, L.J. Hoes, Fernando Rodriguez, Asher Wojciechowski, Brett Oberholtzer, Kevin Comer, Kevin Chapman, Tyler Heineman, Harold Arauz, David Rollins, Rhiner Cruz.

*Get to know the next Japanese free agent, pitcher Yusei Kikuchi.

*Joe Mauer retired yesterday, ending a 15-year career with Minnesota. His numbers are Nice: .306/.388/.439. MVP award. Five Silver Sluggers. Six-time All-Star. But are those numbers Hall of Fame-worthy?

-His 2123 hits would be the fewest for a Hall of Famer elected since 2006, when Gary Carter and his 2092 hits were inducted. Mike Piazza was elected in 2016 with 2127 hits.

-His 143 home runs would be the fewest since Wade Boggs and his 118 home runs were inducted in 2005.

Those are just dashboard numbers. Consider that Mauer's 49.2 fWAR is the highest among catchers since his debut in 2004, and it's not even close:
1. Mauer (49.2)
2. Buster Posey (38.2)
3. Yadier Molina (37.9)

By Jay Jaffe's JAWS standards, Mauer ranks 7th all-time in MLB history at catcher and has above-average HOF catcher numbers. But even if you are skeptical so far, consider that Mauer was basically the face of the Twins for a generation. And, for me, that should matter in a Hall of Fame case. I want the Hall of Fame to represent the best of the game for each team (an argument I made in favor of Jeff Bagwell's candidacy), and Mauer absolutely does that. So for me, is Joe Mauer a Hall of Famer? Yes.

*Inside the booming business of background music.

*A musical selection: