Tuesday Morning Hot Links

The first day of the Winter Meetings is in the books. Let's see what did and didn't happen:

*The Astros are looking to add two arms to the bullpen. Luke Gregerson, Tyler Clippard and Francisco Liriano account for 89.1IP in 2017 - of course the majority of which were Gregerson's IPs. Luhnow:
At this point, it's a lot of feeling each other out and trying to see where the market is going on some of the players we're interested in. I think it will be a productive three days. Even if we don't get a deal done while we're here, we're certainly going to put ourselves in a spot where we'll have an opportunity to potentially (do so) after. I'm optimistic we're going to do something to improve the club while we're here or shortly thereafter.

We find in McTaggart's link that the Astros did offer a contract to Mike Minor, but the Rangers gave him the opportunity to start.

*With Dallas Keuchel and Charlie Morton's contracts set to expire following the 2018 season, the Astros could look into adding a starter. Here's a non-quote from Luhnow:
I think the reality is if we're going to improve our rotation, it's going to have to be somebody that's better than what we have, and we've got a pretty good rotation penciled out for next year. So we're not going to be looking at fourth and fifth starters. We're probably looking at something north of that. There's not a big population (of available starters who fit that criteria), but we'll probably touch base with maybe not all of them but some of them.

More Luhnow:
Typically the ones that we like require much more significant commitments and we're not sure that's the best path for us to take right now.

*Ken Rosenthal writes in the (subscription-only) Athletic that the Astros have shown interest in Jake Arrieta and Yu Darvish, which would be, uh, interesting.

*Jon Heyman used pretty much all 280 of his characters and said that the Astros never came very close but did try on Giancarlo Stanton.

*Jerry Crasnick notes that Marwin Gonzalez - a free agent following 2018 - has also hired Scott Boras as his agent. Stros looking to get PAID.

*An anonymous Astros player told Sports Illustrated how they knew Yu Darvish was going to his slider before he threw it:
The players said it worked like this: Darvish holds the ball at his side when he gets the sign from the catcher. Whether he re-grips or not as he brings the ball into his glove was the tip-off whether he was going to throw a slider/cutter or a fastball.

*Did the acquisition of Giancarlo Stanton change the Rays' mindset? Maybe Chris Archer is available (for a steep price).

*The Astros signed catcher Tim Federowicz and reliever Matt Ramsey to minor-league deals with an invitation to Spring Training.

Federowicz, a 30-year old catcher, was the Red Sox' 7th Round pick in the 2008 draft. In 403 games at Triple-A, Federowicz has a .304/.374/.503 slash line. Federowicz was part of the three-team trade at the 2011 deadline that saw him get sent to the Dodgers while the Mariners sent former Astros great Erik Bedard and Astros World Series Hero Josh Fields to the Red Sox. Then in December 2014 he was part of the trade that sent Matt Kemp to the Dodgers and Yasmani Grandal to the Padres.

Matt Ramsey, a 5'11 205lb, 28-year old RHP, posted a 3.65 ERA/1.35 WHIP for Double-A Biloxi in 2017 with 58K in 44.1IP. In his five-year minor-league career Ramsey has 239 strikeouts in 198IP. He did hit Triple-A briefly in Colorado Springs (5.1IP), but that's been it so far.

*Kate Upton had a whole bunch of details I don't really understand for Vogue about The Wedding. Except cornhole, I know that. And the Uplander Games sounds legit.

*Red Sox GM(?) Dave Dombrowski:
If we can get better, we're going to do that. But it's really not based on the Stanton move. We're not changing based upon that. It was already our plan to get better. We not only have to beat the Yankees, we have to beat the Astros, world champs, because our goal is to not only win our division but to be the world champs.

Pretty much never going to get old seeing "Astros, world champs" in a row.

*A RUSH OF BLOOD TO THE HEAD: Rangers sign Chris Martin.

Mike, I don’t know what the future holds, but I can promise one thing. I have given everything I can to the city each and every start. I ❤️ Houston. https://t.co/4A8W7ta48r

— Dallas Keuchel (@kidkeuchy) December 12, 2017

Sunday Morning Hot Links

*Random 2017 Astros Fact:

The Astros scored 361 runs with two outs in 2017. Here's how that stacks up against the rest of the AL:

Houston: 361
Minnesota: 300
Cleveland: 294
Arlington: 290
Baltimore: 289
New York: 286
Boston: 283
Anaheim: 271
Chicago: 267
Detroit: 264
Toronto: 261
Tampa Bay: 259
Seattle: 252
Kansas City: 250
Oakland: 231

*Dallas Keuchel told David Nuño that the story about his foot was "bigger than it needed to be."

*Jim Callis writes that the Astros won't part with Kyle Tucker or Forrest Whitley, but guys like Musgrove, Fisher, and Martes could be on the move when the Winter Meetings start tomorrow.

*Jake Kaplan writes about the impact of Stanton's addition to the Yankees' lineup.

*Bregman had a thought on the Stanton trade:

Still gotta come thru the H 🤣🤣🤣

— Alex Bregman (@ABREG_1) December 9, 2017

*Bill Madden writes that Derek Jeter "blundered."

*Ken Davidoff thinks that it's "killing" Jeter for people to think he's purposely helping the Yankees.

*One of the prospects sent to Miami is Jorge Guzman, whom the Astros sent to New York for Brian McCann, who is now maybe the Marlins' best prospect.

*Carlos Correa and Michael Feliz showed up at a toy drive in The Woodlands.

*Lance McCullers helped dogs find a home (evergreen headline)

*FanGraphs: The American League is turning in to the National League.

*Michael Baumann put the Marlins' ownership in a body bag.

*The Rangers could go to a six-man rotation.

This is exactly what the internet was invented for pic.twitter.com/BlbryvSn6E

— Giles Paley-Phillips (@eliistender10) November 27, 2017

Saturday Morning Hot Links

*The FanGraphs 2018 Depth Chart projections are out and here are the Astros' projcetions. LOL at Altuve hitting .309. He does that before he actually wakes up.

*Well congratulations to the Angels and Yankees - they are your 2017 Off-Season Champions.

-The Angels landed Shohei Ohtani, sending Seattle GM Jerry Dipoto into a murderous rage that he will have to trade his way out of. It got salty in Seattle (but the point stands):

Cannot think of a fanbase more deserving of this than the Angels, whose owner literally said he doesn’t care if lower-income people and families can make it to the park https://t.co/8PW4qTn6bG

— Lookout Landing (@LookoutLanding) December 8, 2017

Jon Daniels: “We’re disappointed we weren’t Shohei Ohtani’s choice, but wish him the best in Anaheim. He impressed us on and off the field at every turn. However, had he asked our opinion, we would have suggested the National League."

— Jeff Wilson (@JeffWilson_FWST) December 8, 2017

USA Today's Jorge L. Ortiz talks about how Ohtani alters the balance of power in the AL West.
In a stunning bout of amnesia, Richard Justice says the Angels are MLB's Must-See Team. Jeff Passan writes about why the decision is so stunning. FanGraphs' Jeff Sullivan says Ohtani is a game-changer.

A healthy Mike Trout should boost the Angels' offense (as will a healthy Carlos Correa, Dallas Keuchel, Lance McCullers, etc) but by my calculations Ohtani would need to post a 22-WAR season for the Angels to catch the Astros.

-A few minutes ago the Yankees traded Starlin Castro and some scrubs to Miami for adding $250m in payroll and slugger Giancarlo Stanton. He still has the no-trade clause with Miami, so Stanton has to waive it in order to join Literal Giant Aaron Judge in the Yankees' lineup.

Joel Sherman says the Yankees were all-in on Stanton after losing out on Ohtani.

*Six years ago yesterday Jeff Luhnow became the GM of the Astros. He and Brian McTaggart did some light reflecting.

*Hey Astros Spring Training tickets go on sale today.



*

In Episode 85 of #AstrosAllAccess, host @Lo_Blackwell takes you behind the scenes of Jose Altuve's #Sportsperson of the Year photoshoot with JJ Watt! pic.twitter.com/Aw6URC2kP3

— Houston Astros (@astros) December 8, 2017

*Jimmy Breslin's on-deadline column of the shooting of John Lennon.

Friday Morning Hot Links

*The New York Daily News is reporting that Giancarlo Stanton would now only accept a trade to the Dodgers, Yankees, Cubs, or Astros - apparently completely ruling out a trade to the Giants or Cardinals. Two days ago Sirius XM's Craig Mish said the Astros had explored a trade for Stanton, but couldn't really progress on the talks.

Stanton will make $25 million in 2018 and has $295 million left on his contract that includes an opt-out in 2020 and a full no-trade clause. Hell were the Marlins thinking?

*June MVP Mike Fiers has signed a one-year deal with Detroit for $6m. Crasnick, in the 2nd link, notes that the Orioles had offered a two-year deal, but with Fiers eligible for arbitration again following the 2018 season, he may be betting on a better year than 2017. Fiers was projected to make $5.7m in arbitration this year.

It is also more fun to think that the Astros traded Fiers, Franklin Perez, Daz Cameron, and Jake Rogers to Detroit for Justin Verlander and a World Series.

*At the very bottom of this piece on Manny Machado, Noted Astros Lover Jon Heyman amends a statement:
...closer Zach Britton, who was nearly traded to the eventual World Series-champion Houston Astros at the deadline, has also drawn interest. That deal fell through, due to either medical concerns about one of the Astros players returning in the deal or owner Peter Angelos simply getting cold feet.

Heyman wrote on August 3:
The reality is, the Astros didn't help themselves enough. And it's hard to blame it on Angelos or any other rival owner for that.

*Alex Cora went on Boston radio last night and discussed the August 31 outburst at Geoff Blum and A.J. Hinch.

*In the last 36 hours the Seattle Dipotos have traded three of their top ten prospects for Dee Gordon and more Ohtani money. I'm so glad I'm not a Mariners blogger because I would just stay writing transaction pieces.

*Texas Observer: The strange and sudden demise of the Houston Press.

Thursday Morning Hot Links

*Random 2017 Astros fact:

Jose Altuve, Games with 2+ hits: 59
Jose Altuve, Games with 0 hits: 35

*Justin Verlander got 5th place in the AL Cy Young voting.

*Richard Justice takes a look the MVP races in both leagues. Brian McTaggart writes that Altuve is a worthy MVP choice. The MVP will be revealed at 5pm on MLB Network today. While I feel good about Altuve's chances I'm still nervous that Aaron Judge is going to win because HOMERZ and NOO YORK. I don't know why this matters to me (*actively tries not to apply that last thought to everything about the Houston Astros*).

(American League MVP candidate Aaron Judge)

*Jeff Luhnow still thinks Derek Fisher is ready for left field, but didn't rule out filling that hole in free agency. But Kyle Tucker is coming, so it would be a stop-gap free agent, if necessary.

*Monday is the deadline to put eligible minor-leaguers on the 40-Man Roster in order to protect them from next month's Rule 5 draft. It's been about three years since I've gotten jazzed up about the Rule 5 draft, mainly because the Astros aren't in a position to need to find the next Johan Santana in order to not lose 100 games. Still, guys like Ramon Laureano, Jon Kemmer, and Dean Deetz will either be placed on the 40-Man or run the possibility of getting Delino DeShields'd. Jake Kaplan runs down the decision on Laureano.

*Before you get all steamed up about Jon Heyman's report that the Astros are showing interest in Jonathan Lucroy, please remember all those Inside Baseball columns where his only notes on the Astros were obvious stat cherry-picking from Baseball-Reference or "Huh, Alex Bregman seems pretty good" lines.

*Holdt up. Jim Crane on the possibility of Giancarlo Stanton coming to Houston:
Don't think we haven't thought about how easily the ball would go out in our ballpark...No one thought we'd take on Verlander and we got that one done by the skin of our teeth. There are only four or five teams that can take on that kind of contract at this time and we are one of them.

*Texas Monthly: What Carlos Beltran means to Houstonians.

*Here's an interesting article with a whole bunch of, like, science, and stuff: How the Astros used a new shoulder test to monitor fatigue.
A strength assessment for the shoulder rooted in judo, devised by a soccer physic, tested in rugby and administered with a tool associated with the lower body has been adapted for baseball and used this past season by the World Series champion Houston Astros organization.

My favorite part of this story is this line: "Astros Sport Scientist Jose Fernandez declined comment when contacted by SportTechie, citing club policy."

*MLB will premiere an Astros World Series documentary at UH's Cullen Hall on November 21. Tickets are $25.

*The Twins voided a $3m contract with 16-year old Jelfry Marte, one of the top international prospects coming into this signing period. But please keep bringing up Brady Aiken.

*Grampa Pete is at it again:

Record:Curt Schilling has more Cy Young runner-up finishes, 3, than anyone who never got the award. In 2001-2-4, behind Randy Johnson and Johan Santana, Schilling was 656-19, 3.15, 832-107 K-BB

— Peter Gammons (@pgammo) November 16, 2017