On Dusty Baker

Astros manager Dusty Baker apparently told Jim Crane this afternoon (Wednesday, October 25) that he is retiring. A press conference will be held on Thursday at noon at Minute Maid Park. Dusty:

I'm very grateful and thankful to Jim Crane and the Houston Astros for giving me this opportunity, and to win a championship. I felt like they've been good for me, and I've been good for them. What I really appreciate is that Jim has been totally honest and transparent with me on all things.

Dusty would like to remain in an advisory role, either with the Astros or with a team closer to his home in Sacramento. 

Some of the many highlights from his resume:

-7th all-time in managerial wins, with 2183. 

-8th all-time in games managed, with 4046.

-4th all-time in postseason wins, with 57 (a Rangers' World Series win next week would bring Bruce Bochy level with him).

-4th all-time in playoff appearances, with 13. 

-His .540 managerial win% is 18th among managers with at least 2000 games in the dugout.

-In his four seasons with the Astros, Dusty posted a 320-226 regular season record. His 546 games with the Astros are the 7th-most by an Astros manager in franchise history. 

-His 320 wins are 6th-most in franchise history. And his .586 win% is 2nd-best among managers who managed more than one game, just behind A.J. Hinch's .594 win%. 

-He was 34-19 as manager of the Astros in the postseason, a .642 win%, by far the best postseason winning percentage in Astros history (A.J. Hinch was 22-12 in the postseason). 

Dusty is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, on track to be the first Black manager to be inducted in Cooperstown in three years. 

And here's the thing: nobody at the end of the 2019 season expected Dusty Baker to manage the Astros at all, let alone for the next four years. The exposure of the Trash Can Scandal threw the lifelong tenure of A.J. Hinch with the Astros out the window, 63 wins shy of tying Bill Virdon for the franchise lead.

But the Trash Can Scandal did happen, much as we would like to forget it (and as much as we would like everyone else to, as well). We won't, and neither will They. So Jim Crane did the right thing and fired Hinch. 

As I wrote when it was announced that Dusty had been hired:

1. They need someone who is well-respected (by the media and General Baseball People, anyway - your complaints were heard loud and clear)...

2. They need someone who has managed in a variety of situations...
3. They need someone who can handle A Circus...

...Columnists across [puts hand across forehead] the land are going to love it because their hand-wringing, and bringing blood out of a turnip, will easily provide that week's Column. But then they have to deal with Dusty Baker, whom pretty much everyone loves except for you, who gets their narrative from FanGraphs. Their hearts will melt. It's an organizational rehab assignment, for a year, and the best-case scenario is that the Astros (and by that I of course mean Us) and Dusty Baker gets their ring in 2020. Winning a World Series like this, in this year, with this much hate, would be delicious, and the scrutiny would cleanse it. Yankee and Dodger Fan would move the goalposts, to be sure. But it would be sweeter than the first (I think).

That second ring came a couple of years after, but the point is still valid. 

Chandler Rome:

The team is sullied by scandal but still set to contend for a title. Its image and reputation remain in ruins. Players will endure eight months of invective from opposing crowds and players. Baker arrives as a slice of serenity amid acrimony, a man who Crane hopes can galvanize an Astros clubhouse still searching for a way forward.

He did all that. Dusty guided this team through those first few years. The vitriol is still there - but the vitriol also is a testament to how much the Astros have won (and who they've beaten) in the last seven years. I understand why other fans hate the Astros, and why the Trash Can Scandal keeps getting brought up. I still make "Change Your Password!" jokes about the Cardinals. It's never going to go away, no matter how many times you can point them to Tony Adams' website. There's absolutely no point in getting upset about it.

Dusty Baker managed 4046 games and played in 2039 more. That's 162 games...37.5 times over. Dusty earned the right to go out on his own terms. He got his ring, and with another loaded roster in 2023 (before we all watched Jose Abreu not hit water if he fell out of a boat for three months), it's understandable why he would want to see if he could run it back for a first-in-a-generation repeat.

You can rightfully question some of the decisions that Dusty made throughout the 2023 season: insisting on Martin Maldonado over Yainer Diaz, and hating Chas McCormick for some reason (banana pudding aside). In my heart of hearts I truly believe that Dusty loved pretty much everyone on that team, and in the end it may have bit him in the ass, particularly in managing Game 7 of the ALCS like there was a Game 8 two days later. Dusty's Magic is designed to work over a 162 game season. Not so much when the season is on the line in the next 10 minutes. 

But now that Dusty is stepping aside - allegedly - it's time that Jim Crane remembers his roots. He let Jeff Luhnow run the show based on analytics and look what happened. Crane gets the credit of the work of analysts who "never played the game." Jeff Bagwell and Jim Crane gave Rafael Montero $39m. 

Allowing Jeff Bagwell to have a hand in choosing the next manager is extremely concerning because it betrays the very principles this Dynasty (and, yes, it's a dynasty) was founded upon. What I fear for this organization is extremely eloquently summed up by My Buddy Mike. My fear is that Jim Crane can be adequately characterized by Barry Switzer (BOOMER) in that he was born on third base and thought he hit a triple. 

Wednesday Morning Hot Links

Good morning. Framber threw a no-hitter and the Astros beat Cleveland 2-0. Houston is 61-47, a season-high 14 games over .500. 

*It was the 16th no-hitter in franchise history, and the first by a lefty pitcher. Framber:

The last couple of games I just wasn't as focused as I could have been and I'll be the first to admit that. But today I just came very focused, very positive and just ready to leave it all out on the field.

Maldonado:

I noticed from the bullpen, he wasn't joking around. He was straight business from the moment he walked out there. 

Framber's three previous starts: 15IP, 21H/15ER, 18K:6BB, 4HR allowed.

Pitching coach Josh Miller:

He had a different sort of focus and demeanor and presence the whole time - from warmup to in the dugout in between innings to on the mound in the game.

Framber's pitches by inning:

1st: 10

2nd: 12

3rd: 14

4th: 11

5th: 13

6th: 6

7th: 5

8th: 10

9th: 12

The 93 pitches are the 3rd-fewest in a no-hitter since they started keeping track of that in 1988, behind Darryl Kile's 83 (!) pitches for the Astros on September 8, 1993 and David Cone's perfect game in 1999. Check here for other facts & figures from last night's game.

*It was the first time the Astros shut out their opponent since a 14-0 win over St. Louis, and the first time they've shut out an opponent at Minute Maid Park since a 2-0 win over Oakland on May 21 (coincidentally that was Framber's first CGSHO of the season). 

*Houston is 12-3 in their last 15 games decided by one or two runs. 

*Framber's only blemish of the night was a leadoff walk in the 5th inning of DH Oscar Gonzalez - he got a double play to end the inning, meaning that he faced the minimum 27 batters. 

*65 of Framber's 93 pitches were for strikes.

*Kyle Tucker drove in both of the Astros' runs, giving him 5RBI in his last three games. He has struck out just twice in his last 39 Plate Appearances. 

*Every no-hitter in Astros history.

*Chandler Rome wrote about Jim Crane's commitment to winning.

*I wrote up some thoughts about the Verlander trade.

*GQ: How one man stole $2 billion in art.

*What makes the Allsup's burrito so legendary?

*A Musical Selection:

Saturday Morning Hot Links

This week was really stupid and I, for one, am extremely happy that it's over. I hope everybody got to exorcise their demons from the offseason this week. Two nights ago I kicked over a glass of water I had idiotically put next to the couch, then immediately slipped in the water on the downstep, sending me flying to a point where I kicked the back door and hit my head on the side of the couch. Thus, no Hot Links yesterday. I do not regret skipping a day.

The Astros beat the Angels 9-6. The bats returned from their quarantine with 12 hits and seven walks. Every Astro had a hit, except for Altuve and Maldonado. Altuve is hitless in his last 13 ABs. Maldonado drew three walks in a game for the 4th time in his career and the first time since September 2016.

Kyle Tucker was 3x5 with 4RBI, a career-high. George Springer showed signs of life with a 2x4, 1BB, 2RBI night. Carlos Correa has a hit in all seven Astros games played.

Lance McCullers: 4IP, 6H/4ER, 4K:4BB.
The Bullpen: 5IP, 2H/2R (1ER), 5K:8BB.

The Astros' pitching staff walked 12 Angels batters. It's the 5th time in franchise history the Astros have walked 11+ batters and still won the game - the last time the Astros walked 12 and won was June 11, 1994. Dusty:
You walk 12, you don't usually win that game. But these guys battled.

Angels 1-3 in the lineup: 5x9, 1K:6BB, 5RBI
Angels 4-9 in the lineup: 3x24, 8K:6BB, 1RBI

*Check out McTaggart's Inbox!

*Chandler Rome: How families are coping with being Anywhere But The Stadium for all these MLB debuts.

*Urquidy may be further ahead in the comeback timeline than Yordan, who is apparently up to 30 swings. Ryan Pressly's elbow is improving.

*Jim Crane reallllllly needs to stop talking out loud to people with recorders and platforms. Crane, for some unknown unGodly reason decided to sit down and talk with Bob Nightengale. Read it, it's not paywalled. Some notes:
-Crane got death threats in January. That's...something else entirely.
-We broke the rules. We got penalized. We were punished. There's no doubt it weighs on all of us every single day.
-On the infamous February Press Conference: We didn't come off like I wanted to. If I had to do it over again, I'd do it differently. The press conference didn't go well at all. I didn't handle it as well as I should have. 
-On the sign-stealing [waves hands] thing: I think [MLB] had a bigger problem than everybody realized. Two other teams were doing things and got caught, but we're the ones who took the bullet. That's the way it works. I'm not trying to blame anyone else. It was our problem. We dealt with it.

Okay, so far...it's okay. Then:

-On Brandon Taubman: Brandon Taubman didn't commit domestic violence. He just made a comment. It's nothing you can defend. He had a few cocktails. He was happy. There were people constantly coming at him over [Osuna], and he overreacted. Did he do the right thing? No. Everybody makes mistakes. But is he a good, genuine decent person and smart kid? Absolutely. I hated to see him lose his job, but we had no choice.

Oh no. Brandon Taubman is 35 years old.

-On trading for Osuna: We didn't anticipate the Osuna thing would catch that much heat. But when it did, the players were concerned. I told the guys on our team, 'Listen, we made the decision. He paid his price. We think he deserves a second chance. If he screws up, he's out of here. You don't have to worry about it. 
-On the Astros "front-office culture:" We didn't have a culture problem. They're isolated incidents that are unrelated.

Except they're not! The Astros traded for Osuna, a year and a half later Taubman does His Thing, which blows up literally on the eve of the World Series. The Astros lose the World Series, and two weeks later The Athletic drops their bombshell. MLB had no choice but to investigate the Astros. They were isolated incidents over the course of 18 months, but they are not unrelated.

He did say one thing about Verlander, though:
He's hopeful, so we'll see. But you never know with these elbows. It could be a slight tear. It could be a strain. But if he had to have Tommy John, and I don't think that's anywhere near clear yet, he wouldn't be back until 2022. 

*Fernando Rodney has apparently passed his physical and is headed to satellite camp in Corpus. It's a minor-league deal but since there aren't "minor leagues" this year, I don't really know what that means, other than that someone would have to get optioned off the 40-Man Roster in order to add him. I applaud this as now I am no longer older than all of the Astros. Rodney has been teammates with A.J. Hinch, Steve Sparks, Jose Lima, Brian Moehler, Steve Avery, Rondell White, Ugueth Urbina, Troy Percival, Magglio Ordonez, Matt Stairs, and Kenny Rogers.

BREAKING: MLB commissioner Rob Manfred told MLBPA executive director Tony Clark on Friday that if the sport doesn’t do a better job of managing the coronavirus, it could shut down for the season, sources tell ESPN.

Story at ESPN: https://t.co/o0OL7JzowN

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 31, 2020

*Brandon Bellamy is the first Black majority baseball owner since 1987.

*FanGraphs' Ben Clemens: The Curious Case of the Curveball at Night.

*The Guardian: How one hour of slow breathing changed my life.

*These fools seem to think the best burger in Texas is in Dallas. This is preposterous. Everyone knows it's Storm's in Burnet, Lampasas, or Hamilton.

*Outside: Two friends quit their jobs to build a cabin. Everything went wrong.

*Wired: The Garmin hack was a warning.

*A Musical Selection:

Wednesday Evening Hot Links

What We Know So Far:

*In McTaggart's 2020 Season FAQ, we find...
-Spring Summer Training will take place at Minute Maid Park, with players reporting by July 1. Fans won't be in the stands.
-The season will start on July 23 or July 24. The schedule has not yet been set.
-It's a 60-game schedule, with 40 divisional games and 20 games against the NL West in inter-league play.
-The Astros will open with a 30-Man Roster, and reduce it by two every two weeks for the first month of the season.

New Rules:
-Universal DH
-Extra innings begin with a runner on 2nd.
-If a player/manager comes out to shout at Joe West or Angel Hernandez or Ron Kulpa and gets within six feet, he's immediately ejected and could be fined/suspended.
-Pitchers can have a wet rag consisting only of water in their back pocket.

Is it weird? Yeah. Is it crazy? Sure. But let's just enjoy it for what it is, and let's hope that every player and coach and staff member stays healthy (and all of their families, as well) so they can entertain us in a crisis. Let's not get bogged down with the rule changes and the weirdness - we can complain about Crooked-Ass Manfred and umpires and greedy billionaires, for sure - but let's chill out.

*Dusty Baker is pumped, but worried:
I've been staying in contact with the players. Most I've talked to seem excited. Some didn't want to be too excited, because they didn't want to be let down if there wasn't a season. The guys are ready. They've got a great attitude. We want to go back to where we belong.

*Two possibilities for the "Taxi Squad:" Sugar Land's Constellation Field and the University of Houston.

*Jim Crane wants fans in the stands. This is, of course, a terrible idea. Also, Crane, on potential moves this coming off-season:
We're in a position to be aggressive, no matter what the market looks like.

Keep in mind that George Springer, Josh Reddick, Michael Brantley, and Brad Peacock are free agents after this season. Justin Verlander, Zack Greinke, Carlos Correa, Lance McCullers, Joe Smith, Roberto Osuna, Martin Maldonado, and Chris Devenski are free agents after the 2021 season.

*In Dan Szymborki's updated ZiPS projections, the Astros have one of the easiest Strength of Schedules, and Houston is projected for a 36-24 record, three games better than the A's. BetOnline has the Astros at 35.5 wins.

*Richard Justice: 20 reasons to be excited about the 2020 season.

*Chandler Rome: Meet Cody Orr, the Astros' "most fascinating free agent signing." Orr runs a 6.43 60, can play five positions, and pitches out of two different arm slots.

*Jake Kaplan: What if the Astros had re-signed Charlie Morton? I'll help: Houston doesn't have to trade a bunch of dudes for Zack Greinke. Before the pro-rated salary thing became A Thing, the Rays were on the hook for $15 million in 2020 with a vesting $15m option for 2021. The Astros are on the hook for $50m (again, pre-pro-rated salary stuff in 2020) for Greinke in 2020-2021.

*Beyond the Box Score's Sheryl Ring says the Yankees might be in sign-stealing trouble, noting that Mark Teixeira said the Yankees would use a replay monitor to signal signs to a runner on 2nd, who would then notify the hitter. Ring:
The Astros' use of video rooms was considered to be an unacceptable rules violation, and the Yankees were doing something similar. The big difference here is the contemporaneous use of a trash can to signal pitches to hitters, and whilst that's a significant difference, both teams were using video monitors in order to learn and decode opposing signs. Assuming Teixeira is being entirely honest, this doesn't launch the Yankees into an upper echelon of cheaters, but it also doesn't absolve them from any wrongdoing.

*The Chicago Tribune had a piece calling for the Arlington Rangers to change their name. The team issued a statement saying they wouldn't do it.

*The Nashville Sounds might host a free-agent league.

*The MLB Transaction Freeze lifts on Friday.

*Collin McHugh is getting screwed.

*Friend of Astros County, Fenway Park organist Josh Kantor talked to the NY Times about his daily livestream concerts benefiting food banks.

*The Baseball Hall of Fame will reopen on Friday.



*Drew Magary: Bill Simmons has had this coming for a long time.

*Me: What happened to Seneca Village?

*NY Times: Ancient Rome was teetering, then a volcano erupted 6,000 miles away.

*Rolling Stone: Rhett Miller (whom I am blessed to call a friend) wrote killer drinking songs. Now he's sober and still at the top of his game.



It's going to get worse before it gets better.

Friday Evening Hot Links

Feel free to skip past this next section, if you so wish:

I mentioned this on Twitter a couple of times in the last few weeks, but I've been struggling. Officially it's Depression and Social Anxiety. Not terribly surprising, actually. I've probably had it longer than I realized, but all the distractions sort of pushed it under the surface. Could explain why I'd get super-pissed if the Astros lost a game that I, a Knower of the Game, felt they shouldn't have lost. I am not on medication as of yet. I've tried a couple of other things just to see how it goes: I've been a vegetarian for almost five weeks, trying to eat one vegan meal a day. I quit drinking. I run a lot more. I set a goal with my dude Tyler to run the Houston Marathon, should it actually take place. If it doesn't, I'll run around for 26 miles on a Sunday morning in January here. Anyhow, I haven't been on Twitter as much lately (not so much, since the Cheatin'-Ass Yankees news broke last Saturday) but I've had to take a step back. Also, 30 billionaires holding the game of baseball hostage aided by the commissioner hasn't been a ton of fun. And honestly, what with everything happening in the USA (and I don't mean that as a catch-all, literally everything is happening) it didn't feel right to devote too much time to this blog. That said, I found that I need this blog. It gives me something on which to focus, even when it's not the original intended subject of the blog. The hiatus is over, for now.



Astros News

*An Astros player working out in West Palm Beach tested positive for COVID-19. Allegedly it was only the one positive test out of the 50-ish people who were there, exhibiting minor symptoms.

*Dusty Baker (as well as other leading African-Americans) spoke to USA Today about the meaning of Juneteenth.

*The Astros have agreed to terms with 2nd Round pick Alex Santos ($1.25m, well over the slot value of $870,700) and 5th Round pick Shay Whitcomb ($56,000, well under the slot value of $324,100). They had already signed their 3rd Round pick Ty Brown and 4th Round pick Zach Daniels.

While Whitcomb was the last official pick of this incredibly stupid draft, he's hardly Mr. Irrelevant. Whitcomb:
My wanting to get with (the Astros) was definitely high on the list. That was one of the teams we were targeting more, and I'm really happy it worked out.

Houston's bonus allotment (another owner ploy to keep costs down) was $2,202,600 and they spent $2,283,000 will pay a 75% tax on the overage of $80,400, or $60,300.

*The Astros also agreed to terms with a few undrafted free agents, notably Carlos Correa's brother JC. 'Litos, on his brother:
I'm very proud of his accomplishments. Now is when the real work starts. I know that with his work ethic and his talent, he will become a big leaguer someday.

Houston also signed: OF Justin Dirden, RHP Cesar Gomez, RHP Kyle Gruller, RHP Zack Matthews, and 1B/LF Peter Zimmermann

*The Athletic took a look at all 30 MLB owners, and the valuations of each team. Notably for the Astros, Jim Crane took his $680m investment and has already almost tripled it, with the team's estimated value at $1.85 billion.

*Alex Cora talked to the Boston Globe and expanded on last week's interview (which I completely missed) with ESPN's Marly Rivera.

Cora, to Rivera:
There has been a narrative out there of what happened. Ever since mid-November until the commissioner announced the results of the Red Sox investigation, I have read many things that are true and others that are not. Out of this whole process, if there is one thing that I completely reject and disagree with is people within the Astros organization singling me out, particularly Jeff Luhnow, as if I were the sole mastermind...If there is one thing I am absolutely sure of, it is that it was not a two-man show. We all did it. And let me be very clear that I am not denying my responsibility, because we were all responsible.

Now, Cora told the Boston Globe:
The reason I talked about the Houston thing the way that I did was because I know too many things about that investigation. For some reason, the information was leaked to the Wall Street Journal. I read that [Beltran] was a bully. The timing is right for me now to talk about that. I think I did a favor to the commissioner, telling him, 'We f***ed up.' I told Rob, 'You held me hostage for seven months. I stayed quiet. Now this is what I'm going to say.' I said what I said about the Houston thing because of what Jeff did. Everything I said, I meant. The whole thing that really bothered me was Jeff just saying 'the bench coach.' He should have just said 'Alex Cora.' That's why I said what I said.

I updated the How We Got Here page...

*ESPN's David Schoenfield: How current players and their MLB Dads of the 90s stack up.



Other Stuff

*Tony Kemp stays a good guy.

*MLB and ownership rejected the MLBPA's offer of a 70-game season and will not make a counter-offer. Apparently there is such a thing as Too Much Baseball, especially if you, you know, own a team. The owners are duplicitous cowards and we need a Guillotine Day.

*SI: Love, Loss, and Baseball: Letters From 1918.

A subtle thing, but nice touch: @MLB has inverted the colors on the black-and-white version of its logo. pic.twitter.com/NtXOCCikK0

— Anthony Castrovince (@castrovince) June 19, 2020

That head is a bird head.

Non-Sports Things I've Read

*Drew Magary: The Gentlemanly Hater's Guide to Gone With The Wind.

*Men's Journal: The Great Whiskey Heist

*Mental Floss: 15 albums that cost a fortune to make.

*Outside: The business of building utopia.

(Mostly) 'Rona-Free Hot Links, Vol. 7

Took a break because...well, I felt like it.

*Dusty Baker's new routine is basically making wine and watching cowboy movies. Dusty:
It's kind of like Groundhog Day every day.

*Dusty talked to Tags about Jackie Robinson and the potential return of baseball.

Watched thousands of hours of old football film past 5 yrs. Here's video I slapped together of the Reggie Bush of the leather helmet era. His name? Jackie Robinson. Yep, same guy. Last TD is vs. Chicago Bears. Unreal. pic.twitter.com/PdBopJO8zf

— SportsbyBrooks (@SportsbyBrooks) October 5, 2018

*Jackie Robinson coached college basketball in Austin.

*MLB.com's complete guide to Jackie Robinson Day.

*Alex Bregman has raised almost $850,000 for the Houston Food Bank.

2017 ALCS Game 7:


*Jim Crane is shipping $3m worth of supplies to Puerto Rico.

*MLB is participating in a COVID-19 study.

*Tom Verducci: How a 43-game regular season could work.

*Wright Thompson, on Clayton Kershaw.



*The Quarantine Backyard Ultra is perfectly insane.

*Might have said this already, but I highly suggest you watch Icarus on Netflix.



*We've also really been into McMillion$, which is on Hulu and HBOGo.

*The Spies Who Came in from the Continent.



*Stereogum: An oral history of MySpace Music.

*Outside: The true story of the White Island eruption.



*I've read about half of The Partner in the last 24 hours. It's a pretty great quick read.

'Rona-Free Hot Links, Vol. 3

*I don't really want to lead off with this but Jim Crane says MLB "explicitly exonerated" him in their investigation, for the expressed purpose of leaving him out of any lawsuits that proceed against the team he owns in the event that the Astros, do in fact, continued to get sued.

*Evan Gattis said he had retired from baseball, and you should absolutely listen to the podcast where he announced it.

*So did 2014 2nd Round pick A.J. Reed. Chandler Rome:
The Astros did not summon Reed for a September call-up in 2017 or 2018. His weight and conditioning were often problems. Frustration grew visible. Houston designated him for assignment last July to clear a spot for pitcher Jose Urquidy on the 40-Man roster.

As a junior at Kentucky, Reed hit .462/.588/.962 (read that again) and had a 2.83 ERA in the same season. That's insane. That 2014 Draft was...hoo-boy. Picks through the 1st 10 Rounds:

Brady Aiken, Game 5 Hero and Current Toronto Great Derek Fisher, A.J. Reed, Current Mets Great J.D. Davis, Current Oakland Gret Daniel Mengden, Jacob Nix, Brock Dykxhoorn, Derick Velasquez, Bobby Boyd, Bryan Radziewski, Jay Gause.

It turns out that the prize of the Astros' 2014 draft was either Josh Big Flames James, the 1006th selection of the draft, who has put up a 0.8 fWAR, or Ramon Laureano, who has posted 5.9 fWAR...for Oakland, because the Astros traded him to Oakland for Brandon Bailey, who will likely be in Triple-A this year.

*Click this MLB.com link to see how Ryan Pressly has the nastiest 10" in baseball.

*Baseball-Reference is using OOTP21 to simulate the 2020 season. The Astros are 2-4.



*Minor-Leaguers will get $400/week until at least May 31, plus medical benefits. It's literally the least a $10 Billion industry can do.

*GQ: Inside the poisoning of a Russian double-agent.

*The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal: Victor Martinez's audacious dream is within sight.

*I have attended precisely one Leeds United game in person. It was this one, a Champions League game against Lazio, with my dad. You can see how I'd be hooked. There's a "What Happened To Leeds United" Astros County post coming in the next few days.



*I highly recommend you to watch Icarus, which is available on Netflix. It's one of the best documentaries I've ever seen.

*This is one of my favorite books of all-time.

*"Cocaine, Speed, and Gallons of Jack Daniel's." The last Rock n Roll Superstars were...Korn?

*Check out this three-part series from ProPublica called "Blood Will Tell." It will take you all afternoon. Then, when you're done with that, read this follow-up, which broke Tuesday.

*Learn something:



*A Musical Selection:



*Another Musical Selection:

Sunday Morning Hot Links

New Stuff:

*Game 8 was canceled due to rain. The Astros, featuring a lineup with virtually no regulars, got booed mercilessly by a Spring Training crowd. The Astros stole confiscated the signs of the people who brought signs about sign-stealing. Orbit got booed. Who boos the mascot? Dusty:
You can't control what comes from the stands, you can just control your emotions and what you feel. I'm not worried about anything. 

*In the limited innings that were actually played, SP Cristian Javier worked through some nerves, throwing two perfect innings, striking out three of the six batters he faced while he hovered around 93-94mph with a snappy little breaking ball.

*Zack Greinke, an actual hero, only recently found out that the Pitchers & Catchers Report date wasn't mandatory. Greinke:
I just found out we don't have to come those other days. If I had known that 15 years ago, I probably wouldn't have been coming for a while now.

McTaggart: Greinke is looking for consistency in 2020.

*Here's a cool article from Chandler Rome on 6'7" 1B Taylor Jones, the Astros "First Baseman of the Future" who can also play 3B and OF. Jones:
Obviously, being close (to the Majors) and being in Triple-A all last year and playing well, you get excited because the next step is the big leagues. I just have to keep doing the same thing I've been doing and then they make the decisions at the end of the day. If I can just go out and do what I do, the rest will take care of itself.

Jones hit .291/.388/.501 for Round Rock in 2019. In theory, should Yuli Gurriel go on the IL or a spot open up for some reason for a position player, Jones would be in line. And with Yuli being a free agent after this season, this season is likely an audition for Jones for 2021. Espada, on Jones:
Very impressive the first couple of weeks. I'm excited to see more. He's going to get an opportunity to open some eyes here this spring.

*Will Leitch and Mike Petriello ranked the World Series contenders, 1-30. Scroll past the Yankees and Dodgers and check Leitch's note on the Astros.

Sign-Stealing Stuff:

*Jeff Passan: Let's chill out with the death threats.

Look, I know that a lot of you don't like Passan. Same with Evan Drellich and Ken Rosenthal. They've been the ones whose name have been on the reports all off-season, breaking some new level of fresh hell seemingly every day and adding to a winter of discontent at the end of a decade of discontent that peaked on November 1, 2017 only for the finest moment in franchise history to be...if not tainted, then ultimately disappointing, at best. Let's recap the decade in one line:

2010: Berkman hit .245; Staff Ace Brett Myers
2011: 106 losses
2012: 107 losses; CF Jordan Schaefer
2013: It can't get worse right? Oh wait DH Carlos Pena and 111 losses.
2014: Jon Singleton hit .168
2015: HOPE and then Game 4
2016: We do not speak of 2016
2017: Everyone in Houston was underwater, Astros get Verlander, win the World Series, bunch of trash can shenanigans.
2018: Lost four straight to Boston because baseball is stupid.
2019: Lost every single home game in the World Series then everything went to hell.

I'm not going to carry water for reporters. And this sentiment does not extend to all reporters across the board [side-eyes Jon Heyman], but I've read pretty much every word Passan (and Drellich and Rosenthal) wrote this off-season. Then last night, because I quit drinking and I was bored because everyone else in my house was asleep, I went back and read some of the pieces again. There's legitimately no bias in Passan's (and Drellich/Rosenthal's) reporting. It felt like it because it was about the Astros and the news was All Bad, but there was no glee, no pleasure being taken in what was being reported. Again, this isn't true for every journalist who weighed in on the Astros' off-season, but I feel for these dudes, specifically.

I literally don't care what anyone says, Passan did a hell of a job reporting this whole story.

— Thickie Don (@AstrosCounty) January 14, 2020

We're coming off the heels of the 2018 offseason, which was the most boring offseason in recorded history. Machado and Harper didn't sign until February. Legit nothing was happening. Then in November all hell broke loose and, for the first time in a long time, Baseball was absolutely riveting (if you're not an Astros fan). This offseason gave baseball fans a chance to feel outrage against a team who has dominated the regular season for the last three years. This was the story of the off-season, and it's journalistically irresponsible not to report every new wrinkle that pops up. Jeff Passan is one of the national baseball writers for ESPN. You can't expect him to just skip it because the story sucks.  Yes, the Astros are getting death threats because of what broke back in November. No, it's not Passan's fault, it's not Drellich's fault, it's not Rosenthal's fault. It could be Jomboy's fault.

In my little timeline of sign-stealing events there are obviously whispers about other teams doing...well, maybe not the exact same thing...but approaching what the Astros did, and the Astros were more egregious about it, and they got caught. In a lot of those stories about the Dodgers, or Yankees, or Red Sox, Passan's name is on the byline. But you can't expect, in a story about Carlos Correa using the trash can, a random one-off paragraph that says, "But remember, the Dodgers had a coach running in the tunnel from the video room to the dugout in 2018." As satisfying as it would be for it to break that the Dodgers - for all their moral outrage and White Boy Mad - were doing the same thing, we're not going to get that (yet).

I've never met Jeff Passan. I met Evan Drellich once, I think it was in the press box in Arlington. I saw Ken Rosenthal in Cooperstown a few times and, yes, he's very short. But, literally, don't shoot the messenger.

*McTaggart: Under new leadership, the Astros seek redemption.

From an email Jim Crane sent out to #Astros season ticket holders today. (Yes, I am one). pic.twitter.com/qcG6HdMbuJ

— Greg Rajan (@GregRajan) February 22, 2020

*Last week, Bob Hilliard filed suit on behalf of season ticket holders against the Astros. Corpus Christi declined to renew their partnership with his law firm.

Other Stuff

*The Men Who Missed the Miracle on Ice.

*Skip Hollandsworth: "I Would Only Rob Banks For My Family..."

*Leeds 1 Reading 0. Leeds are now five points clear of the playoff and firmly in the 2nd automatic promotion spot with 12 games remaining.

*A Musical Selection:

Monday Morning Hot Links

Another day in paradise...

*Forrest Whitley talked about reporting to camp at 230 pounds, up 40 from the 190 at which he showed up in 2019. Whitley:
I was just so skinny that by the time the season would reach like June or July, I wasn't ready. That showed in 2018; I got hurt quite a little bit....I think just the general thought process that went into that was just not coming into camp absurdly skinny like I had the past couple years. I remember a couple years ago I came into camp at like 190, so I wanted to lower the workload, eat a little bit more, and focus on coming into camp at a little better weight. 

I'm sitting at about 235, down five since the beginning of the month. Of course, I'm like 5'11" so

*Jim Crane told James Click he can have more money if he needs it. Click:
I know where our payroll is relative to the CBT line. (Crane) just shot it down and was like, 'We're over it, that's fine because we're going to win, and if you need more for us to win, I'll get you more.

Spotrac has the Astros' payroll at $214m to $231m. The line in which you pay the tax in 2020 is $208m, with a further penalty if you go over $228m. $37.3m is coming off the books after the season when Brantley ($16m), Reddick ($13m), and Gurriel ($8.3m) become free agents, with the possibility of a further reduction should the Astros not re-sign George Springer ($21m in 2020). I love savings. Love it when my favorite team has coupons. Getting a jersey embroidered with "Savings" on the back.

*Rob Manfred, on punishing the Astros' players themselves:
Look, it's impossible, given the facts that we found - and, frankly, the statements of the Astros' players since the decision came out - to escape the fact that, independent of what the GM did, the manager did, (the players) had an obligation to play by the rules, and they didn't do it. I understand when people say, 'The players should have been punished.' I understand why people feel that way, because they did not do the right thing...If I was in a world where I could have found all the facts, without granting immunity, I would have done that.

Manfred says throwing at Astros' hitters is "dangerous, and not helpful to the current situation."

Manfred, on the use of buzzers in 2019:
Can I tell you 100 percent certain that it didn't happen? No. You can never know that. People tell you what they tell you. I will tell you, the evidence on this issue was as consistent in the direction that nothing was going on as the evidence was consistent in the direction that there was inappropriate behavior in (2017 and 2018).

So stay with me here: The part of the quote that, and this is shocking I know, people are keying in on is the first part, where Manfred says he can't be 100% certain the Astros weren't wearing buzzers in 2019. But he goes on to say, if you take the time to read the whole quote, that the evidence was as consistent for them not wearing buzzers as it was consistent that they did shady crap in 2017 and 2018. In other words, Manfred's investigation probably got that right, since the Astros themselves are coming out and admitting it.

It is incredibly shocking to me that people are running to Jomboy's defense and taking what he throws against the wall as gospel, while ignoring evidence to the contrary. I can't quite put my finger on a parallel in society where people believe the guy they like is telling them the truth in the face of evidence to the contrary, and vilifying the people who provide said contrary evidence. It's right on the tip of my tongue. I'll figure it out, I guess, after a little more coffee.

Anyway, here's where the buzzer theory originated: Reddit user meme-engineer on October 24:
I had a dream a couple weeks back when the Astros were playing the Rays, it was that after the post season finished a news story came out that the Astros had a team of people deciphering signs with cameras and then that team relayed the signal to transponders that were worn in the cleats of the top (trusted not to snitch) Astros players, the transponders would vibrate according to what pitch was coming (example: once for fastball, twice for off-speed). But it was just a dream haha. That wouldn't happen.

*Say, what's happening with Mike Fiers:
Sunday, The Chronicle asked Fiers, the public whistleblower in the Astros' cheating scandal, if he'd like to respond to Correa's prompting, and Fiers politely declined comment. Then, before walking away, Fiers added, 'We did it as a team.'

*The A's had filed a formal complaint to MLB about the Astros before Fiers' allegations were revealed in The Athletic, and nothing was done.

*Yu Darvish says the Astros should lose their title. Darvish:
It's like the Olympics. When a player cheats, you can't have a gold medal, right? But they still have a World Series title. It feels weird.

Darvish threw 3.1IP in the 2017 World Series in two starts - Game 3 in Houston and Game 7 in Los Angeles - and allowed 9H/9R (8ER), 0K:2BB, 2HR, and threw 61 of his 96 pitches for strikes.

*Chris Sale:
Yeah, it sucks. But what am I going to do? Am I going to hold them at gunpoint? Am I going to sit here and curse them out through a bunch of cameras? If I have something to say to them, I know those guys. I can get one of their numbers and text them and talk to them face-to-face or whatever. It happened. What are you going to do about it? You can sit around and cry about it or I can get my ass to work and try and win a championship.

*GM James Click says the focus is on rebuilding trust:
Every Astros employee, every single one of us, is absolutely committed to making sure that that kind of thing never happens here again. That's our focus. There will be absolutely zero tolerance, no tolerance whatsoever, for that kind of behavior in the Houston Astros organization ever again. And furthermore, that would be the case whether there had been an investigation or not. Any organization that I'm a part of would be absolutely 100 percent in compliance with the rules. There'll be no question about that.

*Yahoo's Tim Brown: The Astros should stop apologizing and go full heel.

*Will Harris is "in a tough spot" in Washington. Harris:
Oh, man. They're obviously my friends, and guys that I consider family, guys I will have a relationship with the rest of my life, hopefully. And now watching them go through this...

*MLB will restrict access to video during games. Dugout phone calls will be recorded. Bo Bichette, on technology in the games:
In a way it would be dumb to not take advantage of what we have, but at the same time I think that...personally I'd be fine if there was no technology in there whatsoever. I mean they did it back in the day, why can't we do it now? So I'm sure part of the reason (the Astros) did what they did, it is because of how easy the access was to it. And for me, I'd have no problem taking every bit of it away.

*California Little Leagues are banning the use of "Astros" in naming their teams.

*All the ways teams could use the 26th spot on their active roster.

*What you need to know about the rule changes for 2020.

*Outside: How to deal with the regret of a missed adventure.

*Vice: This filmmaker believes Tupac is alive and living in New Mexico.

*A Musical Selection:

Note: 3:03 into this song is one of my favorite musical moments of all time.

Friday Morning Hot Links

When does an apology fall short of satisfying the aggrieved party? I thought about this a lot today. There are a number of reasons why an apology is rejected or at least treated with skepticism:

1. The apologizing party was told to apologize. Someone told them they were to apologize - that it's something that they should do. They don't really want to do it, but did it, anyway.
2. The apologizing party is not actually sorry.
3. The apologizing party knows/thinks others were doing the same things for which they are currently apologizing, and thus the apology sounds insincere.

Regardless, the Astros held Apology Day yesterday in West Palm Beach.

Statements

Bregman:
I am really sorry about the choices that were made by my team, by the organization, and by me. I have learned from this and I hope to regain the trust of baseball fans. I would also like to thank the Astros fans for all of their support. We as a team are totally focused on moving forward to the 2020 season.

Springer:
The amount of remorse, regret that's very, very obvious to us in this room...There's no real way to express how much regret we have. How much remorse we have.

Reddick was asked if the World Series was worth breaking the rules:
I don't think so...It's something that we're gonna probably regret and feel bad for for the rest of our careers.

Carlos Correa had a lot to say, on Twitter and to the media. Correa entertained a question on Twitter from noted troll Incarcerated Bob (who is credibly accused of being behind the "Beltran's Niece" Twitter account) and said there was nothing going on in 2018 or 2019. Correa also confirmed Manfred's findings in the report, but rejected the idea that the Astros were wearing buzzers. Altuve:
It was a fake Twitter account that started everything. It makes me upset that a fake Twitter account had that much credibility. Like I said, I feel bad for 2017, but I can say something I didn't do was the buzzer thing. No one on this team wore a buzzer.

A.J. Hinch tried to clarify that he was not aware of any buzzers. What reality is this, even. Hinch:
There has been a significant reaction to my answer to the 'buzzer' question. To be clear, I have never seen any such device used in baseball. I am not aware of any such device existing or being utilized with the Astros, the players, or any other team.

Correa, On Beltran steamrolling everyone into buying into the trash can scheme:
[Beltran] was the best teammate we've ever had...We all had a say in everything...When the anonymous source is saying we felt intimidated, we were too young to say something, that's straight up bullshit.

Verlander:
It's been difficult, showing up in 2017. And once I spent some time there, understood what was happening. I didn't - I wish I had said more. Looking back, I can't go back. I can't reverse my decision. I wish I had said more, and I didn't, and for that I'm sorry.

McCullers:
I think that's something none of us can go back and change. I think the important thing we've all come together here. We met (Wednesday) and we stand behind Alex and Altuve and are remorseful for what happened for what happened that season and look forward to moving on.

Dusty Baker:
At the meeting [Wednesday] night the players showed tremendous remorse and sorrow and embarrassment for their families, the organization, the city of Houston and for baseball.

Jim Crane completely misread the situation:
Our opinion is this didn't impact the game. We had a good team. We won the World Series and we'll leave it at that.

This is, of course, completely stupid. The Astros had a good team, they won the World Series. It impacted the game. Click that link to see the logical gymnastics Crane does. 10.0 from all judges, including the East German one. More Crane, on whether he should be punished by Rob Manfred, who is an employee of Jim Crane and 29 of his closest billionaire friends:
Well, clearly, the report states that I didn't know about it. Had I known about it, certainly I would have done something about it. I did hire Jeff, and I think Jeff did a lot of great things for the organization over the years. You know, no, I don't think I should be held accountable. 

"Our opinion is that this didn't impact the game." - Jim Crane

"I didn't say it didn't impact the game." - Jim Crane 55 seconds later pic.twitter.com/MnpPeeTUPL

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) February 13, 2020

Billionaires never think they should be held accountable. Read more to see how Crane threw Hinch and Luhnow under the bus. Jim Crane wants to be the new White Knight who leads the Astros into the Garden of Nevermore or whatever dreamland Crane is the mayor of. Billionaire wants all of the credit and none of the blame.

Will Harris told Nationals reporters that he wishes he would have made better choices.

Reactions

*Ken Rosenthal:
The Astros screwed up their news conference on live television Thursday as only they can.

*The San Antonio Express-News' Mike Finger: The Astros apologized, but for what, exactly?
The Astros might have gone to unprecedented lengths to break the rules, putting careers and legacies in peril in the process, but they did not do this to affect the outcome of games. The players, who obviously would have won the World Series without any help, are profoundly sorry for taking part in the scheme, even though the whole thing was beyond their control. The owner, who was completely oblivious to what happened before, can absolutely guarantee everything will be above board from now on.

*A's pitcher Sean Manaea:
I saw a couple of interviews and they all said pretty much the same thing - they skated by everything, they swept everything under the rug. They didn't own up to anything and they're trying to move on which is like - what are you guys trying to move on from? You haven't even said what it is you did. They're just now saying they're sorry, but what about this entire offseason? It was like: deny, deny, deny. When the time comes, you have to say what you're trying to move on from. It's crazy.

*Rays pitcher Chris Archer, on his August 1, 2017 start, in which he allowed 6H/4ER, 5K:0BB, 2HR in a 6-4 win against Houston the day after Dallas Keuchel said the Trade Deadline was "Disappointing to say the least." Archer:
It's pretty messed up. The whole thing is messed up. It sucks when you dedicate your whole life to something, and somebody's out there doing some shady shit like that.

Mike Fiers was the opposing pitcher that game. He allowed 3ER in the first inning. Archer allowed four runs, all were driven in on homers from Beltran and Bregman and hits from...Beltran and Bregman. Archer:
You heard some rumors but I don't think anybody expected it to be to that extent, especially when you know these dudes on a personal level. You've talked to them. You've gone to dinner with them. You've even been on the same team with some of them - Team USA and stuff [Archer played with Bregman in 2017 for the World Baseball Classic]. FaceTimed with them throughout the season and offseason. Texted with them. Whatever. And then to find out to find out I was a part of them being successful. It was definitely disheartening. It's bad for the game. They set out the punishments, and it is what it is at this point. I guess it's time for everybody to move on.

*Clean-shaven pretty boy Gerrit Cole:
My feelings really haven't changed much. Nobody is getting a win out of this. It doesn't look very good. I guess I'm just fortunate to be able to be here and move past this and get to experience all the good things about coming to a new team and all that kind of stuff.

Hero, really. Enjoy Central Park and Serendipity and whatnot.

*Add Former Hitting Coach Dave Hudgens to the list of dudes who are really sorry.

*Evan Drellich: Blame is a tangled mess.

*SI: Breaking down the Astros' latest PR meltdown.

*Dave Roberts "believes in karma."

*LA stays LA:

KTLA made their thoughts on Jose Altuve abundantly clear https://t.co/K7g34qcMke

— SI Extra Mustard (@SI_ExtraMustard) February 13, 2020

Other Notes

*Pete Putila will retain his Assistant GM role. Tom Koch-Weser and Derek Vigoa will remain with the Astros...for now. James Click hedged a little:
I think any new GM coming in would want to take a full view of the baseball operations staff and figure out how we take the awesome people that we have here and maximize them and put them in the right position to succeed. It's something definitely on the front-burner for me.

*Chris Speier has been added to the staff as a Quality Control Coach.

Ed. Note:

I've flirted with actually typing this out for most of the offseason, but as Spring Training actually starts in earnest (for real! You can watch Forrest Whitley throw right here!) I want to get this out. There is a certain part of me that is defined by the Astros. I get mad when they lose a game they have no business losing, when they get shut down by a guy making his 2nd career start, when the bullpen blows a Quality Start, when they go 1x13 w/RISP, when they go 0-4 at home in the World Series. Obviously I've had an Astros blog for over 11 years. I've been on Twitter for almost 11 years and have not changed my banner photo once. The Astros are a part of me. Not anywhere close to all of me, but I do spend a lot of time thinking and writing about this particular organization because I was really homesick in Upstate New York in 2008.

Many of you know I'm a public high school history teacher. I also coach soccer. The 2016-17 school year was the absolute hardest year of my life. I taught US History and AP US History for the first time each, and I was in charge of my own team under a ridiculously demanding boss with whose personality I clashed on an atomic level. So I would get home from a road game and an almost-two-hour bus ride and have to then prepare for two different classes the next day.

I love - truly love - two sports teams: the Houston Astros, and Leeds United. I was at the game that sent Leeds to the Champions League quarterfinals WITHOUT Robbie Keane and Eirik Bakke and Rio Ferdinand and Olivier Dacourt! (Leeds United has been a train-wreck since 2003 - it was a real bad time when the Astros AND Leeds were both just complete disasters and affronts to their sport). This was how I was spending my leisure time. Anyhow, when, on June 3, 2017 - the final day of the hardest year I've ever encountered - the Astros beat the Rangers to go to 40-16, the 2017 Astros brought me joy. Later that Autumn, a team I actually loved actually did something. They won the World Series. Since then it has been Hans Gruber falling from Nakatomi: they traded for Osuna, Taubman did Taubman things, Fiers talked to Evan Drellich. It's all shadows now. To me, it's tainted. It doesn't need an asterisk, the asterisk is implied. Were other teams doing it? Maybe, probably, I don't know. I know a lot of people worked really hard to get that World Series and, as advanced as the Astros were with analytics, a freaking trash can, the guy the Astros let walk to the Mets, and the Other Guy From The Carlos Gomez Trade, brought them down.

No one will ever replace the feeling I had at 10:59pm on November 1, 2017. But I know now that it's not the same, that there is shame involved. And if the players don't feel it themselves, I sure do.

Throughout this offseason I have considered shutting Astros County Dot Com down. Getting Randos (and, to be honest, some friends I've known for a long time) in my mentions blasting me for having the gall to be happy for 25 guys doing cool things who happen to have "Houston" stitched across the front of their shirt is not fun. I simultaneously want the Astros to beat the hell out of everybody and also to not have done what they did. And what they did was to cheat their way to the postseason. I'll go to my grave wondering how Alex Bregman could hear a trash can getting hit with 42000 people yelling at the top of their lungs in the bottom of the 10th of Game 5. I'll also go to my grave wondering why a team with that much talent would risk it all. No one - including Mike Fiers - has turned in their Ring, so maybe that's why I'm going to keep this dumb blog going for the time being.

I was not immediately affected by Hurricane Harvey. My mom and my dad live on different sides of Houston. Neither of their houses flooded. I've met a lot of you in real life. I know a lot of you on Twitter. I'll go with the maxim (which I didn't come up with) that Facebook is for friends who are now strangers, and Twitter is for strangers who are now friends. The 2017 World Series saved a lot of you - it was a welcome respite when your world was literally floating away or rotting under floodwaters (which Yankees fans would like to have happen every single year). Now, I'm just sad. I'm beaten down by pretty much everything. The Apologies are hollow because it didn't need to come to this in the first place.

That said, I don't think the Astros were the only team dabbling in the "dark arts" of using technology MLB made available for an edge. Still, when you're the first one caught, it's not pleasant. And you can bet that if Even Drellich With Reporting From Ken Rosenthal (the Carlos Santana feat. Rob Thomas of our generation) tugs at this thread long enough, he/they could unravel the whole thing. I just don't know if they will, or if the Fury of Baseball can stay stoked long enough to care if another team did.

A Musical Selection:

Wednesday Morning Hot Links

*Just as we all suspected - or at least hoped - they would, more details emerged about the Astros' sign-stealing scandal; Namely, that it originated with Former Mets Great Carlos Beltran, according to Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich:
Carlos Beltran, a highly-respected veteran with a Hall-of-Fame resume, had helped create the system, and as the senior member of the [2017 Astros], his voice functionally prevailed over all other. Clubhouse dynamics are a powerful force, conditioning players to keep quiet and respect veterans, and ultimately played a role in the Astros' snowballing scandal.

(A non-paywalled version of the story can be found here)

This new reporting uncovers a few new details:
1) There was a system in place to relay signs to a runner on second base in real-time on the road via the replay room.
2) Brian McCann tried to get Beltran to stop on at least two occasions.
3) It was Beltran who told the Astros that their sign-stealing was "behind the times."
4) Codebreaker - the predictive Excel spreadsheet - was legal (as has been noted) as an advance scouting tool. "Cora and Beltran decided that this video room stuff Koch-Weser was doing was just not working, inefficient, too slow."
5) Depending on who Rosenthal and Drellich talked to, Astros players were either uncomfortable with the trash-can banging, or they loved it.
6) Beltran went from Houston and the parade back to the Yankees as an executive, and disclosed some of what the Astros were doing to New York.

Joe Musgrove:
I was in my first year, man, along with Bregman and a lot of those guys, and in your first year in the big leagues you're around guys like Beltran and McCann, some big names. And I'm not going to be the pitcher to walk up and tell 'em to knock it off.

(Speaking of Musgrove, he also said:
I don't want to say [the 2017 World Series] is tainted, but I think it is....If MLB did an investigation as thorough as they did on the Astros with every team in baseball, they're going to find a lot more than they want to find.

So Beltran arrives in Houston after 2.5 seasons in New York (and part of the 2016 season with the Ramgers, of which I have zero recollection) and tells them their sign-stealing isn't up to par, then he "fixes" it and goes back to New York. Yeah I see no Yankees connections to it at all.

And that's the thing: Manfred wanted this to be quick and easy and everyone hates the Astros anyway thanks to Brandon Taubman and the Osuna trade, he hoped MLB would just move on. Here's hoping they don't.

*This article from the Washington Post's Barry Svrluga and Dave Sheinin says that the Astros' sign-stealing was "a big open secret...throughout baseball" beginning as early as 2016 and "maybe earlier." And then, "the whole industry knows they've been cheating their asses off for three or four years."
Former Astros Great Tony Sipp warned the Nationals about their sign-stealing, as did several members of the Dodgers.

*Marwin Gonzalez, speaking to reporters:
I'm remorseful for everything that happened in 2017, for everything that we did as a group, and for the players that were affected directly by us doing this and some other things. That's why I feel more regret and that's why I'm remorseful.

*Speaking of players that were affected directly, Former Blue Jays Great Mike Bolsinger has filed a civil lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court accusing the Astros of unfair business practices, negligence, and intentional interference with contractual and economic relations.

Bolsinger is from McKinney [raises eyebrows]. He posted a career 0.5 fWAR in parts of four seasons, and walked 27 batters in 41.1IP in 2017. Bolsinger enjoyed an ERA of 5.50 or higher in three of his four MLB seasons. Bolsinger's last game was August 4, 2017 when he allowed 4H/4ER, 1K:3BB in 0.1IP at Minute Maid Park. The Astros fan behind SignStealingScandal.com noted that the August 4 game was when the trash-can banging peaked. Bolinger:
I don't think [Manfred's] punishment has fit the crime. And let's be honest, all these guys are going to get managing jobs again...Guys like us that were cheated? I don't have a job. I'm not playing.

Man, it would be a real shame for this to go to actual trial where details about what other teams were doing were required under oath. Sports Lawyer Michael McCann fleshes out Bolsinger's case.

*Jim Crane will head to West Palm Beach on Wednesday (today) to talk with the 2020 Astros about how to address the sign-stealing scandal to the media, which the team will apparently do on Thursday.

*Baseball Prospectus' updated PECOTA standings have the Astros winning the 2020 AL West by 12 games.

*Jesse Sanchez notes that the Astros have the AL West's best bullpen.

*The proposal to shake up MLB's postseason.

*Love and Lhotse.

*She was a running prodigy. He was the most powerful man in track. How her promising career unraveled.

*A Musical Selection:

Thursday Morning Hot Links

My kingdom for Jim Crane to come and introduce the new Astros manager as "Busty Daker." Dusty Baker is the 24th manager in Astros' history (Baker is currently one game behind Salty Parker in "Career Astros Games Managed". By the end of May, Baker will rank 19th in Games Managed in Astros History. He signed a 1-year guaranteed deal with a club option or a buyout. Jim Crane:
He's a winner, and more importantly, a strong leader who has earned the respect of not only his players, but of virtually everyone that he has touched in baseball.

Whether you believe Jim Crane or not, the hiring of Dusty Baker is about regaining legitimacy.

Baker:
I'm extremely thankful for this opportunity. This is a great ballclub with outstanding players that know how to win. I applaud Jim Crane for the leadership he has shown in recent weeks and look forward to working with him and the players to bring a championship to the city of Houston. 

Dusty Baker is just 137 wins from becoming the 12th manager to reach 2,000 wins. With this roster, he could do it by September.

As I mentioned on Twitter, and on the Lima Time Time live show on Tuesday night, there is a certain perspective in which Dusty Baker makes sense:

1. They need someone who is well-respected (by the media and General Baseball People, anyway - your complaints were heard loud and clear)...
2. They need someone who has managed in a variety of situations...
3. They need someone who can handle A Circus.

Dusty Baker checks all of those boxes. He managed Barry Bonds for ten years, including Bonds' 2001 73HR season. He has managed in nine separate postseasons, won 95+ games six times, and 103 games once (in his rookie managerial year, when the Giants famously won that many games and didn't even get into the postseason). Baker has managed in San Francisco, Chicago, and Washington, so he has dealt with Bonds, Prior/Wood, Harper, Scherzer, etc. Would I have been equally fine with Buck Showalter? Maybe! Do I wish Espada had gotten the job? Sure!

But this is an extraordinary time for the Astros. They're coming off one of the biggest scandals in recent baseball memory (however common it may have been throughout literally all of baseball history). It's certainly the largest baseball scandal of the Twitter Era, which makes it that much more insufferable. And the fact that Yankee and Dodger Fan is the most aggrieved, it's just a God-awful time. If you're enjoying this era of Astros Baseball, well, you're a psychopath. Every city to which the Astros travel is going to be that city's sports story of the day...Kind of like Bonds was in 2001. Baker managed through that and made it to Game 7 of the World Series in 2002....when the Giants had a 3-2 lead before losing both Games 6 & 7 to Anaheim (and, to be fair, both of those games were in Anaheim).

Columnists across [puts hand across forehead] the land are going to love it because their hand-wringing, and bringing blood out of a turnip, will easily provide that week's Column. But then they have to deal with Dusty Baker, whom pretty much everyone loves except for you, who gets their narrative from FanGraphs. Their hearts will melt. It's an organizational rehab assignment, for a year, and the best-case scenario is that the Astros (and by that I of course mean Us) and Dusty Baker gets their ring in 2020. Winning a World Series like this, in this year, with this much hate, would be delicious, and the scrutiny would cleanse it. Yankee and Dodger Fan would move the goalposts, to be sure. But it would be sweeter than the first (I think).

And for everyone who busts on Baker's postseason record, let's look at it more closely:

1997: Lost in the NLDS 3-0 to the eventual WS Champion Marlins.
2000: Lost in the NLDS 3-1 to the eventual NL Pennant-Winning Mets. Two of those games went to extra innings.
2002: Lost in the World Series 4-3 to Anaheim
2003: Lost in the NLCS 4-3 to the eventual WS Champion Marlins. This is the Bartman series.
2010: Lost in the NLDS 3-0 to Philadelphia. Roy Halladay threw a no-hitter in Game 1. Cole Hamels threw a CGSHO in Game 3.
2012: Lost in the NLDS 3-0 to the eventual WS Champion Giants
2013: Lost in the Wild Card Game to the [squints] Pirates
2016: Lost in the NLDS 3-2 to the Dodgers, who won the Pennant in 2017...
2017: Lost in the NLDS 3-2 to the Cubs, who won the World Series in 2016. Max Scherzer allowed four runs in the 5th Inning of Game 5.

Five-game series are a crapshoot. We almost got to see that firsthand in 2019 against Tampa. Anyhow, Dusty Baker's record in postseason games when facing elimination is 5-9. A.J. Hinch's record in postseason games when facing elimination was 7-3 (I'm willing to admit my math could be fuzzy here). But I'm not busting on A.J. Hinch! Hinch is/was the greatest manager in Astros history, and I'm sad that he's gone, I wish he would come back! I wish he hadn't been fired!

Anyhow, no matter how you feel about it, the 2020 Astros, who won 107 games in 2019 and lost the World Series by going 0-4 at home - something that HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE IN PROFESSIONAL SPORTS HISTORY I THINK - but is returning every major player except for Gerrit Cole and Robinson Chirinos. Expect a dip, but I - literally me - could absolutely manage this team to 90 wins. They're that good. Now they have Dusty Baker, who will have Joe Espada as his Bench Coach, to help out.

Crane:
We're in a spot where we've had some unfortunate things happen and we've owned up to it. We need a strong leader that's been in a lot of different situations and has experience.

Chandler Rome: Dusty Baker gives the Astros a stabilizing presence. Rome:
The team is sullied by scandal but still set to contend for a title. Its image and reputation remain in ruins. Players will endure eight months of invective from opposing crowds and players. Baker arrives as a slice of serenity amid acrimony, a man who Crane hopes can galvanize an Astros clubhouse still searching for a way forward.

Rome talked to Ralph Garr: Houstonian, 1974 NL Batting Champ, and former teammate of Dusty:
He's the right man for the job. It's not going to be easy for those players. They're going to have to have somebody to lean on. He knows how to treat people, and he cares about his players. He can make adjustments, and he can help the Astros stay competitive.

The press conference to introduce Baker will be at 2pm Central.

Check out Dave Sheinin's 2016 profile of Dusty Baker. It's worth your time.

Inside Dusty Baker's life in baseball. Jerome Solomon says it's a good hire. So does Lance Berkman, if "Lance" "Berkman" is your cup of tea.  Buster Olney says "there's no better choice" than Dusty Baker to Houston. The Athletic's Britt Ghiroli has an excellent piece about what Dusty could mean for Houston, and what Houston could mean for Dusty.

If Dusty's the manager, Houston got better.
-Nationals GM Mike Rizzo.

Dusty Baker will manage the AL All-Star Team...in Dodger Stadium...against Washington's Dave Martinez. Should the 2020 Astros make the postseason he'll be the first manager to take five different teams to the postseason.

Ken Rosenthal notes that you can expect Baker to hire Chris Speier, who has been on a number of his staffs.

Predictably, Jon Heyman isn't a fan of...how the Astros told the other candidates.

*Anyway, other stuff:

Astros Fan Tony Adams listened to every single freaking pitch from the 2017 Astros season to try to detect trash-can banging and built a website based on what he found. It's impressive, and you should give it a look. Check out The Athletic's Marc Carig, on Tony's story.

Tampa Bay's VP of Baseball Operations James Click interviewed for the vacant GM gig on Wednesday. Kansas City's Director of Pro Scouting Gene Watson has also interviewed for the GM spot. So has MLB Senior VP Peter Woodfork.

Woodfork was mentioned in an early-December 2019 Bob Nightengale column wondering why people of color were getting left out of GM interviews.

*The Astros win the prestigious Offseason Best Outfield In The AL West Award from MLB.com.

*MLB.com predicted the 2020 Astros' rotation would go Verlander-Greinke-McCullers-Urquidy-Peacock.

*The Astros have just one player - Forrest Whitley - on the MLB Pipeline Top 100 Prospects list for the first time since 2012. But Bregs, Yordan, and Kyle Tucker are still awfully young so...

*Former Astros Great Gregorio Petit will be Corpus' manager, his first stint at the head of a team. Former Astros Great Wladimir Sutil will manage a team for the first time, at Tri-City.

*Former Astros Great Scott Kazmir is attempting a comeback.

*The Hardball Times' Chris Bouton: To Forgive Is Baseball - Armando Galarraga and Jim Joyce.

*This small crew makes every Super Bowl football by hand.

*NPR: The thinking behind China's Quarantines and (Illegal) Village Blockades.

*A Musical Selection: