Saturday Morning Hot Links

Been a while, yeah? Because nothing - Astros-wise, anyway - is happening. Well that changed a little bit yesterday. A shame, really, I had gotten used to not having to think about the Astros.

*The deadline to settle arbitration cases was yesterday and the Astros could not come to an agreement with Carlos Correa, and so they will head to a hearing. Correa wanted $12.5m, the Astros offered $9.75m. That's quite a gap. 

I do not understand this decision. Let's recap what has happened since October 2019:

1. Brandon Taubman popped off at some reporters about domestic violence, getting himself fired in the process.

2. The Astros lost every home game of the World Series.

3. The Mike Fiers story dropped, which resulted in Luhnow and Hinch getting fired and the Astros becoming the most hated single team in Baseball since 1919. 

4. COVID-19. 

And through all of that, Correa became the face of the franchise, standing up for his teammates and bearing that burden to the public, allowing guys like Altuve and Bregman to sit back in the shadows (as much as that is possible, anyway). And you can't come up with the extra $2.75m to pay him? He is going to be a free agent at the end of the 2021 season, you think maybe, if you want a little goodwill in the negotiations with the best shortstop in franchise history?

*FanGraphs' WAR, Astros shortstops:

1. Correa: 19.4

2. Dickie MF Thon: 14.3

3. Adam Everett: 9.2

In 45 fewer games than the man largely considered to be the best defensive shortstop in franchise history, Correa has put up 10.2 more fWAR. Since he came into the league in 2015 - even given the injury-shortened seasons - Correa has the 5th most fWAR among shortstops, in more than 150 fewer games than three of the four players ahead of him. I know baseball economics are allegedly what they are in a pandemic/post-pandemic scenario, but it's also important to never believe a billionaire when they cry poor. I could have stopped that sentence after "billionaire." And so, now, approximately ten months before he's set to become a free agent in his Age 26 season, the Astros will go before a panel and tell Correa that he's not worth as much as he thinks he is. Seems real smart. Click:

We have nothing but the utmost respect for Carlos and his group. Again, I can't emphasize this enough: I think they came very well prepared and I think we were very well prepared, but we just see different things in the market and that's why the system is there to help us resolve those.

*In the last couple of weeks, the Astros have added veterans Ryne Sandberg Stanek and Pedro Baez to the bullpen. The back four of the bullpen will be Stanek, Baez, Joe Smith, and Ryan Pressly. Click that link and McTaggart will tell you the Astros are engaged on Brad Hand, Alex Colome, and Trevor Rosenthal. So obviously, the Astros are trying to shore up their bullpen and will just get to the 2/3 of the outfield that is apparently missing, exiled to Weiland Island. Click, on Springer/Brantley:

Those two guys are very special to this franchise and we will continue to have conversations, but we're, like I've said, gonna go where the market dictates sometimes, and something we are gonna push the market and make it come to us.

This is an excellent example of saying something and it's full of nothing at all.

To be fair, Click did say that they have discussed an extension with Correa. The Astros did avoid an arbitration hearing with Aledmys Diaz ($3m) and Lance McCullers ($6.5m). 

*ESPN is predicting Springer to the Blue Jays.

*I totally missed the rumor that the Astros are interested in Joakim Soria, who at this point just must be 52 years old.

*Houston signed 22-year old Cuban OF Pedro Leon to a $4m signing bonus, in a long-rumored move. Click:

He's a special talent. He has all five tools, and a sixth one if you count just how good he is at the game of baseball from an instincts perspective - tremendous off-field guy. There's just not enough good things that we can say about him.

Click said how quickly he rises through the system depends on Leon, but they're not planning on him immediately replacing Brantley or Springer. 

*The Tri-City ValleyCats, formerly of the historic New York-Penn League, have sued the Astros for lost revenue over the minor-league contraction/restructuring that got rammed through by Soulless Ghoul Rob Manfred (for a non-paywalled link, click here). The complaint:

MLB's intimidation tactics, which it used to pit MiLB teams against each other for the 'privilege' of not having their businesses destroyed, has gone on for years but was most vividly demonstrated by a May 2020 email in which Commissioner Rob Manfred emailed the ValleyCats' owner condolences on the passing of his father, and then in the very same email, issued a veiled threat that any public statement made about MLB's contraction efforts would be 'unwise.'

MLB is arguing that it wasn't really a threat, and there's nuance that is missing. Actively trying to remember why I even care about this sport. 

*Former Astros Great Jeff Luhnow is working with the group that brought you "Club de Cuervos" on Netflix to buy a Liga MX team.

*Leeds vs. Brighton: 9am. NBCSN.

*Minute Maid Park will host a vaccination drive today.

*Mental Floss: The Harvard Chemistry Professor Who Was Also A Murderer.

*Food & Wine: Ted Cruz's love for soup knows no bounds.

*Outside: Journey to the Center of the Earth.

*I've been a little busy over at Michael Bourn Identity, featuring interviews with musician Joe Firstman, Centro-Matic's Will Johnson and Fenway Park's Josh Kantor, and Hall of Fame play-by-play man Eric Nadel.

*A Musical Selection:

Friday Morning Hot Links

Happy Friday Everyone! To celebrate, let us partake in some piping Hot Links.

I would like to start off this post with a few "On This Day In MLB History" links, because I went digging around and boy there are some good ones.

In 1988, Tommy John became the first pitcher to ever commit 3 errors in one play.

In 1998, Tyrone Horne had the only Home Run Cycle in Professional Baseball History.

In 2009, Josh Willingham hit 2 Grand Slams in one game, becoming the 13th Major League Player ever to do so

In 2017, Michael Blazek started his first career game for Milwaukee. He became the first pitcher in MLB history to give up 5 Home Runs in one inning.

Anyways, I know what you're here for. Thats right, Houston Astros news.

The Astros had a scheduled off-day.

The A's won AGAIN. They are now 6 GB of the Astros. The Mariners still sit at 5 GB.

The Trade Deadline is next Tuesday. MLB.com's Mike Petriello predicted the Astros would get White Sox reliever Joakim Soria. That did not happen.

Former Houston Astros Great J.A. Happ was dealt to the Yankees so we can pulverize him come playoff time (hopefully) like what we got to do to Doug Fister and Josh Fields before him.

Even with all the trade deadline moves that have happened in the last couple days, the Astros are still the favorites to take the AL according to a poll of MLB scouts and executives. Thank you Mr. Luhnow.

Speaking of all the trade deadline moves that have happened in the last couple days, the Astros decided to partake by picking up Martin Maldonado from LAA for LHP Patrick Sandoval.

Pedro Martinez called Alex Bregman "a mini Mike Trout".

Altuve still plans to be ready tonight vs. Arlington.

People want to watch the Astros.

Update on our Grizzlies and sometimes Astros, Tyler White walked off Fresno last night in 10 innings, Ken Giles has a 2.08 ERA, and Jake can fly. Also, this list should include Brock Dykxhoorn, because this is a name that is too good to conceal to the masses.

I found a new berry called a framberry. I found it because I wanted to work Framber Valdez into this post, and google said "hey man check this dumb berry lol". Anyways, I know just as much about framberries as you do, so don't ask me any questions about them please.

There was, at one point in time on this global system of interconnected computer networks we call the internet, where Teen Titans Go To the Movies had a higher score on Rotten Tomatoes than The Dark Knight, making it the best superhero movie of all time. Do not lose this image.

Cat poop can make you fearless.

Look at all these ducks!

Thursday Morning Hot Links

Big thanks to Flick, who will be taking over Hot Links on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays until he gets burned out or goes insane - whichever one will inevitably come first. I go back to work today, and I'm not at all happy about it.

*15 years ago yesterday was my wedding anniversary. 15 years ago today, I was in a hotel up by Intercontinental with my wife because we were going on our honeymoon 15 years ago tomorrow. Anyway, a bunch of my buddies were all, "We're going to the Astros game today, you should come." And I was like, "No way, dudes. Well my wife took a nap from 11am-4:30pm.  The Astros beat the Cubs 3-1 in a 2:28 game that started at 12:20pm. I totally could have slipped out, gone to the game, and been back before she woke up.

*The Astros lost 3-2 on a Charlie Blackmon walk-off home run. They're 67-37 with a 5.0-game lead on Seattle, who are 1.5 up on Oakland. It's the 6th time this season that teams at Coors Field have combined to score five or fewer runs. The Rockies and their opponent are averaging 11.17 runs/game in 48 games at Coors Field.

*Lots of moving parts in this game. Colorado scored the tying run on a foul pop-up that took J.D. Davis over the dugout railing. Alex Bregman had a triple called back because of fan interference. Altuve left the game early with discomfort in his right knee.  On Altuve, Hinch:
Been bothering him a little bit for a few games now. Nothing's wrong with it. He could've played through it. He fought to stay in the game, but we felt it was best to take him out and give him a little bit of a blow just given that he was limping. 

Altuve:
I think it's not a big deal, but I think it was smart for AJ [to take] me out of the game. With a day off tomorrow, maybe that can help me a lot and be good Friday or Saturday.

*On the fan interference call, Bregman was hot:
There is no possible way you can say the left fielder jumping backwards into a wall is guaranteed to make the catch. We're up 2-1 at the time. I'm at third base. We need a fly ball to the outfield to get me in and it's 3-1. It's horrible.

Some good expletives were sprinkled throughout. It's the third time this season fan interference has altered an Astros game.

The impeccably manicured left fielder, Gerardo Parra:
I never saw the fan, never saw the glove, because I was focused on the ball. I was surprised, because I put up my glove and the ball almost hit me in my face. I said, 'What happened? Did the ball move at the last second?' I never saw the fan. When I saw the replay, I felt better. I said, 'I'm all right. I'm not crazy.' I thought, 100 percent, I had it. 

*Houston got one hit, from Jose Altuve. It's the 2nd time the Astros have been held to one hit, both of which resulted in one-run losses. They also struck out 10 times for the 24th time this season. Colorado starting pitcher Jon Gray lowered his ERA to 5.16 and made his 6th start of 21+ outs. He had not thrown 7IP with one hit allowed since May 7, 2016.

*Charlie Morton threw 6IP, 4H/1ER, 6K:4BB, WP, HBP. It's the 6th time Morton has walked 4+ batters, but it's the 10th start - out of 20 - in which Morton has allowed 0-1 ER. Morton also allowed his first home run - to Carlos Gonzalez - since June 3.

*Collin McHugh threw 2IP, 3H/1ER, 4K:0BB and the game-winning Blackmon home run. It's the first time since July 10 he has allowed a run (also on a home run). It's his first loss and first blown save of the season. His ERA is 1.09.

*Chandler Rome reports that the Astros don't have a timetable for Ken Giles' return to Houston. Hinch:
Still no timetable on what our plans are or what to do with him, but I'm happy that he's getting the regular work and happy with the openness to try and make a few subtle chances that will hopefully make him better. 

*The Trade Deadline is next Tuesday. MLB.com's Mike Petriello predicts the Astros get White Sox reliever Joakim Soria.

*The Ringer's Zach Kram: The Astros should trade for Bryce Harper and make the rest of MLB cower in fear.

*What the hell: People have been lined up outside the team store since yesterday afternoon for a Josh Reddick bobblehead.

*UPDATE: Carlos Correa is being held hostage in the lion car of a circus train chugging its way towards Provo, Utah.

Carlos Correa hit off a tee again today and did more baseball activities, A.J. Hinch said. Hinch said the club will "push him a little bit harder" when they return to Houston on Friday.

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) July 25, 2018

*A.J. Hinch ain't care about the Yankees getting Zach Britton.

*Jake Kaplan: Why hasn't Bregman been the Astros' everyday SS since the kidnapping of Carlos Correa?

*Pitching matchups vs Ramgers:
Friday: Keuchel v. Gallardo
Saturday: Verlander v. Hamels
Sunday: McCullers v. Minor

*Multiple women brought harassment allegations against three current Mariners execs, including team president Kevin Mather. Hinch