Friday Morning Hot Links

*The Astros invited 19 minor-leaguers to the Major League side of Spring Training, including Kyle Tucker, Rogelio Armenteros, Garrett Stubbs, Framber Valdez, and Drew Ferguson. Weird that, of all 19 of these guys, Forrest Whitley wouldn't be invited.

*Kyle Tucker is ranked 5th among outfield prospects. Mike Elias:

The blend of hitting for average and hitting for power and the speed on the bases he showed, all of his numbers were great. But he also went through some ups and downs and showed us that he continued to make adjustments, and that's just as important as the statistics that he put up, because that's a part of the sport.

*Justin Verlander FaceTimed Michael Fulmer, and it meant the world to him.

*Aw man, John Royal is leaving the Houston Press. Check out his final column here.

*The Blue Jays signed Former Astros Great Rhiner Cruz, who hasn't pitched in the Majors since 2013.

*Jay Jaffe recapped the 2018 Hall of Fame voting.

*Tim Brown: The theatre of Vlad Guerrero.

*Jeff Passan: No one is blinking in the staring contest between players and owners.

*Jeff Sullivan: Tampa Bay's lost window of contention.

*Thank God. The Tigers are going to unify the "Olde English" D on their jerseys and caps. That they were different made me realize I have a touch of OCD.

Royal: Rockets not just a victim

The Houston Press' John Royal has a good breakdown of the briefings and filings from the last round of court battles over CSN Houston. You should immediately go read the whole thing, but basically what we find is that the Rockets aren't just the damsel in distress/hooker with the heart of gold in this sordid tale.

Throughout this process the Houston Rockets have generally been seen as the innocent party, working hard to make deals happen only to have them vetoed by the greedy Astros...The Astros also stated that when Comcast began considering the bankruptcy, it asked the Rockets to be the lead creditor. The Rockets would do so only if paid $500 million by Comcast, which Comcast would not do.

There is a lot skipped over by our ellipses, so be sure to read Royal's breakdown. Basically you'll find that everybody has been stupid at some point over the last two years.  

John Royal's interview with Brett Dolan

The Houston Press's John Royal (full disclosure, Royal is also basically Astros County's version of Roger Cossack) interviewed former broadcaster Brett Dolan on just what happened towards the end of his and Dave Raymond's tenure with the team. Just read the whole thing...

Monday Morning Link Dump

Here's your Monday Morning Link Dump - most of which don't deal with how much we hate Carlos Lee.

John Royal: Carlos Lee did the thing he's best at. He did absolutely nothing.

Garrett Gould was flattered by the Astros' interest.

Modesto's manager wasn't real happy with Nick Tropeano's strike zone last night. And the travel was tough.

Ron Washington defends the fact that he will manage seven (potentially eight) Rangers next Tuesday night in Kansas City.
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Old links, newly relevant:

Greg Lucas (April 2012): Lee is in actuality a happy go lucky guy who plays the percentages. He knows how fast he has to run to get to a ball and make a play. He knows when false hustle is just to make him look good, but really not productive. The problem is that when he measures his running effort it appears to be lack of hustle.

Sean Pendergast (July 2010): At this point, I don't know what Astros fans are more angry about, Carlos -- the fact that you're just a big, fat punch line, or the fact that you don't even really seem to care. I get the whole "waking up happy to be alive every day" thing, but for $19 million per year, the fans would like a bat broken over a knee just once. Maybe some cursing or a chokeslam of Ed Wade. Something. Anything. Hell, Shawn Chacon was only in Houston for about twelve minutes, and he at least gave us that!

Just when I think I'm done with Lance Berkman, he goes and says this

So our buddy John Royal was asked by the Associated Press to go over to Katy for a Christian Men's Rally, where Lance Berkman was introducing Josh Hamilton, upon whom the story was based.

In an email to Astros County, Royal said:
As the two joked before things got serious, Berkman fired off this:

"Did you really want the Rangers to win? Being from Houston, I felt like I was doing this city a favor. I don’t want Dallas to have the first ring in the major leagues here."

Slow clap.

The Milo Backlash begins...

John Royal has a post at the Houston Press eviscerating Milo Hamilton for his comments (and various and sundry other episodes):

Milo's game prep appears to be jotting down where he had lunch so he can talk about that during the entire game. He never knows what's going on during a game, and during Alan Ashby's tenure as color commentator, it was well known that Ashby was cluing Milo into what was happening on the field.

Before Milo criticizes Berkman's commitment to the game while with the Astros, perhaps someone should question Milo's commitment to the game.

I understand. I really do. While I don't agree with Milo's comments about Lance, there's something about listening to an Astros game and hearing Milo talk. And, full disclosure: The Wife and I were once able to have dinner with Milo, and it was pretty incredible, because I had listened to him for years. I don't know if it's because we don't live in Houston anymore, but Milo reminds me of my youth, which is quickly escaping me. If that means I have to listen to Milo talk about ointment, or some restaurant he went to for lunch, so be it. I can find out the score/count/situation in any number of other ways.

While Brett Dolan and Dave Raymond do an excellent job with the scoreboard, and filling in for times when Milo is presumably in the bathroom, or getting a foot rub, it's as simple as the fact that I like listening to Milo. Technology has actually advanced in such a way that I don't need Milo to be my eyes and ears. Dolan and Raymond know their role enough to fill in Milo's blanks.

So, yes, Milo is old. Yes, Milo rambles. But it's comforting. To me, anyway.

Did the Chronicle kill a story on steroids and the Astros?

John Royal takes Jeff Pearlman, everybody's favorite SI writer, to task in a post today at the Houston Press.

It's a good read on how Pearlman doesn't have much to go on with his Biggio/Bagwell + PED allegations, but there's an interesting quote from former Chronicle Sports Editor Fred Faour (in Pearlman's Clemens book, "The Rocket That Fell to Earth.")

"I had [an Astros steroid probe] all planned. We all had suspicions about Roger and some other guys, and we did a lot of digging. But that kind of thing takes a lot of time and costs a lot of money. I had an investigative reporter I had planned on hiring just for the task, but I was not allowed to bring him in."

"There was no commitment from management to go after it. So we let it die. If the players wanted to live a lie, we wouldn't stand in their way."

Now, granted, had I read Pearlman's book - which I have not done, though not for any reason - this quote would have been the subject of a post far earlier.

Royal, with your money quote:
So because the Houston Chronicle was too cheap to do any investigative work, Pearlman had nothing to glom off of regarding Bagwell and Biggio. Thus he just makes allegations without backing up anything. And because the Chron was too cheap, the reputations of guys like Bagwell and Biggio can continue to be besmirched.

Houston Press on the Feliz trade

John Royal has a post discussing the Feliz trade. Mainly, it's "Ed Wade is still an idiot."

Wade was widely and correctly mocked during the off-season for the Feliz signing as it appears that he was the only one who didn't know how to read a stat sheet, thus rendering him unable to figure out that Feliz was going to suck this season. But a guy who had trouble hitting with the Phillies and struggled to get RBI's in a lineup featuring Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Shane Victorino, Ryan Howard, and Jayson Werth was clearly not going to be able to hack it with the Astros, especially if he was making $4.5 million.

Maybe this move is an indication that Wade is finally figuring this whole GM thing, and that's he is finally figuring out how to read and understand baseball stats. But I seriously doubt it. The saying is, after all, that a broke clock is right twice the day, and seeing as how Chris Johnson had to play in the minors most of the season because of Feliz, I'm counting this trade as one of those two times where the broken clock is right.

It is worth pointing out that CHONE predicted that Feliz would hit .256/.299/.407. Not great, but not .221/.243/.311. When the Astros signed Feliz, we said that it was entirely too much money, and apologized to Chris Johnson.

So while I don't think too many people were jazzed up about the signing, his OPS from 2001-2009 was .716. It's .555 this year. I don't think anyone foresaw an OPS-dropoff of 161 points.

John Royal takes Roy's side

In his Houston Press post, John Royal comes to the defense of one Mr. Royland Oswalt (I made that up - his name isn't Royland. It's Roygess.):

As usual, the Houston sports fan appears to be jumping on the blame-the-player bandwagon. Then again, if most Houston sports fans had a full no-trade clause in their contract, had option years on their contracts, and had offered up a set of employers to which they would be willing to relocate, that they would all willingly waive those rights just because their idiot general manager is only able to pick up the phone and deal with one competing company...

...But perhaps it's not all on Oswalt. The word coming out of places like Los Angeles and New York, where the Dodgers and Yankees are supposedly interested, is that it's Astros management who is screwing up trade talk with unrealistic demands, demands that the likes of Cleveland (last year) and Seattle (this year) didn't even appear to try for the more desirable Cliff Lee...

...Perhaps, instead, it's Drayton McLane and Ed Wade who are doing the screwing up. They're just the incompetent duo, displaying their incompetence for the whole world to see yet again.

We've gone back-and-forth on who's at fault, who's on the hook, and who's to blame for the handling of this drama. Roy's been a douche, but there are a lot of indications that he's letting his agent - Bob Garber - handle the business side, and Garber's douchiness has rubbed off on Roy. There are still six days before the trading deadline, is Easy Eddie about to start meeting teams in the middle, starting with the unrealistic demands and coming down from there? What happens if Roy doesn't get traded at all? What happens if the Astros don't trade anybody? This is a busy week for the Astros, and we are all watching...

John Royal: Forget Purpura, this is Wade's team

John Royal has a new column up over at Houston Press, and it challenges the notion that this isn't Ed Wade's team:

At the conclusion of Sunday's game with the Padres, 16 of the 25 players on the Astros major league roster were players brought on board by Ed Wade. This includes Michael Bourn, Pedro Feliz, Matt Lindstrom, Brandon Lyon, and Brett Myers. It also includes Casey Daigle, Jeff Keppinger, Jason Michaels, Humberto Quintero, Angel Sanchez, Oswaldo Navarro, Jason Castro, Gustavo Chacin, Wilton Lopez, and Tim Byrdak. So for some guy who hasn't had much time to shape the roster, it sure looks like he's been doing some shaping.

It's a good point. But what about all those contracts?

Sure Wade has to deal with the stupid contract that McLane handed out to Carlos Lee, and the Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman contracts were handed out before he took the GM job. But anybody who has followed Wade's career, or knows how to Google, knows that Wade gave out stupid and unexplainable contracts to the likes of Jim Thome, Pat Burrell, and David Bell.So while he might not have been the one who signed Lee as a free agent, there is precedent to show that Wade would likely have been on board with that deal were he able to do it himself.

It's depressing in nature, and well worth a read. I've thought that Ed Wade had a perfect job, mainly because he can deflect poor decisions on to Tim Purpura and Drayton. I think most of us can agree that whatever happens with Roy will be Ed Wade's defining moment. What if he does nothing?

Royal: Why is Feliz still here?

John Royal asks a pretty good question: Why is Pedro Feliz still on the roster?

Somehow, despite everything, Pedro Feliz still has a spot on the roster. Feliz is hitting .220 with a .242 on-base percentage, a .296 slugging percentage, and a .537 on-base plus slugging percentage. He's only hit two homers. This is the guy Wade gave 4.5 million dollars to play for the Astros. And his defense, which was advertised as being of Gold Glove caliber has been more of Golden Glove caliber, and he's been making Carlos Lee look like an above-average fielder.

This is an excellent question, because the Astros have someone else who can actually hit a little bit better than Feliz in Geoff Blum, who has primarily been playing 3B this season. So do we really need three third basemen on the roster? Blum, while not everyone's favorite option at the plate, has been spelling Manzella at short, and can play first, as well.

There's really no reason for Feliz to be on the roster. He was to be a stop-gap, and didn't stop anything. If we're ready to move on from Sullivan, Cash, and Daigle, surely Feliz has to be in there, too.

G51 Preview Nats v. Astros

In the first game of a four game set against the Nats, The Astros will attempt to build on the late inning heroics by Lance Berkman and strong pitching performance by Felipe Paulino yesterday in a 2-0 win against the Reds.

The Nats have some exciting young players and are a serious contender in the Roy O sweepstakes. So everyone put on your fake scout caps and start making out your shopping list of Nats players (Put Zimmerman on the top of mine please). The past years of crappiness have produced alot of 1st round, elite-level talent and they are in need of a veteran ace like Oswalt if they are going to make a real playoff push.

IMO, the most amazing piece of the whole scenario is that it is even a freaking possibility. The Nats are competitive, they have money to spend and they have an abundance of prospects and major leaguers they are willing to move. It just feels strange.

So with all the talk of Roy O, it only makes sense that he takes the mound today against the Nats. He has had a fantastic season throwing quality starts in every start so far this year. If not for his fickle teammates, he'd have a more impressive win-loss record than his current 3-6. He sports a sparkly 2.35 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP.

The Nats counter with rookie righthander, Luis Atilano, who hasn't done anything impressive this season except be the beneficiary of excellent run support. He is the anti-Oswalt in that he gives up runs, doesn't strike anyone out, yet continues to get wins. He is a very lucky 4-1 so far.

Predictions

WP: Roy Oswalt
LP: Atilano

HRs: Lance, Zimmerman
SB: Pence, N. Morgan

Score: Hou 7 Wash 2

My gut instinct says that during the game today, Nats fans cheer wildly for Roy O, making everyone uncomfortable. Especially, Atilano, who will be out of a job if Roy is acquired.

"Leave Roy Alone!"

Channeling his inner Britney-fan-from-YouTube, John Royal speaks on Roy's behalf:

It's hard to understand how any reasonable person would disagree with Oswalt. Yet since Friday's announcement, Oswalt has been called a traitor, a cancer, a diva. People have said that for the money he's making, he should just shut up and pitch. There are fans who are offended that Oswalt that has dared to speak his mind, to criticize his teammates and management. It seems that there are so-called Astros fans out there who would rather the team be a bunch of lovable losers than for the team be full of guys like Oswalt who actually want to win baseball games.

I don't think he's a traitor, cancer, or a diva. I think he's inconsistent in why he wants to leave, but I understand it. I don't resent him for wanting to leave. Wade just needs to pull the trigger before he (Roy, not Ed) hurts himself.

What can we expect in a trade?

Okay, so the two guys who are likely to be moved are obviously Berkman and Oswalt. Oswalt has the highest trade value, since he's been a titty-baby over the last month or so, and is more motivated to apparently get out of dodge.

Citizen Spruce asked the following question:
All right, Constable, a question for you: What would you like to see the Astros get in return if they were going to trade Roy?

Well, the Mets report this morning drew some good comments:

From OremLK:
They have several good SS/2B prospects: one of Ruben Tejeda, Wilmer Flores, or Reese Havens would all be a good centerpiece. Pitchers Brad Holt or Jeurys Familia could be intriguing throw-ins....There's no way you're going to get multiple ML ready A-/B+ prospects for Oswalt... not on that contract. The best case is probably more like a couple B- guys and filler, and maybe not even that.

From Joe:
Havens and Familia with a C guy...I love how everyone on clutchfans.net thinks we will easy net Mejia, Davis, and Havens because they have no clue how Oswalts value has diminished over the past three years. Funny to hear someone who actually has a grasp on the truth.

The crux of this is what the Astros want in return. You all know that I believe my own conspiracy theory that Ed Wade overpaid for Lyon to force Detroit into signing Jose Valverde, thus getting two extra draft picks.

Under my own, possibly deluded, thinking, I could see how the Astros would be willing to eat some (or most) of Roy's contract to get better prospects and replenish the top of the farm system.

If it's just salary relief, then a couple of B/C prospects might get the job done. If the Astros want someone like Ike Davis (whom I have a hard time believing the Mets would part with), then they will have to eat a part of his contract.

The whole Trade Oswalt scenario comes down to expectations, and what the Astros are out to accomplish. But as John Royal points out this morning, this Oswalt v. Houston Astros Base Ball Club could get ugly. The more Oswalt whines, the worse the trade market will get for Easy Eddie. I think we've all made peace with the fact that Oswalt is going to get sent to a farm in Connecticut, where he'll get to run with other pitchers, but let's hope that he keeps the whining to a minimum so as not to sink what teams are willing to do to get him.

Is Berry's job in question?

John Royal's article for the Houston Press today points out that the Mariners, whose team OPS was almost 40 points higher than the Astros, fired their pitching coach yesterday morning. So what kind of dirt does Sean Berry have on everybody?

The job of Astros hitting coach Sean Berry appears to be safe, even though no team in the majors has a worse on-base percentage. The Berry defenders, and there suddenly appear to be a lot of them in the media, claim that he's not the one responsible for building a club so lacking in offensive talent.

...But at some point, Berry has to work with these guys and get them to start working at actually getting on base, and making a pitcher have to earn a win. And that's something that's just not happening. It's something that's never happened under Berry's watch...Somebody on the team has to get the batters to not swing at everything that comes their way, and the person who should be working with the players on their offensive approach is the hitting coach.

It's a totally valid argument, and I'm not sure how Berry was the only coach retained from 2009, but he was. And the Astros are bad. It's been pointed out - here, and elsewhere - that Berry can do all the BP and video work in the world, but ultimately it's up to the hitters.

Royal notes that Ed Wade should get some heat for signing Feliz and Matsui, instead of Cabrera or Hudson, who traditionally have a high OBP, but Berry is the hitting coach, and ain't nobody hitting.

Royal brings up a good point

Dude's on a roll lately. After naming J.R. Towles the Official Scapegoat of the Houston Astros, John Royal takes on Roy Oswalt:

And from nowhere there was a lot of talk about Towles and the pitching staff, especially Roy Oswalt, having communication issues. That's a good reason for a demotion -- the pitchers not trusting a catcher. But it's kind of fishy sounding in that there has never been any talk in the past about Towles not being able to communicate with the pitching staff, and it just suddenly arose on Tuesday when Oswalt pitched to Humberto Quintero instead.

It's also kind of fishy sounding because we're talking about Roy Oswalt, and as Cecil Cooper will attest, Oswalt has never been shy about publicly expressing his dissatisfaction with the team, his teammates, and management decisions.

John Royal deconstructs a myth

Excellent post by John Royal over at the Houston Press today deconstructing the myth that Run-DMc isn't cheap. It's well worth a click, but here's a good excerpt:

Has anyone ever seen a ballpark, anywhere, that is so laden with advertising? The "Fowl" polls and the Landry Crawford Boxes? The only space on the outfield wall that isn't plastered with advertising is the old-fashioned scoreboard in left field. No matter where one looks, there's advertising...

...And only a cheap bastard like McLane would forbid fans from bringing in their own food. The Astros are the only team in the major leagues that forbids its fans from bringing their own food...

...It's well-known that Drayton McLane is a cheap bastard because he was more than willing to endanger the lives of players, families, management, and umpires just because he didn't want to lose the projected revenue from a game against the Chicago Cubs in September of 2008...

...Repeat all you want that Drayton McLane being a cheap bastard is just a myth. Repeat it all that you want, but that still doesn't make it true. McLane's about as cheap as they come, and it's the Houston fans who continue to suffer as a result.

I can't refute any of that.