Minor league moves a'plenty

Jayne over at What the Heck, Bobby? has news of more minor league retirements and cuts. Steve Martin and Justin Shults retired, and David Flores, Ebert Rosario, Jimmy Van Ostrand, and Lance Pendleton were released.

I'm a bit surprised to see David Flores released given our lack of depth at third base and his successful season at Lancaster last year.

Astros add Clemens to 40-man roster

With tonight's deadline to get Rule 5 eligible players protected from the Rule 5 draft, the Astros added Paul Clemens to the 40-man roster today. They also signed Lance Pendleton (a Rule 5 selection from 2010) to a minor-league deal with an invitation to Spring Training.

Housekeeping!

The Astros took three players off the 40-man roster today. Who, you ask?

-Blake King, who was placed on Corpus' roster.
-Xavier Cedeno, who will be a free agent after the World Series.
-Lance Pendleton, who can become a free agent, thanks to an earlier outright off the 40-man roster.

I hope the Astros keep Cedeno and Pendleton, but this was likely about freeing up three spots for the 40-man roster to protect three of the newcomers from the summer from getting got in the Rule V draft.

Aha. Zach Levine has a note that Brandon Lyon, Alberto Arias, and Sergio Escalona were on the 60-Day DL at the end of the season. So they were not on the 40-man roster.

Astros go out and get another infielder

Just to catch you up:

Lance Pendleton has been sent back to the Yankees, and now the Astros have gone and acquired infielder Joe Inglett from Tampa Bay for a PTBNL, or cash (because they have so much of that).

Inglett will be 33 and posted a .733 OPS (99 OPS+) in 102 games with the Brewers last season.

Also, this move makes absolutely no sense. More later.

Update: Except he's not a candidate for SS1. He's in the mix to be the LH OF5, according to Footer and Levine. So there you have it.

Figueroa has been to the manager's office before

But it didn't turn out as well as this one.

Figueroa:
"It's the first time I think I've been called in the office for a good thing. It was nice to get that reassurance to be the fifth starter, and I'm looking forward to it. I was excited about the opportunity coming into camp, and I had a good camp.

Lyles, on hearing the news:
"I knew it was coming, sort of. I'll just go down there to camp for a little bit, get ready for the season, have a couple of good months and see what happens."

McTaggart had this from Lyles:
"I knew being younger and the money side of the game... But Figgy pitched well enough to earn a spot and you can't hold that against him. I think I opened some eyes this spring. I know they haven't seen me before, but now they have. Whenever they need a guy to go out there on the mound for them during the season, maybe I'm first in line."

I bet the SC State will have something to say about this.

We also learn from Mills that Pendleton and Rodriguez - the Rule 5 Picks - are still in the running for bullpen positions, and given their Springs, we're giving the edge to Aneury - if only for the fear his first name can strike in the hearts of competitors.

Lance Pendleton isn't really interested in rejoining the Yankees

Steve Campbell interviewed Lance Pendleton yesterday (as did Stephen Goff), and found that Pendleton isn't so interested in going back to the Yankees.

Pendleton:
"I enjoyed my time with the Yankees, but if you understand, I'm not really itching to go back,. I want to stay."

Arnsberg:
"I like him a lot. I like his stuff. He's kind of that older guy with a younger arm, a fixed arm, a new arm. I see some great upside."

Mills:
He's throwing the ball very well. He's really made a good impression. He's a strike-thrower. He's been consistent so far. That shows he was really working in the offseason."

Pendleton was one of three pitchers to not crap his pants on the mound yesterday, so that's a good start for the Rule 5 pick.

Astros sign three more

The Astros have agreed to terms with:

Matt Downs ($421,000)
Cesar Carrillo ($414,000)
Lance Pendleton ($414,000)

As Zach Levine notes, the only unsigned players are now J.A. Happ, Tommy Manzella, Angel Sanchez, and Mark Melancon.

Pendleton and Rodriguez are under the microscope

While other pitchers and position players hope to impress, Rule 5 picks Lance Pendleton and Aneury Rodriguez have to impress, if they want to stay with the club, according to McTaggart (and the general rules of baseball).

Wade:
"To some extent, they're under more scrutiny. There is a timetable that dictates you have to make your determination sooner rather than later. Every time one of those guys steps on the mound, you're going to have to be bearing down on what they're seeing."

Click the link to see how both are dealing with the pressure, and words of wisdom from Wesley Wright.

Q & Wade

Brian McTaggart has a Q&A with Easy Eddie.

On 1B1:
To me, the perfect-world scenario was that Brett Wallace comes in and wins the first base job and is our guy and Carlos is the everyday left fielder and we're not worried about mixing and matching in left with Carlos at first, or trying to push Bogusevic harder to play more.

On Aneury Rodriguez and Lance Pendleton's chances:
"Both guys at this point in time I think we'll look at them initially form a starting standpoint because both of them have very limited bullpen experience, particularly Pendleton."

On Chris Johnson:
"This is a guy that I wouldn't be surprised at the end of the season to C.J. at 30-plus home runs. But it's going to entail, how does he respond to the other teams' Brad Arnsbergs, who are back in the laboratory cooking up the formula to really make you fail? Believe me, when you have a couple of months like Chris Johnson had, there's a lot of pitching coaches in the lab right now. Rich Dubee's doing it right now in Philadelphia right now, getting ready for Opening Day against, trying to figure out how to shut C. J. down."

This Lance Pendleton fella is some kind of excited

So McTaggart interviewed Lance Pendleton and found a firecracker's worth of energy.

Pendleton, who even traveled to Chicago for the World Series in 2005 (but was not slapped by a White Sox fan):
"I've been a big Houston Astros fan for as long as I can remember. I'd be lying to you, having been in the Yankees' organization, if I said I had followed them nearly as much as I used to. But I'm ready to support them now, if that's all right."

What other people think about these two gentlemen

Aneury Rodriguez

RaysProspects.com (January 2010):
He doesn't have great stuff, but it's good enough: A low-90s fastball with a slider and change-up, but the change-up lags behind the other two in terms of development. At a slender 6'3", Rodriguez could add a little bit to his fastball as he continues to develop.

DRaysBay (April 2009):
In three seasons, Rodriguez has shown the ability to strike hitters out while avoiding walks and homeruns. FIPs of 3.15, 3.86, and 3.38. He seems like a quality pitcher...

Tracy Ringolsby (quoting Baseball America, November 2010):
“Rodriguez might be the most likely player to get picked, as he has the combination of success at upper levels, the possibility of upside and age on his side. Rodriguez pitched for Triple-A Durham at age 22 this season and was for several stretches the Bulls’ No. 2 starter after Minor League Player of the Year Jeremy Hellickson."

Lance Pendleton

Pinstriped Bible (Today):
He acquitted himself well at pitching-friendly Trenton, and has a nice low-90s sinker, but there’s not much else going on there and his strikeout rate plummeted while his home-run rake spiked in his brief stint at Triple-A to end the season. The Astros are a bad team, but unless they see potential for Pendleton in relief, he seems unlikely to stick.

Jonathan Mayo on Aneury Rodriguez

Here's a nice recap of why the Astros took Tampa Bay's Aneury Rodriguez in today's Rule 5 draft:

At the start of the Winter Meetings, it was the Rays' Rodriguez who was talked about the most as a player sure to be taken. Houston took him right after the Nationals picked, at No. 8, and like Ramirez, the soon-to-be 23-year-old improved his stock in winter ball. Rodriguez has a 1.22 ERA and .193 opponents' batting average in seven Dominican League starts. Unlike Ramirez, though, Rodriguez spent most of the year at Triple-A and had some success there (3.80 ERA in 113 2/3 innings), so Houston believes he's ready to compete at the Major League level.

Ed Wade:
"Being able to get these two guys provides us with depth of competition for a starting role in Spring Training, and we'll see where it goes from there. It's good to add some quality [talent] to the organization, and we understand what the Rule 5 process is and are satisfied with the way it went."

Rule 5 pick!

Zach Levine just tweeted that the Astros have selected Aneury Rodriguez and Lance Pendleton in the Rule 5 draft, and didn't have anyone selected by another team in the MLB portion of the Draft.

-RHP Aneury Rodriguez will be 23 next week, and comes from the Rays organization. In 2010, he split time between Double-A and Triple-A (mostly in Triple-A), posting a 7-5 record, with a 3.71 ERA/1.33 WHIP (6-5, 3.80/1.35 in AAA). Peripherals: 1.96 K:BB ratio, 8.2 H/9, 7.4 K/9, and 3.9 BB/9.

-RHP Lance Pendleton is 27, and comes out of Kingwood, TX. He was the Yankees 4th Round pick in 2005, and also aplit tome between Double-A and Triple-A for the Yankees in 2010 (mostly, though, in Double-A Trenton). Over the course of 2010, Pendleton was 12-5 with a 3.61 ERA/1.17 WHIP. Peripherals: 2.33 K:BB, 7.2 H/9, 7.7 K/9, and 3.3 BB/9.

-In the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 draft, the Astros lost Jeiler Castillo to the A's. Castillo finished 2010 in Tri-City, but spent most of the season in Greeneville.