Wednesday Morning Hot Links

Day Three of the Winter Meetings is upon us, spreading like a virus that will claim at least one of us (I haven't slept a lot lately.)

*A.J. Hinch plans to use the DH similar to the way he did in 2016, and that Evan Gattis would spend a decent amount of time there:
I'll spread it out enough, but Evan Gattis is probably the beneficiary of the way the roster is right now. 

16 different players saw at least one game at DH in 2017, albeit with 13 players getting three or fewer starts (Beltran - 107; Gattis - 29; Springer - 7). In 2016, however, Gattis led the team in DH starts with 71 while five different 2016 Astros got 10+ starts in which they didn't need their glove, including two starts at DH from someone who called themselves "Danny Worth."

Evan Gattis' 2016 splits, by position:
As C (206 PAs): .295/.345/.647, 19 HR
As DH (285 PAs): .219/.248/.419, 13 HR

Kaplan also says within the above link that left field will get spread out a little bit, with surprise name Colin Moran as a possible fit for LF. Luhnow:
When you start trying to figure out the at-bats for Fisher and Marwin and Gattis and Stassi, et cetera, you'd have to really do a lot of moving around to figure out how to get Moran a large enough number of at-bats to really feel like he's getting a proper look.

*I'm going to have to break some people down this week, but Ken Giles is a good closer. A.J. Hinch said that anyone freaking out about Giles' October performance isn't seeing the whole picture:
He had a rough stretch on the national stage in front of a large audience, but it doesn't make him any less equipped to be an elite closer. I think his stuff is top notch across the board. I think it was frustrating for him in the World Series to not be delivering the outs that he delivered during the season, but emotionally, physically we expect him to be fine. I expect him to be elite again.

Brian McTaggart noted some of the relievers the Astros have taken a look at:
LHPs Jake McGee, Tony Watson, Fernando Abad (!), Jorge De La Rosa, Brian Duensing
RHPs Addison Reed, Joe Smith, Anthony Swarzak

Again, I'm going to revisit this later (maybe today! who knows?!) but yes, Ken Giles is a good closer.

*Jesse Sanchez tweets that the Astros have "some interest" in outfielder Carlos Gonzalez.

*Need a reason to watch Spring Training games? Kyle Tucker and Forrest Whitley will see some time.

*On the heels of yesterday's SI article in which an anonymous Astro noted that Yu Darvish was tipping his pitches, Dave Roberts told the LA Times that he wasn't surprised:
We had conversations about that with Yu, trying to kind of pin it down. Obviously, we weren't successful. I think there's something to (tipping) but there's also a lot more, for me, to execution.

*A.J. Hinch brushed off the whole "controversy" with Alex Cora on the team bus thing.

*Daryl Wade, the director of the Houston Astros Youth Academy, has an incredible story.

*Mike Fiers is looking for a bounce-back year in Detroit:
For me, I started off OK. Had a really good June and July. Kind of fell off at the end. Everyone goes through tough times. Everyone's not 100 percent towards the end of the year...It's not an excuse or anything...Yeah, I had a bad late last four or five starts. But other than that I felt like I pitched very well.

On being left off the postseason roster:
Something that I wasn't too happy about, but at the same time I gotta support my guys. Winning a World Series is definitely a dream. 

*In a straight up kick to the nuts, the Angels' newest savior Shohei Ohtani has a damaged UCL. Jeff Passan reports that it's a Grade 1 strain, which doesn't automatically mean Tommy John surgery, but further damage could result in exactly that. The Angels say he's fine. This should end well.

*The Pirates are apparently willing to deal Gerrit Cole, if you're interested.

*Tyler White will be the guest on Astroline tomorrow at Plucker's. Someone go thank him for hooking my students up, please.

Thursday Morning Hot Links

*Random 2017 Astros fact:

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

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

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

(American League MVP candidate Aaron Judge)

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

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

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

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

*Texas Monthly: What Carlos Beltran means to Houstonians.

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

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

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

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

*Grampa Pete is at it again:

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

— Peter Gammons (@pgammo) November 16, 2017