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:

Wednesday Morning Hot Links

'Stros got torched. Notes:

Tyler White pitched.
Orbit took the Iron Throne.
Nothing good happened.

A.J. Hinch talks Collin McHugh
Collin McHugh talks Collin McHugh


Carlos Correa changed his gameday routines, and it seems to be working.

Do the Astros have the best outfield in baseball?

How will the Astros keep their creativity a secret to the league in the organization? ($)

Inside the struggles of Jose Altuve:

Jake Marisnick "defended the wall" in the latest bobblehead giveaway last night, and I can only assume that it is a cool, clever reference.

The Hooks are hot, and it's Josh Rojas, Chas McCormick, and Colin McKee's fault.

The asking price for Dallas Keuchel is dropping, and Keuchel isn't settling. Will he sit the whole year?

Cindy Saenz, an Astros employee, will be the honorary batgirl in Sunday's fight against breast cancer day.

The color blue is rare in nature, and scientists found out why.

The insane man won a Tetris 99 game while dropping his pieces to the beat.

On This Day in Baseball History

In 1968, 23 year old Catfish Hunter threw a perfect game against the Twins.

In 1992, the Astros Butch Henry became the only player to ever get an inside-the-park home run for their first MLB hit.

In 1998, Mark McGwire hit his 400th career home run.

In 2001, Randy Johnson became the 3rd player ever to strike out at least 20 men in a game.

In 2011, Mike Sciosia won his 1,000th game for the Angels.

Monday Morning Hot Links

Just three and a half weeks until real Astros baseball.

In the meantime, the Astros played another for fun game yesterday, but unfortunately dropped it to the Nats 4-2.

~Correa and Yuli totaled 4 of the Astros 7 hits (both went 2/3)
~Cole: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
~Rondon: 0.2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
~Pressly: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K

McHugh is skipping his start tomorrow with a sore back. Wade Miley is taking his spot.

Brandon Bielak has been turning heads this Spring.

My guy Orbit is taking in a Panthers game.

The new Lima Time Time is up and ready to be listened to.

What Astros prospect Austin Hansen is doing to honor his best friend, Conner Taylor, who passed away in 2016.

Minnesota police were called upon the other day because the MyPillow CEO cardboard cutout wasn't wearing a coat, and a good Samaritan just wanted him to be warm <3

"Catching up on sleep" during the weekend doesn't have the positive effects you think it does, but that isn't going to stop me from continuing to do it.

Friday Morning Hot Links

My apologies for the no Hot Links on Wednesday. I wish I had a good excuse, but I fell asleep earlier than anticipated and woke up later than anticipated, thus slipping out of the proper posting time. I can't promise that that won't happen again.

The Bryce Harper saga is over. He will now make $5,000 more than the average income of a Philadelphian after one at-bat.

The regulars got their action yesterday, top to bottom. Some Notes:
-Peacock went 6 up, 6 down
-The Astros walked as many times as they struck out (7).
-Altuve went 0-3 and is still looking for his first hit this Spring Training.
-Abraham Toro went yard. He is now hitting .417 this Spring after hitting .348 in the Arizona Fall League.

The Astros and Padres are "keeping in touch" with Dallas Keuchel, and I personally believe it's going to be one or the other.

Fellow Indiana native A.J. Reed wants to play in the majors anyway he can. Fun Fact: Terre Haute South was in the same conference as my high school back then, so I'm always willing to give him tons of chances because he played on our diamond a handful of times and thats pretty cool.   

Ronnie Dawson headlines the new kids that are really impressing this Spring Training.

Alex Bregman is the most engaging baseball athlete on social media, by a wide margin.

Speaking of Bregman, the Astros are already talking contract extension. He's under team control until 2022.

I love Orbit.

Apparently, Zebras are striped to disorient blood-sucking insects.

Polar Vortex Hot Links

I am currently writing these Hot Links during the peak disaster hours of this "air storm"(?). The city has essentially shut down. School districts, campuses, churches, businesses, and just about anything else with 4 walls. I am trapped in my house because of air. My body burns from head to toe if I walk out just to my garage but also sometimes things go completely numb and it hurts and I am not loving life with all my heart right about now. They are setting fire to the railroads in Chicago just to make sure they are able to be used for goodness sake. If you're reading these from up North, please don't go outside and please stay warm. But anyways, yes this weather has given me a lot of free time on my hands to write up these Hot Links, so I guess let's do that now.

~You can pay Orbit to hang out on Valentine's Day with you, which sounds like something a smart and lonely person would do.

~MLB.com is here to remind you that the Astros will still be scary good in 2019.

~Here's a pretty cool article about Alex Cintron's path from being translator to 1st Base Coach ($).

~There is a very very unconfirmed rumor that the Keuchel showdown has come down to the Astros, Brewers, and Braves.

~Tyler White's 2nd half of the season was phenomenal.

~The argument for Justin Verlander as the 2018 AL Cy Young.

~Listen to Robert Flores talk about the Astros offseason thus far and what comes next.

Doomsday predictors say that the apocalypse is two minutes away, which is fine and all but maybe let me know before I start typing up this piece.

Friday Morning Hot Links

Hi!

The first Astros quiz of the season will be uploaded at the bottom of this post, but first I have to unload some of these piping hot links.

-Alex Bregman will be in the booth tonight as an analyst for Game 3 of the World Series.

-Speaking of Alex Bregman, he, Dallas Keuchel, and Martin Maldonado have been named as Gold Glove finalists in their respective positions.

-The case for Houston Astro Pitcher Nate Eovaldi.

-Apparently, Arlington is a "better baseball city" than Houston.

-You can take your Christmas photo with Orbit this year November 10th and 11th!

-If you missed the season finale of Astros Bases Loaded, the next showing is tonight at 5:30.

-Rocco Baldelli is now officially a head coach at age 37. There were 24 players who played in the 2018 MLB season that were at least 37 years of age.

-You can play with an all-manager team in MVP Baseball 2005.

On This Day in Baseball History

In 1985 and down 3-2, the Royals won the Game 6 and eventually the series after this incorrect call enabled the Royals to continue playing in the 9th inning.

In 1995, Ken Bowersox threw the first pitch in Game 5 while in space.

In 1997, Edgar Renteria got the game-winning hit in Game 7 to make the Marlins the youngest expansion team ever to win the World Series.

In 2013, the Cardinals became the first team to win a World Series game off of a walk-off obstruction call.


Without any further ado, here is the first Astros quiz of the offseason! The topic is "Can You Name Every Houston Astro Who Appeared In A Game?" and the best part is somebody already made the quiz for me! I started off with an easy quiz to ease everyone in, but rest assured the offseason will be long so some of them will be much tougher and some might even end up being a bit easier too. Good luck and have fun and we'll have a new one next week.

Astros Quiz #1

Friday Morning Hot Links

It's Friday everybody and you know what that means. Yep, it means Flick does your Hot Links, so prepare your bones for about 10-12 Astros related articles, a couple offbeat stories, and a few things that happened on this day in baseball!

The Astros did not play last night but depending on what Oakl-- wait. What.

Well, its back to a 3.5 game lead for Houston as we await the Angels. A miniature preview provided by Yahoo can be found here.

There are 10 games left in the season and the Astros need to go at least 5-5 to join the elusive 100-win club. Reminder: it's the Angels, Blue Jays, and Orioles left.

2018 just might be the best year of Astros baseball yet.

Reid Ryan makes it official: A.J. Reed will be playing in Round Rock.

No spoilers but they made a great choice for Best Astros Rookie.

It's time to play the cryptic game that is which pitchers will be playing for the Astros in October. It's quite the problem to have.

Josh James and Kyle Tucker were named Astros Minor League Pitcher and MVP respectively.

Dallas Keuchel isn't thinking about free agency right now, which I didn't think he would be.

Phillies targeting Charlie Morton in free agency this offseason?

Here's your feel-good story of the day.

You're the GM - Astros Edition!

Mike Fast has left the Astros, per McTaggart.

Alex Cora's first test as manager starts now.

Orbit, once again, was causing only the best mischief on Wednesday night.

Here's an article that is a crazy stats-lovers dream. It's about Ryan Pressly.

Bill Brown sits down with The Athletic to talk life after broadcasting. ($)

Amazon is making smart-microwaves and I absolutely do not understand the appeal for this. Don't worry, your smart fridge, blender, toaster, grill, and coffee pot, will be on the way soon.

Delaware has brand new "DMV Selfie Zones." I mean honestly what else can I say about this that will make this situation any better?

On This Day in Baseball History

In 1956, the Yankees left an MLB record 20 men on base in a 13-7 loss to the Red Sox.

In 1964, the Phillies lost to the Reds 1-0 after Chico Ruiz stole home. This was the game that started the Philly Phold.

In 1966, the Cubs beat the Reds 9-3. 530 fans attended the game at Wrigley Field, the smallest crowd in field history.

In 1988, the Astros beat the Braves 1-0 after Bob Knepper threw a complete game one hitter against Pete Smith, who also threw a complete game. 

In 2001, the Mets return to Shea Stadium for the first time since 9/11.

In 2008, Mariano Rivera closed Yankee Stadium.

In 2009, Cecil Cooper was fired as manager of the Houston Astros. He was replaced by Third-base coach Dave Clark.

Wednesday Morning Hot Links

*Here's Brian T. Smith, wondering if a bunch of teams are following the Astros and Cubs model of winning a World Series.

Look, man. The Astros and Cubs provided the precedent of being really bad now to win later. The being bad now is a hell of a lot easier than the winning later part. But if you're an owner and you can philosophically point to examples in back-to-back years of how reducing payroll (thus, increasing profits) paid off in winning a title, of course you're going to do it. You can sell Hope to a fan base while lining your own pockets. How close did the Astros come to not winning the World Series? Had to win Games 6 & 7 at home in the ALCS. The World Series still gives me anxiety. And I was decidedly not in the "Just happy to be here" camp. Had the Astros lost the World Series I'd still be pissed, and I'd be the guy all up in Justin Turner's mentions telling him to "win with class, idiot!"

I agree with the argument that the free agent class this year is problematic at best, and Scott Boras (and Brodie Van Wagenen) need to realize now that the best free agent pitcher and hitter each year don't just automatically get $150m. Baseball is going through a paradigm shift. So let's quickly break this down on why this is happening, by interested party:

*Owners: Get to save money, claiming the Cubs and Astros as a blueprint for future success.
*Agents: Unrealistic expectations SET BY THEIR OWN KIND (looking at you, Boras), and just expect everything to be the same.
*Players: I'm sure there are plenty of individual cases that go against what I'm about to say, but players are unwilling to be the guy to "settle" for less money (you know, $80m instead of $140m) because they don't want to be the market-setter that lowers everybody else's valuation. They're letting the agents keep them unemployed and stare down the other side in an effort to help the Union, who has been systematically outplayed by ownership for years.
*Front Offices: Oh you thought the use of advanced data would stop at defensive alignments and spin rates? You don't look like a genius by winning a World Series with a $400m payroll. And these cats want to look like a genius, mentioned in the same breath as Billy Beane, Theo, Luhnow, etc. So if you can follow a process that involves a lede which goes something like, "Three years ago the Waxahachie Moonshiners went 4-158. Now they're planning a parade." with the obligatory One Sentence Paragraph, you're already picking out frames at Michael's.

This offseason, everyone has a gun pointed at everybody else, and this is the most boring John Woo movie ever.

*Jeff Sullivan has a good post about baseball's (lack of) spending this off-season.

*Lance McCullers is one of Richard Justice's 10 dark horse candidates to win a Cy Young in 2018.

*Jorge Posada and Beltran were honored for their actions in helping Puerto Rico. Beltran, "disappointed" with the federal government's "efforts" in providing assistance to Puerto Rico, will not visit the White House when it's Astros Day. Beltran:
There's no doubt that I'm disappointed. I'm not the only one. There's a lot of people disappointed. We haven't (gotten) some benefits. Being part of the United States, you expect to at least get the same benefits when tragedies like this happen. The fact that we haven't (gotten) those, yeah, it's a disappointment.

Beltran was offered a front office position with the Yankees, and temporarily turned it down.

*Orbit needs an assistant.

*Yesterday was Babe Ruth's birthday, and you can go back and read SI's deep dive into his 1927 season.

Monday Morning Hot Links

Well things are starting to die down as the despair casts its shadow on to the Houston Texans. If you are emotionally invested in the Texans, please accept my apologies and best wishes for your livers.

For Astros County, though, we shift a little bit into walks down memory lane, reactions to what the Astros do ("The Astros signed Player X. It doesn't make sense, but I'm not going to question it. Back to watching ALCS Game 2 and laughing my head off"), etc. Sometimes the Hot Links will be shorter, there may be days that we don't post anything at all. Winter is here in all its 86-degree glory.

One thing, before we start, though: today (November 6) is the 9th anniversary of the first post on Astros County. Later that day I recapped Brandon Backe's 2008 season and the financial outlook for the 2009 team. It must have been a slow day at work. In the Hot Links post on Thursday morning, you know, the one a few hours after the Astros WON THE WORLD SERIES, a lot of you left very nice comments about this blog. I didn't respond because the most Facebook thing you can do is to copy-and-paste "Thanks!" to every comment, which manages to cheapen the original comment. I read every single one and want you to know that I truly appreciate all of you. Writing about the Astros has been cathartic for me. I'm about four years into off-and-on research on a non-fiction (non-Astros) book, and hitting "publish" around 6:15am every morning gives me the pleasure of having finished...something. I have a lot more to research before I can even start writing the book, and I don't have a ton of free time as it is. The idea that you come to this website each morning, even if the only thing new is a list of what you should read, is humbling. Thank you.

*Richard Justice writes that the Astros' grit and determination (*checks FanGraphs for Grit+) started with A.J. Hinch. Hinch, on talking to Altuve after the 2014 season:
We talked a lot about getting better. We talked about the 100-loss seasons. We talked about the grind that had taken its toll. I asked him one question: 'Why don't we talk about winning?'

*Buster Olney: The Astros look ready to launch a dynasty, but so did the Cubs in 2016. (Also comes with a great story about how Charlie Morton misunderstood the Astros' offer, and was thrilled with the idea of making half of what he's actually making).

*Jim Duquette doesn't think the Astros land any of the Top 25 Free Agents (which starts later today).

*Meet 32-year old Kyle Hamsher, also known as Orbit.