Wednesday Morning Hot Links

I know I know. Last week I said "We're back!" and we actually weren't. Are we now? Who's to say - sometimes things get in the way. That said, let's get to it:

*Carlos Beltran basically wrote Astros Erotica on the Players' Tribune yesterday. Beltran:
Astros fans, I'm here to tell you: It's going to be a special year. Mark it down. I can already tell...after just one dinner uptown. 

*Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers reported to Minute Maid yesterday, apparently with both arms intact and seemingly healed. Keuchel:
I've been telling some of the guys it kind of feels weird to actually feel good. First time in a long time that I feel 100 percent, and that's just exciting. And I know Lance feels the same way. 

Also, within that link we find that the Astros have until the end of Friday to extend salary offers to their remaining arbitration-eligible players: Keuchel, Collin McHugh, Mike Fiers, George Springer, Jake Marisnick, Marwin Gonzalez, and Will Harris.

*Brian McTaggart writes that acquiring Jose Quintana "makes sense" - given that the Red Sox have David Price and Chris Sale while the Indians have Corey Kluber and will get Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar back. And we all know the Ramgers could throw a blown-out tire in a spot start and get 5IP out of it. McTaggart:
If the Astros reach the postseason, a rotation of Keuchel, Quintana, McCullers, and McHugh could match up against anyone considering the offense the club will have. The Astros are in win-now mode and know their window to contend is wide open. 

*Hooks manager Rodney Linares will be back in Corpus for a 3rd straight year. Joel Chimelis, who had been Quad Cities' hitting coach for the past four years, is back in Corpus for the first time since 2012.

*Morgan Ensberg will be the manager at Tri-City - the first managerial stint in his career. Russ Steinhorn, who was at Tri-City, has been bumped up to Quad Cities.

*The Ballpark of the Seven Isles Palm Beaches will open to the public for the first workout on February 18.

*Here are your Astros Winter Caravan dates.

*My two heroes: Guy Fieri and Jeff Bagwell.

Speaking of Bagwell, with 190 known ballots, Bagwell is sitting at 91% with the BBWAA. He needed to pick up 12 votes to get to Cooperstown, and he has gained 16.

Nathaniel Rakich's projections have Bagwell at 86.3% when the final tally is announced.

Saturday Morning Hot Links

*South Florida workers are looking at 20-hour days on the Astros/Nationals Spring Training Complex in order to be ready by 1st pitch.

*Brian McTaggart advises you not to sleep on the importance of Nori Aoki, who will see a lot of time in left field against right-handed pitching. Hinch:
Originally, when we got him, there was a great attraction to his at-bat quality that he could add to our feast-or-famine notoriety. We had a lot of guys that swung and missed, and a lot of guys that hit home runs. And Aoki is one of the toughest outs in the big leagues, and that type of balance to our order was attractive.

*Jeff Bagwell is on 48 of 54 known ballots (about 12.4% of total estimated ballots are known, expect a huge glut of ballots to be released between Christmas and New Year.) He still needs to pick up about 12 votes to ensure election.

Chicago's Rick Morrissey is the latest writer to not vote for Bagwell, with his ballot checking boxes for Trevor Hoffman, Tim Raines, Curt Schilling, and Larry Walker. Here is Morrissey's perfectly reasonably, open-minded lede:
It's Hall of Fame voting time, and you know what that means: anger, rage, apoplexy, nervous breakdowns, general blubbering - and that's just from the fans who attach their self-worth to whether a particular former baseball player gets a plaque in Cooperstown. 

This is even better:
If there is a suspicion a former player might have juiced during his career, I withhold a checkmark on my ballot. And I don't care if he never tested positive or if he was never implicated in any official investigation. 

*The Marlins signed former Astros outfielder Brandon Barnes to a minor-league deal with an invitation to Spring Training.

*The Pirates signed former Astros minor-league outfielder Eury Perez to a minor-league deal with an invitation to Spring Training.

*Rod Carew had a heart transplant and a kidney transplant yesterday, and is expected to make a full recovery

*David J. Roth: Craig Sager and the Radical Act of Caring

Wednesday Morning Hot Links

Hot Links will continue throughout the off-season. Maybe not *every* day, but most days, and will be filled with things I find interesting about the Astros, about baseball and about not-baseball. The Hot Links won't get political. 

*Dallas Keuchel apparently dealt with a lot of nagging injuries this season and wants to be more open with the medical staff:
Sometimes I've got to put my stubbornness away and kind of have an open dialogue with them.

And he's getting tired of his beard.

*Palm Beach County is under a Hurricane Watch, and the Astros/Nationals are securing their in-progress Spring Training facility.

*David Barron tracked the changes in Houston sports radio.

*The Tigers will exercise Brad Ausmus' option for 2017.

*Watch the trailer for the 30 For 30 on UH's Phi Slama Jama

*How do you lose a playoff game on a walk-off in extra innings without the best reliever in the AL - perhaps in baseball - ever throwing a pitch? FanGraphs' Jeff Sullivan tries to answer.

*Jays fans: throwing beer cans :: Draymond Green: Punching penises.

*Rob Manfred sat down with the press before the Blue Jays/Orioles game and talked about a variety of baseball things.

*Hardball Times: The physics of October baseball at Wrigley.

Tuesday Morning Hot Links

*The Astros made a whole bunch of internal personnel changes yesterday. Notably:

-Quinton McCracken, who was director of player development and also apparently a possible GM candidate, is now Director of Player Personnel.
-Allen Rowin, who was assistant director of player development is now the Director of Minor League Operations
-Brandon Taubman is Director of Baseball Operations
-Mike Fast is Director of Research & Development
-Pete Putila is Assistant Director of Minor League Operations
-Tom Koch-Wiser is Manager of Advance Scouting
-Bill Firkus is Director of Sports Medicine and Performance

Luhnow, on the moves:
This is just sort of a next step, next wave. I challenged every functional leader to come up with a five-year vision of...how we can be the best, and a lot of the things you're seeing are as a result of that initiative.

Two weeks ago McCracken and Rowin were mentioned by Evan Drellich in a Chronicle piece about how Luhnow was looking to alter the landscape of the front office.

*Joel Sherman wrote yesterday about how Daniel Murphy's breakout postseason could put him in line for Chase Headley money (4yrs/$52m). Sherman asked executives where Murphy would land should he make it to free agency. First team up? Houston:
...because they love versatility and could use Murphy at first, third and DH, and want to diversify a lineup that strikes out too much. In addition, in private Astros notes leaked last year, it was revealed Houston and New York discussed a trade of Murphy for shortstop Jonathan Villar. 

Ahhh, good old Cardinals. While I look to see how close the Cardinals' front office is to getting indicted by a federal grand jury, I'll go along with TCB's take on this one: where would Murphy play? Doesn't mean that logjam can't be cleared with some trades or non-tenders, but it's hard to see happening.

*Johnny Cueto's Game 3 start last night:
2IP, 6H/8ER, 2K:4BB, HBP, HR.

With that Josh Donaldson home run, Johnny Cueto is the first pitcher in playoff history to go two or fewer IP and give up eight or more ER.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 20, 2015

I don't know if I'm elated or forlorn.

*Palm Beach County commissioners are scheduled to vote this morning on approving the budget that will allow the Astros/Nationals to begin work on their new Spring Training site. Work has not yet started, but it's already over budget by $9m.

*Bruce Markusen has been writing up a Where Are They Now of Jim Bouton's Ball Four and got to the 1969 Houston Astros.

Wednesday Morning Link Dump

A surprisingly large dump for you this morning. Wait...

*The Astros still have money left in the checkbook, but it seems as though their big spending this off-season is pretty much over. Within that Chron link, there's a good salary breakdown by position type.

*Even though Venezuelan Winter League club Magallanes tweeted that Jose Altuve would be joining them in a couple of weeks, the Astros have not yet given their approval for him to do so.

*The Astros treated Lowrie "like a goal, not a contingency" this off-season, said Brodie Van Wagenen, Lowrie's agent.

*Keith Law, on Jed Lowrie ($):
It's a deal that underpays him based on expected performance but prices in his injury risk and the probability that he's not able to stay at shortstop for the entire deal.

*Houston signed Dan Johnson to a minor-league deal with an invitation to Major League Spring Training. Johnson has spent just 114 games in the Majors from 2008-2014, but hit a cool homer in the bottom of the 9th during G162 for the Rays that helped them get to the playoffs. So that's what the Astros will be looking for this September: playoff-clinching homers.

*Palm Beach County commissioners approved a deal to seek a land-swap with the city of West Palm Beach on a proposed Astros/Nationals Spring Training facility, but it may not happen. Line of the day comes from Palm Beach County commissioner Steve Abrams, regarding the deal:
It looks like we're trading Giancarlo Stanton for a .200 hitter on the Astros.

*Delino DeShields just wants to help the Rangers, despite being hesitant:
I was hoping I would get selected, but not by the Rangers, of all team, the Texas rival. It's a good opportunity to get my career going...They can move me around a little bit if they want to. I didn't forget how to play second base. It's only been a year. I adjusted to the outfield pretty good. I'm athletic enough to do whatever they tell me to do. Whatever role I have on this team I just want to do whatever I can to help.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/mlb/texas-rangers/foul-territory-blog/article4523207.html#storylink=cpy

*Not sure how I missed this from earlier in the off-season but the Braves not only hired Bo Porter as their 3B coach, they hired former Astros bench coach Dave Trembley as their Director of Player Development and Minor League Field Coordinator. Former Astros catcher Robinson Cancel will manage the Braves' Gulf Coast League team.

*Wesley Wright signed with Baltimore.

Saturday Morning Link Dump

*FanGraphs just projected a 75-87 season for the Astros in 2015.

*A.J. Hinch is one of the reasons Luke Gregerson signed with Houston. And, ultimately, the Astros added Gregerson and Neshek for less than Andrew Miller and David Robertson.

*Neshek's contract:
2015: $5.5m; 2016: $6.5m; 2017: $6.5m option or $500,000 buyout, but can get to $7.5-8.5m based on games finished.

*"Thank you. Thank you, man." -Brent Strom to Jim Crane

*Luke Gregerson is (possibly) your new closer. Or Qualls. Who knows.

*Palm Beach County is reconsidering a deal to build the Astros and Nationals a new Spring Training facility.

*Jose Altuve will play winter ball for Magallanes in the Venezuelan Winter League.

*Wilton Lopez signed a minor-league deal with Toronto.

Wednesday Morning Link Dump

Here's what happened over the last 24 hours in Luhnow Does San Diego...

*Jim Crane says that $20m is there to spend this off-season, but not just for the sake of spending it.
We're not going to spend it just to spend it. I think definitely the money's available if they need it, and we're looking to fill some voids and improve the team. That could include spending the money and making some trades...Definitely that money's available if they need it, and we could stretch a little if we need to and something came in our direction we felt was the right piece that improved the team.

The right piece needs to be willing to take the money first, though...

*Meanwhile, at some point in the last year, Jeff Luhnow got himself an extension. Though with the timeline given to Evan Drellich by Crane, this extension came before someone leaked Ground Control, or Brady Aiken and Jacob Nix and Mac Marshall went unsigned, or Bo Porter was fired.

*Two of Jon Heyman's sources "familair" (sic) with the Astros' thinking say Chase Headley isn't very high on Houston's priority list, and openly wonders if the NYDN's Bill Madden (who said the Astros offered 5yrs/$65m) didn't fall for a phantom report.

*Jerry Crasnick says that the Astros are one of three teams involved in serious talks with reliever Pat Neshek.

*The Astros have also talked to Sergio Romo and Luke Gregerson.

*L.J. Hoes is being dangled in potential trades involving, yes, relievers.

*The Astros talked to the Nationals about Tyler Clippard, but things "didn't get very far."

*The Astros offering Andrew Miller a potential 5yr/$50m contract - that Miller subsequently turned down - is seen as a positive within baseball, writes Evan Drellich.

*With the Rule 5 draft set for tomorrow (Thursday) morning, Luhnow is gambling that Delino DeShields Jr won't be taken by another team.

*Evan Drellich writes the article about the Astros Tax that we would have written, if we had things like "Access," and "Money/Time to Fly To San Diego."

*The Astros and Kissimmee are almost a lock to break up for Spring Training.

*Could be worse, Astros fans. Nobody from the Brewers has even met with an agent or a representative from another team yet.

Wednesday Morning Hot Links

Here's what you need to promote your #brand and increase your #watercooler #knowledge

"If I throw strikes, I'm good. If I don't, I'm not very good. I'd rather throw strikes and be good." - Dallas Keuchel.

*Jose Cisnero will undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery. Meanwhile, Jesse Crain is still on Weiland Island, and Matt Albers is still a couple of weeks away from returning. Asher Wojciechowski and Alex White will be going on rehab assignments in the next couple of weeks, and Mark Appel will rejoin an affiliate "in the next couple of weeks."

*Be sure to read the recap of Lancaster's combined no-hitter over Bakersfield from last night. Josh Hader missed J.D. Osborne's section of the game because he was working out.

*The Astros and Nationals continue to talk to Palm Beach County about sharing a Spring Training site.

*Collin McHugh updated his blog.

*Be sure to check out the Astros County Roundtable.

*No, you're not any closer to seeing CSN Houston on DirecTV.

*Dirk Hayhurst has an excellent piece about life in the minors.

*2011 11th Round pick Justin Gominsky has asked for his release from the Astros, and will play for the Gary RailCats. Gominsky played five games for the Astros in 2014 after missing all of 2013.

*Random: 2001 22nd Round pick Justin Humphries is the executive director of an investment firm for athletes and business leaders. Humphries pitched for the Astros organization from 2001-2005, with his best season coming in 2003, when he hit .269/.376/.467 for Lexington.

Thursday morning link roundup

*The Astros fell to 3-3 on the Spring after losing to the Tigers yesterday, 3-0.

Delino DeShields hit leadoff after Dexter Fowler was a precautionary scratch with a stiff neck. He went 0x4 with 2Ks. Jose Altuve had one of the Astros' three hits (Bob Grossman and J.D. Martinez had the other hits). Jon Singleton was 0x1 with a walk and a strikeout. George Springer was 0x2 with a strikeout and an error.

Lucas Harrell rebounded from a rough Spring debut to throw 3IP, 3H/1ER, 1K:0BB and an Ian Kinsler HBP (Rangers fans will love that). Chad Qualls threw a perfect 4th. Anthony Bass allowed 3H/2R (1ER), 2K:0BB in the 5th and 6th. Mike "Bad MF" Foltynewicz threw 2IP, allowing 0H/0ER, 1K:0BB; Jose Cisnero struck out two and walked one in the 9th.

*Courtesy of KevinBassStache, if you skip to 4:13 you'll get to hear Seth Meyers make a Jon Singleton joke in last night's monologue.

*Jim Callis took a closer look at George Springer. Money quote:
Scouts laud Springer for the intensity he brings to the ballpark on a daily basis, and for getting the most out of his substantial tools. He may not produce lofty batting averages, but that won't stop him from being a star.

*The Astros will look at Arizona as a possibility for a new Spring Training facility, but are meeting with the Nationals today at a possible shared site in Palm Beach County. 

*BizTech Magazine has a neat little story on the Astros using data analytics in all departments - including ticket sales.

What We Missed

Greetings, citizens! As you may have noticed, it's been a busy few days at Astros County, and we're just now catching up. Here's what we found interesting...

*Asher Wojciechowski's lat strain apparently flared up last week when he tried to play catch, so the Astros are (predictably) going to move slowly with him. Also, Lucas Harrell will start the Grapefruit League's opening game on Friday, followed by Scott Feldman, and then Jarred Cosart.

*Bo Porter, for one, is "encouraged" by Lucas Harrell's off-season adjustments and improvements.

*J.D. Martinez, who is not on the 40-man roster, "blew up" his swing this winter:
I changed everything. Everything. From my hands to my feet, my leg kick, my stride, my load - just everything.

So watch out for J.D. Martinez's new load this spring!

*Jesse Crain's calf is feeling better. Had this occurred when Crain was, you know, able to throw a baseball and stuff, it would have set his Spring Training back. As it is, he's still on pace for an April season debut.

*The Astros bought two season tickets to NC State's baseball program, to make it cheaper/easier to watch Carlos Rodon.

*Courtesy of the Crawfish Boxes, we find out that the Astros have hired the excellent Amanda Rykoff as their Social Media Manager. Click the link to read how excited Important People are about the new hire, and congratulations to the Astros and Rykoff.

*The Blue Jays are out of the Palm Beach Gardens Spring Training Sweepstakes. Instead, the Astros and Nationals are now looking at sharing a complex in Lake Worth (also Palm Beach County), and Astros' general counsel Giles Kibbe says that, if the county is on board, then the Astros are "all in favor."

Astros' possible Spring Training move on hold

ESPN New York's Adam Rubin says that the Astros' potential Spring Training facility move to Palm Beach Gardens "does not appear promising."

The Astros have attempted to move with the Toronto Blue Jays to a facility to be constructed in nearby Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., but local opposition has stalled those plans. The relocation to Palm Beach Gardens apparently is not dead, with the sides trying to scout alternative locations in that area. Still, it does not appear promising. 

 

Thursday Morning Link Dump

Most of what you need to know for today...

*The Astros accused Comcast of using the bankruptcy filing to cheat the Astros out of their share in the RSN. Comcast says CSN Houston will not survive without bankruptcy. This is fun.

*There was a Q&A in Palm Beach Gardens about the proposed Spring Training Complex for the Astros/Blue Jays.

*MiLB.com profiles Matt Heidenreich and his 2013 struggles.

*Jim Callis says Delino DeShields is a more complete player than Billy Hamilton.

Astros/Blue Jays to share Spring Training facilities

We mentioned this in the link dump the other night, but now it seems certain that the Astros and Blue Jays will share Spring Training facilities in Palm Beach Gardens on Florida's east coast.

With the help of $100m (half from the State, half from local governments), the new facility will be constructed in time for 2016.


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Meanwhile, Blue Jays and Palm Beach Gardens officials said the deal is not quite done. Palm Beach Gardens spokesman Tom McNicholas:
We are thrilled that Jim Crane and the Astros are committed to Palm Beach Gardens and Palm Beach County. However, right now we are only preparing for the public process and we have much due diligence to complete in an effort to be certain this project is good for our community.

And Palm Beach Gardens council member David Levy thinks that Crane is being "optimistic, if not unrealistic."