Astros come in 2nd in most underrated

These player polls, I just don't know about them. They're fun to read, but don't mean anything. Still, it's interesting to note that in ESPN The Magazine's player poll for the MLB Preview issue, the Astros managed to come in 2nd in "Most Underrated Team," behind the A's (though, how you underrate a team that won 96 games, won the AL West, and lost in five games to the Tigers is beyond me).

Unnamed NL Veteran:
The Astros are going to be bad again, but I was impressed by what I saw in spring training. They're bad, but they're not 100-loss bad. I think they will surprise some people. They're going in the right direction.

What does it mean? Nothing. But when you can throw out some Anonymous NL Veteran love, you gotta do it.

Who do you want at 1-1?

Simple poll this morning, in advance of the 1st Round of the MLB Rule IV draft...

Luhnow open to long-term deals with prospects

In the wake of the Madison Bumgarner deal (and referencing the Matt Moore/Evan Longoria deals), Jeff Luhnow is open to giving long-term deals to prospects, a la the Tampa Bay Rays. But there's a caveat:

“It makes sense to lock up young talent and have some cost control, but at the same time, when your entire team is young or a lot of your team is young, it’s difficult to figure out which are the right guys to do that with."

Yeah, so who in the Astros system would you feel comfortable doing that with?

Stuffing the ballot box

In the mood to vote for something Astros related? Minor League Ball has a poll up asking who the best "B" grade pitching prospect is, and Jarred Cosart made the runoff as one of the top three. Head over there and show a prospect some love.

New poll!

1st Annual J. Fred Duckett Houston Media Award

With tonight's game against the Cardinals, the regular season will come to a swift, merciful end, and we can - with gratitude - turn our backs on 2011 and pay attention to 2012. So let's have a poll: Who do you felt (in print) did the best job covering the Astros in 2011? The winner will actually get a nice little JPG certificate, and perhaps even a Starbucks giftcard.

Who is J. Fred Duckett? That, my friends, was the first PA announcer for the Colt .45s.

On to the poll:

Would you rather be Brad Mills, or the Jefferson County (Alabama) manager?

That's the question posed by AL.com's Joey Kennedy:

My first thought when I read News staff writer Barnett Wright's al.com blast that Hoover Mayor Tony Petelos was going to interview for the Jefferson County manager's job was: Hey, Tony, are you on something? That'd be like managing the Houston Astros. Heck, worse.

Let's break down the pros and cons, shall we?

Brad Mills

Pros:
*Makes an unknown, yet likely impressive, salary.
*Flies on chartered jets.
*Watches baseball 162 times a year.

Cons:
*Is hammered on blogs, even though not in press.
*Watches Astros baseball 162 times a year, and can't change the channel.
*Watching Astros baseball 162 times a year has led to temporary insanity, resulting in sticking Jason Michaels in the lineup regularly.

Jefferson County manager

Pros:
*Alabama's most-populated county
*Probably would live in Birmingham, which is a nice little place.
*Great news: the bridge on Grant's Mill Road will re-open after 18 months of being closed.

Cons:
*Jefferson County just got sued by the Federal Government for overcrowded jails.
*You get compared to the manager of the Astros.

You decide!

Do you have faith in The Apparatus?

Simple poll: Do you think the Astros' Front Office can do what's best for the organization - regardless of what you think 'what is best' is?

Astros Blog Survey

The Constable is working on a post for the Chronicle on Astros blogs, bloggers, and their readers. So if you don't mind...

On this Astros/Rangers rivalry

Baseball Time in Arlington has a poll up asking readers to weigh in on whether or not the Astros/Rangers have a "real" rivalry. So we'll ask you the same question, and compare notes.




At last look at BBTIA, it's 63-37 No.

Poll: How will you receive Berkman?

Al Pedrique gets nine innings to show his stuff

Because Brad Mills has been suspended for tonight's game against the Cubs, and Aneury Rodriguez has been suspended for three games for the Beanball Incident against the Marlins. Rodriguez will appeal the suspension, meaning he's available to give up a few hits, walk a few guys, while he awaits a verdict. Al Pedrique will manage the game tonight.

So your Tuesday afternoon poll:

Many plethoras of reactions to today's moves

First, about the Cancel re-assignment to Big Boy Camp, from Zach Levine:
Robinson Cancel was brought up to major league camp but will return to Class AAA after last exhibition game.

From McTaggart, on Bourgeois' and Shuck's continued presence:
The two have emerged as the only candidates to win the final outfield spot after Brian Bogusevic was optioned to Minor League camp on Thursday. Bourgeois has certainly had a strong camp, entering Thursday hitting .314 with four stolen bases. The fact Bogusevic swings the bat from the left side was a bonus for him, but Bourgeois' good spring couldn't be ignored.

On Manzella's departure:
His departure leaves four infielders -- Matt Downs, Anderson Hernandez, Angel Sanchez and Oswaldo Navarro -- battling for two spots. Downs might have the upper hand because he can play anywhere and has swung the bat well, but Hernandez can also be moved all over the diamond and is a switch-hitter. Sanchez is out of options and performed well last year with the Astros.

Levine astutely noted that those two spots are actually one spot, because once Keppinger returns, somebody is visiting Oklahoma City. Sanchez would have to clear waivers in order to even get to Oklahoma City (which may happen), but it's still a risk - even if the Astros do have a ton of middle infield possibilities. We still give the nod to Downs.

Who do you want as OF5?



It is the opinion of Astros County that it should be Bourgeois, and Shuck can continue to develop at Triple-A.

The $100m question

Yesterday, Jon Heyman tweeted that the Astros may make a run at Cliff Lee, who we're all pretty sure that only about three or four teams can afford - and nary a one is in Houston. Some people are clamoring to spend $Insane on Carl Crawford, and move Carlos Lee to 1B for 2011-12. So that brings us to an interesting question for you, dear readers:

Astros County's Connie Mack ballot

You're probably thinking, "Okay, yeah, the Crawfish Boxes had a Manager of the Year post this morning. Way to gravy train it, Astros County." And we could see how you would think that. However, it's not true. I mean, yes, the Crawfish Boxes did have an identical post this morning, but there's a different story to why we're doing it today. As a member of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance, we are to vote on major awards, and the deadline for the Manager of the Year voting is tomorrow. So, in the absence of any real Astros news from the last 24 hours, we'll take this opportunity to put our votes forward today.

Each ballot must have three names, so you'll see the voting and rationale below. Quick disclaimer: This award is ridiculous. We hate it. Our old friend Anonymous can write in telling us how stupid we are and make a good case.

American League

3rd Place: Terry Francona - Boston

Francona dealt with an astounding number of injuries throughout the season, and while the Red Sox were never really in the hunt for a playoff spot - thanks to their divisional competition - their 89-73 record was quite impressive.

2nd Place: Ron Gardenhire - Minnesota

The Twins did what the Twins do, and that's win the AL Central and go to the playoffs with a fairly low payroll.

1st Place: Ron Washington - Texas

Not 15 months ago Ron Washington was snorting coke after a game. Now he's managing the Rangers in the playoffs for the first time this decade, having destroyed AL West competition! No team won their division by a wider margin than the Rangers' nine-ame cushion.




National League

3rd Place: Dusty Baker - Cincinnati

Basically everybody put the Magic Number for the Cardinals at 162 from Opening Day. So when the Reds got swept by the Cardinals in August, but finished the month 19-8, anyway, it showed their resilience. With the mixture of veterans and youth, and the emergence of Joey Votto as a superstar, Baker stood at the helm.

2nd Place: Bobby Cox - Atlanta

Cox will likely get votes based on his Last Season, and all that, but it's pretty well-deserved. The Braves went toe-to-toe with the Phillies all season, and still made the playoffs despite losing Chipper Jones (in Houston. Sorry, Larry Wayne) and a number of others to injury.

1st Place: Bud Black - San Diego

This is a team that was paying its players $2.13/hour + tips, and if it hadn't been for a 10-game losing streak late in the season, would be in the playoffs getting the crap kicked out of them by the Phillies. Bud Black took a team of Adrian Gonzalez, Heath Bell, and 23 Other Guys from a 75-87 record to the brink of the postseason.

Myers pulled, and the streak is over

So last night, in G159, Myers' remarkable streak of 32 starts of 6IP+ came to an end. The County Clerk is out for the recap, partially because he's a douche. Let's discuss Myers 33rd start of the year.

First of all, he got rocked, yes - but mainly in just two innings, the 5th/6th. From the 1st-4th innings, the Reds were 4x16, 4K:2BB, 2ER. And then the 5th came along. Brandon Phillips grounded out, Miguel Cairo and Joey Votto walked. Jonny Gomes singled, and Jay Bruce fouled out. At this point the bases are loaded, but with two outs. Drew Stubbs hit a two-run single, and Ryan Hanigan got an RBI single to make it a 5-1 game before Paul Janish flied out to left.

In the 6th, Bronson Arroyo led off the inning with a single and Brandon Phillips took him real deap. Three batters later, Jonny Gomes hit a homer to make it 8-1. And Myers' night was done, one out short of his 33rd consecutive start of 18+ outs.

So help me work through something, because I'm torn right down the middle about this:

Side A: Why would Mills pull Myers when he just needed one more out to keep the streak alive? Jay Bruce was coming up to bat, and he was 2x3 with two singles, sure, but the Astros were out of it. 8-1? Leave him in, and let him keep his streak. This season, I'd take a gassed Brett Myers over Gustavo Chacin.

Side B: Myers didn't pitch well, allowing three homers to the Reds (he allowed four homers against the Brewers on June 29, and this was his 4th multi-HR game of the season - all came on the road.). The 8ER are a season high, and the most he's allowed since September 19, 2008. He was also at 114 pitches, needing 50 pitches to get through the 5th and 6th innings. Pitching that poorly, he didn't exactly earn his 18 outs, and it's not a streak that is reminiscent of, say, Cal Ripken, Jr. So, streak's over, and rightly so.

What do you think? Should Mills have let him get that last out, or was he right to pull him?

Lee to 1B starting to make sense

This Carlos Lee-to-1B thing is gaining some traction.

Alyson Footer has a blog post about it:

You also have to wonder if playing first base has helped Lee at the plate. Is playing a position where he is involved in nearly every play, which in turn requires non-stop concentration, helping him focus better at the plate? There seems to be long stretches of nothingness while standing in the outfield, and I can see where it would be easy to become distracted or let your mind wander. Maybe the concentration that's there when Carlos plays first base lingers when he is hitting. It could be the best explanation as to why his bat has come to life after hitting around .240 for the better part of four months.

At first my thought was, "Good God! Have you gone mad? The Astros might reward a guy who is receiving north of $18m (pre-taxes, of course) with a position change to keep him interested in playing the game responsible for paying him north of $18m?"

As ridiculous as it sounds, yes. The Constable just might have it wrong. I got an apoplectic text message from him just this afternoon. It read as such, "GAH! LEE? 1B?" I'm assuming that means he's not for it, and having read the earlier post, that seems to be a reasonable assumption.

So allow me to be the voice of reason. It's not the worst idea. Unfortunately for me, Alyson Footer kind of beat me to the reasoning. Wallace could - potentially - go back to Triple-A and wait for Carlos Lee to start losing concentration there, until they make him a player-manager to increase his concentration, until he starts to ride Jason Castro like a bull in the dugout between innings. Then they can make him the ranch hand-player-manager until he misses less important series to impregnate whatever female cows are called with a syringe. Then they can make him GM to regain his concentration. Yet, I digress.

Wallace does have options, and if he goes back to Triple-A, Alyson Footer kindly responded that Koby Clemens wouldn't take playing time away from Wallace.

So what do you think? Which way are you leaning?

Bourn rated the 2nd fastest player in the Majors

Carl Crawford was elected Most Likely To Win A Footrace by 339 Major Leaguers in Sports Illustrated. 12% voted for Bourn, 9% for Andrew McCutchen and 6% for Jose Reyes.

You know what would be fun? A skills competition in the All-Star Break, where maybe, I don't know, they didn't only glorify home runs. But that's just crazy talk...

Blum wants to come back in 2011

But only to Houston, reports Brian McTaggart.

Blum, who has half the vote on his $1.65m mutual option for 2011:
"I think I'm at the mercy of the ballclub. It's been a rough year for me physically for whatever reason. Some people are going to blame age, but I think mentally, I still have game left. I'm at the point in my career I have to run it by the family. I've got girls in school, a wife that has been putting up with me for the last 12 years, so it's something when the season ends we have to talk about. But I'd be more than happy to be an Astro again. I think if I plan on coming next year, it will definitely be as an Astro."

McTaggart, who notes:
Blum is quite valuable; not only because of his versatility, but because of the veteran leadership quality he brings to the Astros' increasingly young clubhouse.

Would you exercise or decline his option?

Vote for Astros County!

Vote for Astros County in the Houston Press' Best of Houston 2010 survey! We've never won anything - collectively, or individually - and this is just the sort of thing for our ego.