Wednesday Morning Hot Links

*Roy Halladay, man. Take a look at what he did to the Astros in his career:

April 11, 2010: 9IP, 7H/1R (0ER), 8K:0BB
August 25, 2010: 7IP, 6H/3ER, 6K:0BB
April 1, 2011: 6IP, 5H/1ER, 6K:0BB
September 14, 2011: 9IP, 6H/0ER, 7K:1BB
September 16, 2012: 6IP, 6H/3ER, 7K:2BB

Total: 37IP, 30H/7ER, 34K:3BB

*Random 2017 Astros fact of the day:
Players with 100+ strikeouts: 2
2016 Astros w/100+ strikeouts: 7
2015 Astros w/100+ strikeouts: 7
2014 Astros w/100+ strikeouts: 7

*Ben Reiter - who wrote the 2014 SI article - writes about how the Astros aren't designed to be one-and-done World Series champs. Read every word of this.

*Via the Crawfish Boxes we find that there is a petition to name a Connecticut street after George Springer. This needs to happen. Start a petition to rename Connecticut after him. Here's the link to the petition.

*Jeff Passan: Roy Halladay was the perfect modern pitcher, and the last of his kind.

*Ken Rosenthal's article in The Athletic on Halladay is available for free.

This is everything. pic.twitter.com/3jZcmAQ8M5

— Josh Chafetz (@joshchafetz) November 8, 2017

Hall of Fame reset

I'll be honest, none of us were in much of a frame of mind to go in and write about Jeff Bagwell receiving 71.6% of the vote in the Hall of Fame's election which was announced yesterday for fear of descending into staggering vulgarity and possible threats against writers whose opinions did not match our own. I still feel that way, but I think I can rein it in this morning.

*I tried not to think about it, but it's pretty hard not to. My standard line right now is Junior was in a hot tub the entire day not worrying about anything because he knew he was going to get in. It's the other guys that were struggling.

*It's okay. It's my sixth time, it's not like it's my first. I know there's a process. I'll wait my time.

*You can blame mainly Boston, New York, and Chicago for Bagwell's non-election.

*The BBWAA is making progress where the 1990s are concerned, writes Brian T. Smith.

#congratulations to Mike Piazza and Ken Griffey . Next year will be Bagwell's.

— Billy Wagner (@wagsk13wjs_e) January 7, 2016

*Thibs' spreadsheet was the basis for 1,000 columns. If you want to shame writers, here's your database.

Non-HOF links:

*The David Stearns-led Brewers signed Chris Carter to a 1yr/$2.5m deal.

*Alex Bregman is looking to build on his strong second-half in 2017.

*You will soon be able to stream Astros games in China, but not in Texas.

*Roger Clemens and Roy Halladay got into a tiff yesterday.

In short: Screw everything. Life doesn't even matter. It's winter and Spring Training will never get here and the Writers are stupid and

Oooh, maybe Pence had an idea all along...

This is a story from PhillyBurbs.com, where we get a random, telling little tidbit:

Starting pitcher Roy Halladay said on Friday night that Pence and he had a brief conversation at the All-Star Game about possibly joining the Phillies.

"He asked about how I liked it here (in Philly)," Halladay said. "For me, it has been everything that I thought it would be. I think he's going to be excited to come here and play. We talked about some of the players we had with Chase Utley, and the guys he has tried to model himself after. I think he's going to be a real good fit."

Keppinger can start playing baseball again

Hey-O! Jeff Keppinger has been cleared to resume baseball activities. This means he can now adjust his jock and chew sunflower seeds immediately.
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Chris Johnson isn't letting his (now-).336 average get to him:
"I try not to look at stats. I know I'm hitting and that kind of stuff, but I don't look at what I've been doing lately, because then I start thinking about that, and when you start doing that you end up going the wrong way. I'm aware I've been hitting pretty good."
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Turns out that Roy Halladay is a pretty good guy, after giving former Phillie Nelson Figueroa a $4,000 watch for being on the team when he threw his perfect game. The newly-blinged out Figueroa:
"It was sitting in my locker when I got in from batting practice. It showed an unbelievable amount of class to even think about your teammates that way. Not only to give it to the team, but all the personnel he came in contact with just this year, and he included them. He left no one out. No one was more important than the other person, and you just tip your cap to somebody like that in that kind of situation and what it means to him personally. I have all the respect in the world for Roy Halladay, even without the watch."

But the watch helps.

The Bleacher Report asks a simple question, and gets a simple answer

Is It Too Early To Give Roy Halladay The NL Cy Young?

Yes.

A note on Halladay leads to a note on Oswalt

Of course Jayson Stark is writing about Roy Halladay. But we do get a little love for Oswalt.

In a little statistical analysis on the record of the Blue Jays when Halladay pitched, as opposed to the other four guys, there's a startling stat:
When Halladay has started a game since 2002, the Blue Jays have gone 149-89. That's a .654 winning percentage. In other words, when he's had the ball, they've played like a 106-win team...

...-- but 71 games under .500 when any other Blue Jay pitched. When anyone else started, they went 493-564. That's a .466 winning percentage.

He calls it the "Roy Halladay Effect." And Roy-O comes close to it.

When Oswalt has pitched in the same span of time, the Astros were 151-96 for a .611 win%, but 516-532 (.492) when he didn't. That's a difference of .119 points. Only Johan Santana (.134) and Halladay (.188) have a better differential.

Our friends in Canada must not know too much about the Astros

An article in The Star, within a piece on Marco Scutaro signing with Boston, close with where Roy Halladay might be headed:

Toronto's focus going into next week's baseball winter meetings now moves squarely onto pitcher Roy Halladay. The Toronto ace has imposed a deadline of this winter to get a trade done.

The Red Sox are also in the hunt for Halladay, along with the New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Angels and New York Mets. The Houston Astros, who hired Toronto pitching coach Brad Arnsberg in the off-season, might be a dark horse.

Ahahahhahahahahaha

Astros shoot down ridiculous Halladay rumor

Whereas the Canadian Richard Justice (captip to Citizen Kevin for the joke) speculated that the Astros would/could/should be interested in Roy Halladay, the London Free-Press' Bob Elliott shoots it down.

Speaking to "an Astros official":
The Astros? "We have the pitching coach (Brad Arnsberg), but we don't have the dough, don't have prospects."

Thank God. Sanity.

Writers can't get enough of the Astros' potential interest in pitchers

The Toronto Star's Richard Griffin says the Blue Jays need to trade Roy Halladay stat, and he lists ten teams who would be a good fit.

First, the criteria for these ten teams:
-See themselves as contenders.
-Showed previous interest in Halladay.
-Have the prospects to put together a package.
-Have the necessary financial resources to strike a long-term deal while they have him.
-Are no longer upset with the Jays' GM since he's new, young and enthusiastic.

Really? The Astros fit here? Griffin's logic:
The Astros hired Doc's pitching coach Brad Arnsberg and have more payroll than you think.

Hm.

Post-Dispatch on the Cardinals landing Halladay

Morning roundtable blog from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on the chances St. Louis gets Halladay:

Rick Hummel:
I don’t think the Cardinals have the prospects, notably young starting pitchers, to get Halladay.

Joe Strauss:
The odds of getting Halladay: 9-1. The odds of getting any starter: 3-2.

Bernie Miklasz:
The problem is offense. The Cardinals don’t have enough of it.

Gerry Fraley:
The Cardinals have no shot at Roy Halladay because their player-development system is more a collection of spare parts than impact players.

Jeff Gordon:
I can’t imagine the Cards have the young starting pitching, sans Wainwright, to make such a deal. Other teams will offer blue-chip starters capable of stepping in quickly.

Fernando Vina on the bandwagon...

Make room, make room: Fernando Vina has jumped on the Astros' 2nd-half, return-only bandwagon.

The Astros have an advantage over the other teams competing in that division; they have a prolific leadoff man. Michael Bourn, who came to Houston in the Brad Lidge trade, quickly is becoming one of the game's most enticing players. He has a .354 OBP and is leading the National League in stolen bases (35) and triples (8). His presence on the bases gives RBI men Miguel Tejada, Carlos Lee and Lance Berkman chances to put up big offensive numbers. We've seen guys such as Jose Reyes and Jimmy Rollins bring a jolt to teams; it's without question that Bourn can do the same for Houston.

But then he just gets stupid:
We've seen the Killer B's in Houston, but imagine if they had Killer Roys in the front of their rotation? If Drayton McLane and Ed Wade are looking for a boost, they need to involve themselves in the Roy Halladay sweepstakes. Having the righty Roys pitch on back-to-back days will guarantee you at least one win, if not two. Add in Rodriguez and Brian Moehler, and things are looking pretty good. Houston does have a history of trading for an ace at the deadline. Randy Johnson was brought in as a rental in 1998. Even if a team such as the Phillies lands Halladay, there is always a chance to get into talks with the Indians for Cliff Lee. If McLane is willing to take the chance on either guy, it certainly would be worth it.

And breaks it down as such:
Unless the Astros can make a trade, their chances for October are slim. They will continue to push along like they always do. Their middle-of-the-order hitters (Berkman, Lee, Tejada) are among the best in baseball. Then you add in veterans such as Ivan Rodriguez and Darin Erstad, and scrappy youngsters Hunter Pence and Bourn, and this team was bound to get hot any minute.

While I sincerely appreciate national publicity, to think of trading what few major-league ready prospects we have, and even prospects with an ETA of 2012-2013 for a rent-a-pitcher is asinine. Their chances for October may be slim, but they'll be even slimmer in the future if they trade for Halladay.

Previewing St Louis @ Houston with C70 at the Bat

Cardinals series time, and Astros County traded questions with C70 At The Bat on the upcoming series. I asked five questions, C70 asked five questions. Here are C70's, and I'll get the link to AC's answers later today.

Astros County: Seeing as how the Cubs just swept the Nationals, ESPN is anointing the Cubs as being "back." Of course. What is it going to take for the Cardinals to hold off the Cubs/Brewers/Astros for the division?
C70 at the Bat: I do worry about the Cubs somewhat, if only because as a Cardinal fan, you hate to lose to them. I'd much rather see them closer to Pittsburgh than St. Louis. That said, with Ryan Ludwick starting to find his bat, the Cards are in better shape than they were earlier in the year. Getting a boost out of Troy Glaus or Khalil Greene, both at AA right at the moment on rehab assignments, would help a lot as well. The Cards also need a better fifth starter, as Todd Wellemeyer has been erratic, but mainly bad.

AC: The Cardinals have been linked to Roy Halladay, where the word was "give Toronto the minor-league rosters and let them circle five names." How does the Cards' fan base view trading away five prospects for Halladay?
C70: It's an interesting question. Many people don't necessarily want to see a farm system that right now is just starting to come into its own to be ravished for Halladay, but it seems to me that a lot of people, and I'd lump myself into this group, are willing to give up Brett Wallace (the top prospect in the system) and 2-3 others for an ace pitcher that would be under control for a year and a half. The Cardinal farm system has gotten to where a deal like this would hurt, but wouldn't destroy it. All that said, I'd be surprised if it happened or if Halladay was traded at all.

AC: The Astros have a reputation as being a second-half team. Does that concern Cardinals fans?
C70: The focus has been so much on the Brewers and Cubs this year (added to the fact that the Cards haven't seen the Astros since, what, April?) that I think Houston is a little bit under the Cardinals radar. The longer they hang around, though, the more nervous Redbird fans will probably be.

AC: What has been the most surprising aspect of 2009 for Cardinals fans?
C70: Interesting question. There are a number of them. Skip Schumaker has played a tolerable second base, or at least at a better level than many expected. Colby Rasmus has started to blossom, though that really wasn't a surprise. On the downside, Rick Ankiel and, until recently, Ryan Ludwick were nowhere close to their 2008 forms. I guess probably the biggest surprise is that the Cards are still in first, even with the offensive struggles of the first half.

AC: When is Mozeliak going to stop screwing around and just give Pujols his $300 million?
C70: It's not completely on Mozeliak. While there is some caution in the front office, trying to get a read on what they should pay Pujols, a lot of the hesitation is coming from his side. The feeling is he wants to see if this is going to be a contending team for the future and that management isn't going to gut the team to pay him. I think that's one of the biggest reasons they are seriously considering Halladay. I feel like AP will eventually sign with the Cards at less than people think he would be worth, but it may be as late as November 2010.

Buster Olney: Halladay for Dummies

You've probably heard by now that the Blue Jays seem to be pretty serious about trading Roy Halladay, and the price is going to be high. They will probably trade him, if not out of the AL entirely, most likely out of the AL East - which is good for them, bad for us. How might the NL Central get Roy Halladay? Buster Olney breaks it down.

The Cardinals about Halladay, and a club official told Joe Strauss what he perceives the price tag to be: "Asked about the price tag for Halladay, a club source said: "Give Ricciardi all our minor-league rosters and let him circle any 5 names."

And the Brewers are interested in continuing their recent trend of trading away top prospects for a few months of help (though, to be fair, Halladay is signed through 2010).