Thursday Morning Hot Links

*The Astros had until Wednesday evening to add Rule 5 Draft-eligible players to the 40-Man Roster, or risk losing them at the end of the Winter Meetings next month. The Astros added four players:

Cristian Javier. Javier is a badass. I love Cristian Javier. Across three levels in 2019 (Fayetteville-Corpus-Round Rock) Javier threw 113.2IP, 51H/22ER, 170K:59BB, 1.74 ERA / 0.97 WHIP. 2020 is his Age 23 season. Do not let Cristian Javier go.

Enoli Paredes split time between Fayetteville and Corpus almost equally. In 94IP in 2019 he allowed 50H/29ER, 128K:42BB, a 2.87 ERA / 0.98 WHIP. He recently turned 24.

Nivaldo Rodriguez will be 23 in April 2020. He threw 105IP in 2019 - 74.0 of them at High-A Fayetteville. Over the year he allowed 69H/28ER, 114K:35BB for a 2.40 ERA / 0.99 WHIP.

Taylor Jones was the Astros' 19th Round pick in the 2016 draft. He's 6'7" 225lbs. He has seven inches on me, and I have about five pounds on him. Jones hit .291/.388/.501 in 125 games for Round Rock, with 28 doubles and 22 home runs.

The Astros 40-Man Roster stands at 38 Men.

Some notable players that could actually get selected by another team: Ronnie Dawson, Nick Tanielu, Drew Ferguson, Brandon Bailey, Jonathan Arauz, and Carlos Sanabria.

If Jonathan Arauz gets selected by another team it would close the book on the Mark Appel-Ken Giles trade with the Phillies. The Astros got Giles and Arauz from Philadelphia in July 2018. The Astros are betting that 29 other teams aren't tanking so hard that they'll take a 21-year old infielder who recorded a .707 OPS when he's between 2-4 years younger than his competition.

*The Mets, Rangers, Reds, and Astros are the early teams to show interest in Free Agent Robinson Chirinos. The Astros are about to pay reigning Cy Young winner Justin Verlander $66m in the next two seasons. Chirinos caught every one of his innings in 2019, the year Justin Verlander won the Cy Young. This isn't difficult.

*Here's a really cool story in the Chronicle about Jackson Ryan, grandson of Nolan and son of Reed, and his battle with cerebral palsy.

*The Owners Meetings are in Arlington, and the hotel has hired local law enforcement as security. You can read about Chandler Rome's 14-second interaction with Jim Crane. Asked to comment by a group of reporters, Crane responded:
If you want to talk about baseball, I'll talk about baseball. What else do you want to talk about?

Then the cops came. Any reporter who enters the hotel is approached by off-duty cops, and if they stay they're apparently required to buy a room for the night.

Let's keep in mind that it would be the height of foolishness to answer any questions while MLB's investigation is taking place. Rob Manfred, on the owners' concerns:
It's hard to characterize 30 (owners), one obviously in a very different category. The other 29 share my concern. People want the game played consistent with our rules and feel it's important that we figure out exactly what happened here and take steps to make sure it doesn't happen in the future by imposing appropriate discipline.

Yeah, Manfred is just going to let the Astros take the fall for this one, and let Houston's punishment serve as a warning to the other teams a la the Barves and the International Free Agent spending. Also, the owners want to make sure that if anyone's getting screwed, it's them doing the screwing, be they free agents, or minor-leaguers, or teenagers from the Dominican. Crane, and the Astros, are about to get screwed.

FanGraphs' Craig Edwards: What the Astros might deserve. This is a really good look at how Manfred has treated the Red Sox, Braves, and Cardinals in a variety of scandals in the last few years.

*A fan who took a picture with LMJ, then lost 100 pounds, asked for a re-do.

*SI: Why Gerrit Cole is worth $200m, which is probably at least $50-80m too low.

*Beyond the Box Score: On Mindy McCready, and why PEDs are not the reason Roger Clemens belongs outside the Hall of Fame.

*The Athletic: "Play better and get the hell out of here" - a weekend with the Sugar Land Skeeters.

*The Rabbit Ball: The Story of the Original Juiced Ball Controversy.

*Before the 2014 season Jacoby Ellsbury signed a 7yr/$153m deal with the Yankees that, with a team option, could stretch through the 2021 season. He played in 520 regular season games in six seasons. His last game was October 17, 2017, and the Yankees released him on Wednesday. They have paid him $42,285,714 since his last game, and will pay him $26,142,857 to not have to worry about him any more.

*The Ringer: 12 Hours of Watching Disney+.

*Uproxx: 'National Treasure' is 15 years old and remains the only good movie. I don't watch a lot of movies, but when Brian Grubb writes, I read.

*A Musical Selection:

Friday Morning Hot Links

Want to sound knowledgeable about the Astros in your office Water Closet?

*Czech out the new Astros Boxes podcast, deftly titled, "You're My Boy, McHugh!"

*Springer's grandparents were at the game last night. Before the game Springer said of them, "They'll probably be in their glory tonight," a phrase of which I have never before heard.

*Within that link we also find that Matt Albers hasn't pitched because his right shoulder is stiff, and may end up on the DL, and Scott Feldman played catch yesterday for the first time since landing on the DL.

*Mike Foltynewicz is working on the command of his curve and changeup. On his slow start to the season: I have no idea why, but my entire professional career the first two or three outings aren't very pretty. I'll pitch well in the spring, but those first few have always been a little bit of a struggle.

*Check out this video from MLB.com of Jerome Williams playing catch with a young Mariners fan.

*District Judge Keith Elkins is encouraging Galveston PD and Brandon Backe to come to a settlement as risk of a hung jury increases.

*The Sugar Land Skeeters will be able to stream home games through ESPN3. How's that for a slap in the face?

*Reid Ryan's niece is playing softball for Rutgers.

Clemens to pitch for Sugar Land

Word is all over Twitter that Roger Clemens has joined the Sugar Land Skeeters, and will pitch on Saturday night, with the Astros in New York to play the Mets.

So the question is: Will Sugar Land outdraw an Astros game? Keep in mind, the Astros have only enjoyed eight games with over 30,000 in attendance: Opening Day, all three Rangers games, inter-league games against the Royals (?) (!) and Indians, and games against the Pirates and Dodgers. They've had seven games with attendance under 15,000.

So what do you say? How many 2012 Astros home games will the Skeeters game outdraw?

The Skeeters had themselves a good time, and that might not be good news for the Astros

So the Sugar Land Sugar Kings Skeeters made their debut last night and, except for the numbers on the scoreboard, things went swimmingly. So swimmingly, in fact, that the Astros might not like it.

How about listening to Sugar Land's Andy Powell:
“It gives us local community camaraderie. It beats driving to the Astros games. I gave up Astros season tickets for season tickets (to the Skeeters). It’s a lot closer, and it seems like it’s going to be more family and fan friendly.”

Or Haley Graves:
“It’s good for Sugar Land. It brings people together, and it’s cheaper than the major leagues.”“It’s closer to home. It’s more affordable, and I like supporting small town (teams). The pros have just become (too) big business. I can relate to (this) more.”

Or Richard Fields:
"I could be a baseball fan," Fields said. "I can't afford major league baseball. I can afford to go to this."

Or Mrs. Frelich:
"I like it better than the major leagues. It's not as standard and formal as the major leagues. And the players are really nice. They don't have the egos yet."

Or Sandy Jones:
"This is like our hometown team, something we can root for here in our area of town and not have to go downtown all the time."

Or Debbie Page:
"Forever we have Astros season tickets, too, but we were really looking forward to having someplace close where we can let the kids come by themselves and live the dream,"

Sure, everyone's going to be jacked up for opening night. There is a Kroger about 10 minutes from my house. And I went to that Kroger all the time. Then they opened up a brand spanking new Publix eight minutes away (that I don't actually think anyone else knows about - nobody's in there. Ever; and for a fairly anti-social guy, that's important to me). I still go to the Kroger sometimes, but I split it with the Publix. I have a feeling a lot of residents of Fort Bend County are going to feel the same way about the Astros/Skeeters. It could have been an Astros affiliate, breeding familiarity and buy-in with fans to the Major League team, but nooo...Drayton didn't want the competition. And, for now, that's exactly what the Astros have.

The Skeeters may just be the first step in Atlantic League domination of the Houston area

So the Sugar Land Skeeters (I still think they missed a golden opportunity by not calling them the Sugar Kings. Skeeters? Give me a break.) open their inaugural season, with some former PreStros on the bench, and Gary Gaetti at the helm.

Drayton rejected the idea of the Skeeters coming in as an affiliate, saying that having a team so close to the Astros would hurt his attendance. So the Atlantic League came calling. And in the York Dispatch, we find that the Atlantic League may not be done with the Houston area. Opening Day Partners Chairman Peter Kirk says plans are for an eight-team Eastern and an eight-team Western Division, and that already there are "a couple" of communities in Houston inquiring about adding an Atlantic League team.

Manager Gary Gaetti:
"The Houston area is certainly big enough to handle two (pro) teams, possibly three. It's such a big baseball town. I'm not expecting any problems in terms of competition."

So, we'll see what happens, but Drayton could have prevented this from even being an issue. If it will be one, at all.

Sugar Land looking at former Astros for their manager

The Skeeters have acknowledged they're looking at Dickie Thon, Terry Puhl, and Gary Gaetti as their first manager.

If Sugar Land's Indie team does well, you may be able to watch organized baseball all over Houston

Richard Justice checked in with the Sugar Land Skeeters, and if people are tired of the Astros and go check out what's happening in Sugar Land, then Indpendent League baseball may be all over Harris County:

If the Skeeters are a success, there likely will be more teams added within two or three years. Baytown has been mentioned for a franchise. So have The Woodlands, Conroe and Waco.

And if you were hoping that Sugar Land would be a minor-league stop for the Astros, you can thank Drayton for not allowing that to happen:
Astros owner Drayton McLane rejected the idea, saying a team so close to Minute Maid Park would hurt his attendance.

McLane was firm in his opposition even though the Texas Rangers, Atlanta Braves and Baltimore Orioles have farm teams a short drive from their ballparks.

Since McLane has veto power over any team affiliated with the 30 major league clubs, Sugar Land was forced to go for an independent league franchise.

This is tremendously short-sighted. It takes 48 minutes to drive from the Ballpark in Arlington to Frisco, TX. It's 46 minutes from Turner Field to Gwinnett, GA - home of the Braves' Triple-A affiliate. It's 39 minutes from Camden Yards to Bowie, MD - home of the Orioles' Double-A affiliate - and 44 minutes to Aberdeen, MD, where the Orioles have their NYPL short-season team.

Hurt attendance? If your favorite prospect was playing 45 minutes down the road, and climbed the ladder to Minute Maid, wouldn't you check out the guys you're invested in? Chalk it up, Drayton. Another fantastic idea.

Sugar Land adopts the worst possible name for their Independent team

You've got to be kidding me. SB Houston got the link first, and the Sugar Land team is called...The Skeeters. Not kidding.

My interest in this team just fell by 400%. Read SBN's post for some sexual hilarity.

Want to see the new Sugar Land ballpark?

Here are some sweet artist renderings of the new Sugar Land stadium.


(Huge captip to Ballpark Digest for the image)

Do you live near Hwy 90 and Hwy 6?

Then you will barely know there's a baseball team there!

Preliminary results of a noise and traffic survey show that building a minor league baseball stadium at the northeast corner of U.S. 90A and Texas 6 will have minimal impact on surrounding neighborhoods.

The city hired consultants to measure issues like noise, safety and traffic after selecting the site as their "preferred" location for the stadium, where Sugar Land's planned minor league team would play.

This is, of course, the proposed site of the new, independent team in Sugar Land

New Poll! Sugar Land team name

Sugar Land, Meet Your New Baseball Stadium

Hey, Sugar Land, want to see what your new stadium looks like?

Planners have yet to map out an exact location for the facility among three possible sites, but are leaning toward a tract leased from the University of Houston System at U.S. 59 and University Boulevard.

Brooks Robinson, a partner in the operating Opening Day Partners, said this about the impact on the Astros:
“We’re talking about a 7,000-seat stadium here. As far as having an impact on the Houston Astros, I don’t think it’s going to make a difference."

So what should the team be called? I vote for the "Sugar Land Killer Bees."

Let's get some chatter about the name, vote on it, and submit it as a proposal, all of us together.

Sugar Land gets Atlantic League team

(Captip to Zach Levine for the link)

So Sugar Land will be getting a baseball team, and they'll join the independent Atlantic League. They don't know what they'll be called, but as to where they'll play:

The city is assessing sites for the stadium. One site being considered is at U.S. 59 and University Boulevard where the city leases land from the University of Houston System at Sugar Land.

This "Round Rock Rangers" thing is starting to look more inevitable

Zach Levine's article today explains that the Astros are starting to look around for another Triple-A franchise, once Nolan Ryan aligns his teams.

Reid Ryan:
“All I can say is that we'll do what we do any time our contract's up. We evaluate the situation and what's best for our club and our fans. We've had great relationships with everyone working with (the Astros) and everyone who worked with them in the past.”

Ricky Bennett:
We'd love to be with them forever because of (the proximity to Houston). We're prepared to look at other alternatives in the event that we don't continue that relationship.”

Oklahoma City has often been named as the likeliest alternative, but one thing is for sure: it ain't going to be in Sugar Land.

There's an interesting report from the Chronicle saying that the city/suburb/village of Sugar Land has entered an exclusive 90-day negotiating window to bring a team in time for Opening Day 2012, playing in a stadium that would be of Triple-A size.

But there's a hitch. The Astros don't want anything to do with it. Sugar Land mayor James Thompson:
“They informed me that they did not want to be a part of it."

And since it's so close to Minute Maid Park, the Astros can also block other teams from putting an affiliate there. Opening Day Partners chairman Peter Kirk says the likeliest affiliation will be in the Atlantic League or the American Association. Both have their benefits, but Kirk says there's only one goal:

“We want to develop baseball fans. We want people to go see the Sugar Land team and then go see the Astros and vice versa.”

What Drayton and Pam Gardner don't want is a cheaper option for your baseball viewing pleasure.