Monday Morning Hot Links

*Random 2017 Astros fact:

There are currently 38 players on the Astros' 40-Man Roster. The deadline to set the 40-Man roster for Rule 5 purposes is at 7pm Central today.

*FanGraphs: Houston ranks 8th in total guaranteed contracts owed for 2018 and taking on Verlander's contract as well as increases in arbitration for some key players (Keuchel, Springer, McCullers) will mean - obviously - that their payroll will increase.

*Here's Bill James on Aaron Judge, Jose Altuve, Win Shares, WAR, and luck. And here's the follow-up.

*It took me a while, but I wrote about what CoolStandings told us about the 2017 Astros season.

*Joe Musgrove asked for fans' World Series tattoos.

*If you're planning on getting in line for Altuve's autograph at the Academy in Katy (I-10 and Grand Parkway) today...you're about eight hours too late.

*From the NCAA, who took time out of their busy schedule of screwing athletes, Evan Gattis' road to the World Series went through UT-Permian Basin.

*Lance McCullers and Alex Bregman were at Minute Maid Park yesterday for the Shriners Game.

*Here's Justin Verlander standing next to a pre-makeup extra on The Walking Dead:

Wow!!! So badass watching @eminem kill it last night at @nbcsnl #detroit #legend #walkonwater #stan #lovethewayyoulie https://t.co/ii7Ywb4OYN pic.twitter.com/dpWqU6duEq

— Justin Verlander (@JustinVerlander) November 19, 2017

*Leeds United beat Boro 2-1.

*Christian Pulisic: Hope of a nation

Sunday Morning Hot Links

Note: A weird bout of insomnia has this up super-early. It's possible I'll update these as new relevant stories get posted later today.

*James Hoyt gave up a go-ahead three-run homer in the 6th, and the Astros lost 4-2. They're trash again and we're dumb for believing in them. Sad!

Hoyt, on the pitch to Russell Martin:
I felt like that was the right pitch to throw, and I was confident in the pitch. It was maybe a little up, but the slider is what I wanted to go to there and he gets me. I'd like to think next time I get him there, or it goes my way.

Hinch, on Hoyt:
He made one bad pitch today and it cost us three runs.

*McHugh, to Hoyt:
You could throw that pitch to Martin another 10 times and he might hit it like that once. You can't really beat yourself up about it. You can't go away from the game plan. You make your pitch and you've got to live with the results. 

*The Tigers beat the Rangers, the Mariners beat the A's. The Astros remain 7.5 GB of Oak Cliff (1.0 GB of Seattle). The Astros are 4.5 GB of Baltimore for WC1 and 3.0 GB of Boston for WC2, with Detroit and Seattle between them.

*A.J. Reed ran into a Toronto cop.

*Teoscar Hernandez talked about how he turned his swing around this past off-season.

*Fresno lost to Iowa 9-5, but Jon Kemmer hit a 2-run homer and a 2-run triple. He's hitting .360 in his last 25 games.

*Fresno and the Astros have extended their PDC through the 2018 season.

*After two months of arm soreness and a team-implemented suspension, David Paulino is set to rejoin Corpus Christi.

*The official scorer changed a 3rd-inning error into a double to extend Francisco Mejia's hitting streak to 50 games.

*Louisiana is in trouble, y'all.

Before you go: This person got a Chris Devenski tattoo:

This is the biggest Chris Devenski fan in the world! pic.twitter.com/pLcqEERzKk

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) August 13, 2016

Do you have an Astros tattoo?

From Citizen Chris:


















From Twitter follower Yourescum:




















Do you permanently (or perhaps temporarily, with a pen) rock the Astros (but aren't in a Houston-based gang)? Send us a pic at astroscounty (at) gmail.com