Friday Morning Hot Links

Alright, there's life in this off-season yet. Again: I'm perfectly fine with a boring off-season. 

*The Astros, unsurprisingly, tendered contracts to Carlos MF Correa, Lance McCullers, and Aledmys Diaz, and agreed to terms on a 1-year deal with Austin Pruitt. Correa and McCullers will be free agents after 2021 if they don't sign an extension. Fun, huh?

*Chandler Rome: Five non-tendered players the Astros could consider this off-season.

*Jeremy Pena - the Astros' 3rd-Round pick in 2018 - is one of the best-hitting prospects in the Dominican Winter League.

*Here's one of the dumbest things you'll read today: if the Yankees can't sign DJ LeMahieu (French for "DJ The Mahieu") then their Plan B is...Michael Brantley.

*Former Astros Great Thomas Eshelman has cleared waivers and is now a free agent.

*FanGraphs has an updated international prospect list. 

*The Staten Island Yankees have filed a lawsuit against the New York Yankees and Major League Baseball, setting the stage for a battle between 60% of the Five Boroughs, something that Don Winslow warned is a Really Not Good Idea.

*Another Michael Bourn Identity episode records today and drops on Monday. Subscribe to Lima Time Time on iTunes/Spotify/Wherever so you don't miss interviews with my friends. 

*Why we forget how early it gets dark every year. 

*Texas Monthly: How a Black cowboy's discovery changed the field of archaeology.

*A Musical Selection:

Thursday Morning Hot Links

*The Masked Marvel has an opinion post, now that we know Thomas Eshelman is the 4th player headed to Philly.

*In the Giles trade piece, Evan Drellich speculates that clubhouse politics could come into the discussion on whether or not Giles takes over as closer for Luke Gregerson. To which your initial response might be "Blogga, please!" But Gregerson does have bonuses worked into his contract based on the number of games he finishes - like, an extra $1m if he finishes 57 games, bonuses.

*Jesse Spector writes about why Giles should be the set-up man for Luke Gregerson.

*FanGraphs: Ken Giles: Underrated Relief Ace

*The Astros have talked to the Indians about SP Carlos Carrasco, and other teams have checked in on the availability of Carlos Gomez and George Springer. Are they on the block?
Luhnow:
It's a tricky question to answer. Because if you have good players, other clubs are going to ask you about them and any time you get an inbound inquiry on any player, you're going to at least look at it and talk about it with your group.

*The Astros have some interest in free agent pitcher Yovani Gallardo. I would be interested in him giving up all the Rangers' secrets. Like, what sex stuff do they do in their clubhouse? How hard does Cole Hamels like to get whipped after losses? You can't put a price on that information.

*The Astros are still looking for some bullpen help, too (and they are still interested in Tony Sipp). Remember they lost Qualls and - currently - Sipp. Which, say what you want about both, but between the two they threw 103.2IP last year, and the Astros will need to make up those innings. The

*Evan Drellich wonders if the Astros would have interest in Washington's Ian Desmond.

*The Astros had concerns about Aroldis Chapman even before the domestic violence report dropped.

*Watch Lance McCullers do a 61.5" box jump.

Tuesday Morning Hot Links

So the Astros lost because Chris Sale was Chris Sale and the Astros offense was the Astros offense, of late. Jonathan Villar has ping-pong paddles for hands and Avisail Garcia banged an oppo two-run homer. What can you do? Still, the Astros' postseason odds (according to FanGraphs) actually went up. In addition, the Astros' 6.1% chance of winning the World Series is the 2nd-highest in the AL and 5th-highest in baseball.

*Chris Sale became the first pitcher in MLB history to strike out 12+ batters in three consecutive starts since Pedro did it in 2001.

*Matty D to Matty DFA: Matt Dominguez was DFA'd to make room on the 40-Man for Correa.

Let's get to the hot links...

*Mike Elias reflected on the 2012 draft.

*Beyond the Box Score looks at the additions of Correa and Velasquez.

*Alex Bregman just wants to help the team win, in this New Orleans Advocate profile.

*Kyle Tucker, seven years younger than Preston, would really like to play on the same team as his brother.

*By picking Bregman, Tucker, Cameron and Eshelman, Yahoo declares the Astros the winners of the first day of the draft:
If things pencil out in the best way, this should be enough for Houston to forget its 2014 draft debacle...what the Astros pulled off on Day 1 of the draft was quite impressive and it could leave them in a good place for years to come.

*Jon Heyman:
Cameron might be the coup here, and it was made possible by the Astros' $17.29 million draft allotment. It isn't certain what Cameron will receive, but the Astros figure to have the financial firepower to get it done.

*Phil Rogers: Monday night was just the start of something big for the Astros

*Altuve didn't know who was more excited about Correa's debut: Altuve or Correa.

*Cleveland's director of scouting, Brad Grant, did not talk to the Astros in advance of selecting Brady Aiken with the 17th overall pick.

*Roy Oswalt is now an agent, and still has the tractor.