SB Nation User Blog: lnewcomer

Brocail back to Houston to have shoulder examined

lnewcomer — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 05:53:18 -0000

Brocail back to Houston to have shoulder examined

In the linked article Footer reports that Brocail notified the team he was feeling discomfort similar to the tendinitis he reported back in Spring Training. Said he had trouble locating his pitches as a result during the game tonight.

""I had tendinitis in Spring Training, and the tendinitis went away and I thought it was all done and over with," Brocail said. "All of a sudden, it's back. Anytime I have to throw out of the windup to try to get on top of the ball, I'm in trouble. I'm a strike-thrower, and I couldn't find a release point to save my life."

Astros.com

Rockies send Jason Hirsh back to minors to start the season

lnewcomer — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 00:59:25 -0000

Rockies send Jason Hirsh back to minors to start the season

Astros Media Information

lnewcomer — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 21:55:20 -0000

I don't know if this is a new feature or not, but I was alerted to it from a blog post on the MLBlogs network. The teams provide a link to the media information provided by teams on gameday. The info opens in a viewer on the web page and if you click the Print icon a PDF opens in a new window.

The info provided is fairly trivial and available from various places, but there's info on upcoming starters for games, TV & radio broadcasts and other tidbits. Unfortunately there doesn't appear to be a RSS feed for it.

You can click on the Gameday Press Pass to see links to all MLB teams.

Astros Media Information

CHONE 2009 Standings Predictions

lnewcomer — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 21:41:40 -0000

CHONE 2009 Standings Predictions

CHONE has the Astros at 72 wins. Break out the champagne!

Wigginton to Orioles - On Hold

lnewcomer — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 19:29:52 -0000

Wigginton to Orioles - On Hold

Deal was expected to be finalized in the last couple of days, but there may be something in the physical the Orioles want to take another look at.

Tejada Charged - May have plea deal

lnewcomer — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 19:27:03 -0000

Link to Yahoo story

Charged for lying to Congress over steroids. Indications that there may be a plea deal arranged.

WASHINGTON (AP)—All-Star shortstop Miguel Tejada has been charged with lying to Congress about steroids. Tejada is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday where he is expected to plead guilty.

The charges against Tejada, who currently plays for the Houston Astros, were outlined in documents filed in Washington federal court on Tuesday.

The documents indicate that a plea agreement has been reached with Tejada.

Messages left for his attorney, Mark Tuohey, were not immediately returned.

The documents were filed a day after superstar Alex Rodriguez admitted to past use of performance enhancing drugs.

Ken Davidoff of Newsday on the Lidge trade

lnewcomer — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 22:38:34 -0000

Link

I dug into a story I wrote from last year's general meetings concerning the trade of Brad Lidge to the Phillies. You want to talk about luck playing a factor in a baseball season? Take this: The Phillies had a unique advantage in the Lidge sweepstakes, because the Astros' new GM, Ed Wade, ran the Phillies from 1998 through 2005. He knew outfielder Michael Bourn, and he valued him much more than anyone else did. Bourn OPSed a horrendous .588 for the Astros this past year.

The Mets were interested in Lidge at the time, as a setup man for Lidge's Astros buddy Billy Wagner, but Wade wanted a package headed by either Carlos Gomez or Fernando Martinez. The Mets couldn't do that, because they very likely knew at that point that Gomez would be needed to acquire Johan Santana, and they weren't going to give up Martinez for someone they perceived as a setup man; they wouldn't even trade Martinez for Santana. Even Gomez, somewhat of a disappointment for the Twins, OPSed .656.

So the Phillies received a circumstantial discount, influenced by something entirely out of their control: Astros owner Drayton McLane's decision to hire Wade.

Brocail a Type A

lnewcomer — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 17:08:02 -0000

Projected at least, by the same guy as before.

I haven't looked up his contract status. The web site linked has him a free agent with an option (don't know if it's a team or player option).

I'm not sure if the Astros would let Brocail go as a FA. If the rumors are true that we turned down a trade for him at the deadline and even after, and given our rush to the finish, Ed Wade probably thinks we're close.

Projected Elias Rankings

lnewcomer — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 19:54:46 -0000

This blog has spent some time reverse-engineering the Elias rankings, Detroit Tigers Thoughts. Based on his formula, Mark Loretta and Randy Wolf would qualify as Type B free agents, entitling the Astros to one extra compensation round draft pick if they are offered arbitration and sign elsewhere. Loretta was a type B free agent last year. (This is from memory, correct me if I'm wrong.)

I think that's the sum total of Astros possible free agents who would qualify for compensation.

Kyle Lohse somehow qualifies for type A status under these rankings, which means the Cardinals will get two picks for him if he leaves. Hopefully they'll sign him to a bad contract.

Ryan Dempster is a name I've heard thrown around as a possible Astros target, but I can't find his name on the list. Not sure if that's the result of an oversight, or what.

Rumors: Astros "Available"?

lnewcomer — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 08:20:30 -0000

One, tossed off sentence in the latest column from Tracy Ringolsby of the Rocky Mountain News,

Mark Cuban's bid to buy the Cubs reportedly is $1.3 billion. Other franchises that are speculated to be available at the right price are St. Louis, Houston and Seattle.

I'm not very familiar with Ringolsby, but I think he's viewed as a credible reporter. My thought is that while it's probably not likely that the Astros are being shopped, McLane is probably willing to listen. Notice Ringolsby just says there's speculation that they may be available.

Drayton McLane's wikipedia page lists his age at 72 this year. He bought the team in 1992 for $115 million (NY Times article) and if I remember the last Forbes valuations correctly, the team could probably be sold for about four times that amount now. I'm not sure that I've ever read anything that talked about his family's involvement with the management of the team, so I don't know if there is an interest in continuing his ownership on a long-term basis. I wonder how the fact that the team will almost certainly finish this year having missed the playoffs for 3 years in a row will affect McLane?

My natural assumption is that the group that owns the Round Rock and Corpus Christi minor league franchises might be interested if there is a change to be made. I'm not sure how Nolan Ryan's current involvement with the Rangers might affect that possibility. If that's not practicable, there are plenty of wealthy folks out there who'd love to own a team. Maybe if Cuban gets rebuffed by the Cubs, he might look down the road to Houston?

Anyway, it's fun to speculate about baseless rumors. What else is the internet good for?