Honestly, people will still put an asterisk on the championship due to the shortened season. I will gladly take it though
I'd like Whitley get his head out of his ass. First he shows incredibly poor judgment by gladly swallowing drugs provided by his friend because he was tired but insisted on driving. Then he pouts about his poor start and loses his cool in multiple starts. Then he starts to pitch better but decides to completely revamp his delivery and is absolutely lit up. Then he decides to change the grip on some of his pitches. He and Frances Martes need to grow the hell up.
Oh great... I haven't kept up with Whitley but all I kept hearing was how great he was going to be for us. That's disappointing to hear.
Hopefully strommy gave him a bit of a wake up call for calling him out for not being in shape at spring training 1.0. He’s had several weeks to get right and has a huge opportunity with expanded rosters. No excuses. We could really use him and in a shortened season like this we could really use he and josh James power arms down the “stretch”
Not sure how the Astros are going to setup their roster. You get 30 players for the first 2 weeks. Then 28 for 2 more weeks, and then down to the new normal at 26. Below are 28 players that I think will be on the opening day roster barring injury. That leaves you with 2 spots to start the season. I would be surprised if Whitley gets in the conversation to begin the season over guys like Javier, Sneed, Taylor, Mayfield, Stubbs, Armenteros, Bielak, Perez, etc. It would be nice though if he is able to put it together and throw gas out of the pen in the playoffs. Verlander Greinke McCullers Urquidy James Osuna Pressly Smith Devenski Abreu Biagini Peacock Pruitt Valdez Springer Brantley Altuve Bregman Alvarez Correa Gurriel Reddick Maldonado Straw Tucker Toro Garneau Diaz
Spoiler Since the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal erupted, the team has largely responded in brief public comments and court filings. On Thursday, the team, through its outside counsel, presented its case for nearly an hour in a Zoom court hearing held to decide whether a Texas state judge should throw out a class-action lawsuit brought by season-ticket holders. The court will decide if season-ticket holders have the right to sue over malfeasance on the field, and the team marketing that persuaded the fans to purchase the season tickets. The Astros lawyer argued that fans have no right to sue under a Texas law that forbids false advertising because baseball is neither a product nor a service. The ticket holders contend that the Astros marketing implied the wins were earned fair and square, and therefore the Astros were deceptive in how they sold the season passes. But the Astros on Thursday argued the team is essentially immune from the law, the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Consumer Protection Act, because the club isn’t like other goods and services. “The baseball team isn’t a product,” said Reagan Simpson, partner at Yetter Coleman LLP. “The baseball team doesn’t provide a service to fans. They play the ball, they play the game for Major League Baseball and for their owners, but it’s not a service. “They (the ticket holders) have absolutely no case, cited anywhere, Texas or otherwise, in American jurisprudence that says fans can sue for misrepresentations about how the game is played,” he added. The notion that baseball, or any sport, isn’t marketed and branded like other commercial goods, and that teams play only for MLB and owners — and not fans — is certainly debatable. Judge Robert Schaffer asked few questions but cautioned the lawyers for the ticket holders not to get too excited if he turned down the Astros’ request. “If I deny (the Astros’ motion to dismiss), I am not saying I am going to, I am not saying I am not, but if I deny this it is going to have absolutely no bearing on how I view a motion for summary judgment down the line,” Schaffer said. If Schaffer denies the motion, that would mean discovery could commence. The reason the Astros’ current motion is so severe is “because they are saying we don’t get to take one sworn deposition of the players, of the coaches, of the front office folks to see how high up it went and why it went that high,” said Robert Hilliard, who, along with Marion Reilly and the lead counsel Mitchell Toups, is presenting the ticket holders’ case. Toups criticized the Astros for citing in their briefs a 25-year-old case, Deprez v. Brewer, that he said allowed a business to discriminate against a customer. “It has to do with one individual whose civil rights were violated,” Toups said. “They threw him out because he was either Hispanic or some race that they didn’t like. And the court said, ‘Well, you know, until the civil rights law is better, that’s a private institution. They can do what they want.’ I can’t believe in this day and age with George Floyd and his death that they would even cite this case. It’s just absolutely insulting. “They got caught cheating and they said, ‘We’re sorry,’” Toups added. “It’s so what? ‘All you had was a right to come into the game. We took all your money, we raised the prices for five years, too bad.’ That’s not the law.” Historically, courts have turned away fan lawsuits, a point repeatedly made by the Astros’ lawyers, who argued that fans cannot sue because they are disappointed. “They contend that this is not about fan disappointment,” Simpson said. “This is about misrepresentation. But obviously, the misrepresentation they’re talking about has as its core aspect how the particular games were played by the Houston Astros and no court has ever recognized that as a cause of action.” The cases the Astros’ lawyers cited include a Jets fan suing over Spygate, New Orleans Saints fans suing over the botched 2019 NFC Championship Game calls and spectators at the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight (Pacquiao did not disclose an injury). All the cases were dismissed. The lawyers for the ticket holders said the difference is their clients are season-ticket holders, and the cheating occurred over a sustained period of time. “There is case law for season-ticket holders where they have significant or unique rights,” Toups said That’s not how the Astros’ lawyers see it, arguing a ticket only confers the right to watch a game and nothing more. “If they asked for Cracker Jacks and peanuts, for baseball jerseys or hats, they got those as well” as the seats, Simpson said. “That’s what they paid for. And that’s what they got.” Schaffer indicated he would need some time with the case and would not meet a June 29 deadline for a decision. But he recognized the attention his decision is likely to receive in Houston. “I read in the (Houston) Chronicle I had a hearing in this case,” he said of a previous session that was ultimately postponed. “Now, obviously, y’all didn’t come in. … But I thought that was kind of humorous. I had more than a couple of my friends, by the way, texted me to find out if they could come to that hearing on the 25th.”
Exactly. But since it's the Astros let's forget every other owner wants this too and just pile on the Astros
My current guess for the opening day 30 and 60 man rosters: 30 man: C: Maldonado, Garneau IF: Bregman, Correa, Altuve, Gurriel, Diaz, Toro OF: Springer, Brantley, Reddick, Alvarez, Tucker, Straw SP: Verlander, Greinke, McCullers, Urquidy, James, Pruitt, Peacock, Abreu, Framber, Sneed RP: Osuna, Pressly, Smith, Devenski, Biagini, Taylor 60 Man: C: Stubbs, Ritchie, Quintana IF: Jones, Mayfield, Tanielu, De Goti, Pena, Matijevic OF: Dawson, McCormick, Ferguson, De La Cruz P: Javier, Paredes, Armenteros, C Perez, Emanuel, N Rodriguez, Whitley, Bielak, Ivey, L Garcia, Bailey, R Ferrell, J Torres, Hartman, N Hernandez, Blanco, McKee I could see them putting some younger prospects on the 60 man instead of some of the fringey guys, like Korey Lee instead of Quintana and guys like Hunter Brown, Shawn Dubin, Jose Rivera, and Jairo Solis instead guys like Blanco and McKee.
I though about the 3rd catcher but I wonder if they want to keep him away as protection if one of the other catchers get sick. That's probably our worst position depth wise. Also, we need to see how Peacock and Armenteros are doing health wise. Armenteros had a bone spur removed from his elbow in Feb/March and it was estimated to be a 4 month recovery. peacock had that neck/shoulder problem so who knows with him.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/06/explaining-the-2020-mlb-roster-rules.html So it turns out the 60 man roster is completely separate from the 40 man roster. If I understand those rules, I suspect Houston and most other teams will have several empty spots on the 60 man in anticipation of trades. Will probably be some very interesting inclusions on those rosters when they’re released.
