for this year or going forward through all time? I like tequila sunrise , the present home bottom left . And surprisingly ... the brick red .. you guys can prolly guess my age from that . Tequila main road . Keep the home white . Wear the red for like 20 or so games a year. keep the fans wearing orange and go black for the brick red just to be wacky
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/te.../Astros-postpone-FanFest-Caravan-16752654.php Citing "an abundance of caution and our desire to deliver the best experience to our fans," the Astros postponed their annual FanFest and Caravan on Wednesday. Despite an ongoing lockout that prevents any players from entering a team facility, the Astros had scheduled FanFest for Jan. 22 at Minute Maid Park. In a December email to fans promoting the event, the Astros promised appearances from "your favorite coaches, alumni and broadcasters." It's unclear whether the Astros postponed the events because of the lockout, a spike in COVID-19 cases around the country or some combination of both. In another email sent to ticket holders on Wednesday night, the team said it "will look to host fans for FanFest at Minute Maid Park at a later date prior to the regular season."
https://theathletic.com/3052649/202...-signing-scenarios-for-when-baseball-returns/ 1. Carlos Correa, SS Age: 27 B: R T: R HT: 6-4 WT: 220 2021 WAR: 7.2 OPS+: 131 Salary: $11.7M Agent: Jon Rosen With Corey Seager signing with the Rangers for 10 years and $325 million, the market has been set for Correa to sign a contract in that range (at least). According to a report by ESPN, Correa turned down a 10-year, $275 million offer from the Tigers. But he might be willing to sign a shorter deal with a higher average annual value if it includes an opt-out after a couple of years. He’d love to return to the Astros if they can become more competitive with their offers. And, despite the denials, don’t be surprised if the Yankees swoop in at the last minute and land him. Correa delivered the best 2021 performance by far of any position player in this free-agent class. He tallied 21 defensive runs saved, showing range to both sides and one of the best shortstop arms in the business as he won his first Gold Glove. He slashed .279/.366/.485 with 34 doubles, 26 home runs and 92 RBIs. Best fits: Astros, Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs 17. Zack Greinke, RHP Age: 38 HT: 6-2 WT: 200 2021 WAR: 1.2 ERA: 4.16 Salary: $25M Agent: Excel Sports Management Greinke probably has another year or two left in his Hall of Fame career, but now it will be as a middle- or back-of-the-rotation starter who will outfox hitters to last five-plus innings. He went 11-6 last season with a 4.16 ERA in 29 starts and one relief appearance, and pitched four scoreless innings in Game 4 of the World Series. However, his 6.3 strikeouts per nine innings in the regular season were his worst since 2005, and his fastball velocity was the lowest of his career. A neck injury in September really set Greinke back, but he’s healthy now. Best fits: Braves, Cardinals, Brewers, Padres, Mets https://theathletic.com/3053461/202...fseason-move-biggest-need-before-opening-day/ Astros Best move your team made before the lockout and why: It was a risky one given his age (39 in February) and his consecutive missed seasons, but the Astros’ decision to re-up Justin Verlander for one year at $25 million with an option for another year at $25 million was their biggest potential impact move before the lockout. It could end up amounting to their biggest splash of the offseason altogether. It remains to be seen how his fall 2020 Tommy John surgery will impact his 2022 regular-season workload, but this was a move made with October in mind, and the last time Verlander pitched he won the AL Cy Young Award. Biggest remaining need and how they can fill it after the lockout ends: Correa’s free agency leaves the Astros with Jeremy Peña and Aledmys Díaz at shortstop, and Jake Meyers’ November shoulder surgery leaves them with Chas McCormick and Jose Siri in center field to begin the season. On paper, either spot could stand to be upgraded. But given the Astros’ aversion to long-term free-agent contracts and the fact that Meyers is expected back at some point in 2022, it wouldn’t be at all surprising if they entered the season with Peña and McCormick in their lineup and re-assessed at the trade deadline. Signing another leverage reliever in free agency is another avenue they could take toward improving their roster ahead of the season. — Jake Kaplan
Unless Story or Correa want to play for Houston for significantly less than their expected value, it would not surprise me at all if McCormick/Siri and Pena/Diaz were in the Astros opening day lineup, with the plan being to reassess at the deadline. Same goes for the pitching staff. Right now there are no real glaring holes in their pitching staff and it likely behooves the Astros to save their powder for the deadline rather than participate in what will likely be a frenzied trade/free agent market between the end of the lockout and opening day. Pena and McCormick would need to exceed their projections to be on par with the 7-8 hitters in past contending seasons, but not by much. I do think Conforto is an interesting target as a stopgap CF who can take over LF when Brantley becomes a free agent.
Do you think Yordan features into any LF plans, or do you think Click wants to pen him in for the majority of the DH reps for the foreseeable future?
I think he is a DH. He will probably get enough time in LF to keep him able to play the field when required (NL parks or when other guys get hurt or need rest), but I think the ~300 innings he played the field this season is probably a good estimate for future seasons.
After periodically and reluctantly checking the box scores/standings for the Texans and Rockets, my body is ready for the Stros to get this show on the road.
So we not gonna see how this plays out? Graveman was pretty hit or miss, so it's not like there is a high bar.
https://theathletic.com/3051688/202...y-shortstop-will-they-add-another-outfielder/ Do you get the sense the Astros are prepared to give Jeremy Peña a shot to win the starting shortstop job? If so, is his glove really as good as they say? Is his bat as much of a question mark as it seems? — Andrew G. I do get the sense that the Astros are prepared to give Peña a shot to win the job. If one was setting odds on the identity of their Opening Day shortstop in 2022, he would be the favorite. It’s somewhat reminiscent of last year, when the Astros didn’t acquire a center fielder despite George Springer’s free agency and turned the position over to an unproven Myles Straw. Straw already had some major-league experience at that point, and Peña does not. But it would be another example of the Astros trusting their player development pipeline and trying to make up a drop-off in value at an up-the-middle position through other areas of the roster. If the Astros do go into spring training with Peña as their presumed starter at short, I think they need to build more depth behind him as insurance. Aledmys Díaz is a good utility man, but he can’t be trusted to stay healthy. Aside from Alex Bregman, whom the Astros clearly prefer at third base, there’s no other shortstop on the 40-man roster. Hedging their bet on Peña by bringing in a depth shortstop with minor-league options would make sense. As for Peña’s skill set, I think he’s more of an all-around shortstop than he gets credit for. He was known for his glove coming out of the draft in 2018, and he’s a talented defender. But he’s also improved his offensive profile, especially with respect to his power, and I think his bat, while still a question, is less of a question than it was a year or two ago. Sometimes going unmentioned is that he’s a base-stealing threat, too. Being the guy to directly follow Carlos Correa would be a high-pressure spot for him to begin his career, but Peña has the tools to be a good major-league shortstop. Of the following, which do you think is the most likely scenario at shortstop? A.) A replacement is signed/traded for (if this, which player do you think it is?) B.) Díaz/Peña over the course of the season C.) Bregman shifted back to shortstop D.) Correa re-signed I listed those in the order of most likely to least likely as I see it and am curious what your thoughts are. — Zeke B. I think B is the most likely, though I view it more as Peña getting a chance to be the guy from Day 1 with Díaz beginning the season as his backup. I came into the offseason thinking it would be A, a signing of a free agent who could serve as a stopgap. But Peña is ready to get an opportunity and there’s probably little use in blocking him at this point unless it’s with a star. Do the shortstop moves that have been made and the fact that Correa remains unsigned help the Astros chances to re-sign him for a shorter but more valuable contract (on an average annual value basis) than the other shortstops who have signed? — Kyle P. I don’t believe so. One team took two of the top five free-agent shortstops off the board. If anything, that should help Correa’s market. I guess some people assumed he was going to sign with the Tigers simply because of A.J. Hinch and now that the Tigers signed Javier Báez that Correa’s market is perceived by some to be a lot worse? I don’t buy that at all. There are many teams who could stand to upgrade on the left side of their infield in a significant way. I think Correa is still going to get his mega-deal, it’s just a matter of where. Do you see the Astros going after any of the remaining high-dollar free agents once the lockout ends? I am assuming Correa will not return. — Charles G L. This answer depends somewhat on your definition of “high dollar,” but I would be surprised if the Astros played in the deep end of the pool with regard to the remaining marquee free agents. Their aversion to the long-term, mega-contracts is well documented, and that leaves the players who are willing to take short-term contracts (like Justin Verlander was) as the high-dollar free agents in their wheelhouse. I don’t see any of those still available at shortstop or center field. The wild card is if they take the plunge on a corner outfield bat like Kris Bryant, Nick Castellanos or Michael Conforto with the idea of moving Kyle Tucker from right field to center, but I think that’s unlikely. Perhaps someone whose market doesn’t materialize as expected falls into their lap (thus potentially making them not a high-dollar free agent?), but I think bringing back Verlander is probably going to go down as the Astros’ biggest move of the offseason. After missing on Starling Marte, do you feel the Astros will continue to look for another center field option with Jake Meyers likely out the first few months, or roll with Chas McCormick and Jose Siri? — Matthew S. It’s unclear exactly how long Meyers will be out, but I think rolling with McCormick and Siri at least until Meyers is ready is probably the likeliest avenue. The free-agent market for center fielders is barren and the Astros’ general approach to long-term contracts in free agency makes me think it’s unlikely they sign one of the marquee corner bats, which would require them playing Tucker out of position. A trade is always possible, of course, and those are even harder to predict. But they could do a lot worse than McCormick, who had a 107 OPS+ in 320 plate appearances as a rookie and graded out well defensively. Would the team start Yordan Alvarez in left field more regularly to open their designated hitter slot for some needed roster flexibility? — Chris K. I wouldn’t be surprised if Alvarez sees another uptick in his left-field starts next season (he got 39 during the regular season), but I don’t think that necessarily would create an open DH spot. It would likely just mean more DH days for Michael Brantley. Whereas Hinch used the DH spot to give his regulars quasi-half days, Dusty Baker hasn’t operated that way. Jose Altuve and Yuli Gurriel each got only one DH start in 2021. Correa and Bregman had none. Tucker got four, but that was only because of a minor shoulder issue late in the regular season. Behind Alvarez (97) and Brantley (30), the Astro who got the third-most DH starts in 2021 was Taylor Jones with eight. […] Will we see Forrest Whitley in the bigs this year? — Jeff D. Probably at some point, though it’s more likely to be as a reliever than as a starter given the makeup of the Astros’ roster and their starting pitcher depth. Because Whitley had his Tommy John surgery in March, he’s not expected to be ready for the start of the season (if it begins on time). But once he is, I suspect he will join the Triple-A rotation and end up as one of many pitchers who go from Triple A to the majors over the course of the season. When will Pedro León debut in Houston, and at what position? — Frank L. The first part of your question is tough to answer because León is such a high-variance prospect. He’s got some loud tools but whether he will hit enough is a legitimate question. I do think he’s an outfielder as opposed to an infielder. Perhaps he makes it up in 2022 as a utility player if injuries strike. He’s not on the 40-man roster and doesn’t need to be protected for Rule 5 purposes for a while. One way or another, even if he spends the whole season in Triple A, I think we’ll learn a lot about him this year. What team is the biggest threat to the Astros’ reign in the AL West in 2022? — Andy T. Right now, it’s the Angels. They still don’t have enough pitching, but they have Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, Anthony Rendon and Jared Walsh in their lineup. If their core players can stay healthy enough, their lineup could be elite. I would have the Mariners next. They still need a lot more offense, though.
