Astros Off Season Thread

[KABrother88]

MLB.com ranked Jonathan Singleton as the top 1st base prospect again...hopefully that 50 game suspension to start last year and the realization of how that effected his whole season was enough to securely screw his head on and focus on tapping into the potential he has

[eagle eye]

More good news from Astroland. The Astros avoided arbitration with C Jason Castro and IF/OF Jesus Guzman. The terms of the deals have not been made public but it's believed that Castro's deal is a one year contract in the 2-3 million dollar range. Guzman, 29, was acquired from San Diego in the off season and he's a good utility man who has played infield and outfield giving the Astros some position flexibility as well a guy who has been a good pinch hitter in his career. If Castro's deal is only for one year but if he progresses like he did last season a long term lucrative deal could be in the offing.

 

Here's a link to Astros.com's article about the progress of new pitcher Jason White who underwent Tommy John surgery about 9 months ago. White was acquired via an off season trade with Colorado. The article talks about his rehab at the Astros facility in Kissimmee and his excitement at being able to attend spring training with little or no restriction.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/hou/astros-right-hander-alex-white-aims-to-be-ready-to-compete-in-spring-training?ymd=20140116&content_id=66755002&vkey=news_hou

[eagle eye]

Okay, there is some exciting news from Astros camp and that is the signing of Mexican League first baseman Japhel Amador. It's important to note that the Mexican League is equivalent to Triple A in the USA but they are not affiliated with MLB. Amador is a big man at 6'4" and 315 lbs. He's a 26 year old that has been in the ML for seven years and sports a career .320 batting average and he's hit 112 home runs. Here's an article about Amador from Astros.com.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/hou/astros-first-base-prospect-japhet-amador-packs-power-punch?ymd=20140120&content_id=66878692&vkey=news_hou

[Big T]

Wait a sec.... Amador was inked last year by the Astros. He is already in the Astros system and played for OKC last year. Hit .302 in ten games played.

[eagle eye]

Wait a sec.... Amador was inked last year by the Astros. He is already in the Astros system and played for OKC last year. Hit .302 in ten games played.

 

True dat, Big T. But as in the article in the page link in my last post the writer obviously didn't see him play in AAA because his frame of reference in the article was the fact that he saw Amador in the Arizona Fall league and maybe some on film. The article did mention that he was signed late last summer and played his first game on August 24th so I am supposing 10 games isn't really a very representative sample size to see how he will fare in good ole USA baseball. The point is, Amador is a huge guy with a lot of upside IF he can hit AAA and big league pitching.

[Big T]

Wait a sec.... Amador was inked last year by the Astros. He is already in the Astros system and played for OKC last year. Hit .302 in ten games played.

 

True dat, Big T. But as in the article in the page link in my last post the writer obviously didn't see him play in AAA because his frame of reference in the article was the fact that he saw Amador in the Arizona Fall league and maybe some on film. The article did mention that he was signed late last summer and played his first game on August 24th so I am supposing 10 games isn't really a very representative sample size to see how he will fare in good ole USA baseball. The point is, Amador is a huge guy with a lot of upside IF he can hit AAA and big league pitching.

 

Should have read the whole article. lol

[eagle eye]

LOL

 

[eagle eye]

The Astros farm system got more props as MLB.com's 2014 ranking of the top 100 minor league prospects of all the teams has seven players from the Astros system making the list. Carlos Correa (8), Mark Appel (17), George Springer (21), Jonathan Singleton (50), Lance McCullers (52), Mike Foltynewicz (54) and DeLino DeShields Jr. (66) were the players in that top 100. The seven players by the Astros is tied for second with a team the ariticle didn't mention behind the Boston Red Sox who have 9 players in the top 100.

 

Here's the aritcle from Astros.com about the players selected.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/hou/no-1-draft-picks-lead-seven-astros-on-mlbcom-top-100-prospect-list?ymd=20140123&content_id=67044294&vkey=news_hou

 

As the web site MLBPipeline.com continues it's top 10 rankings by position of the best prospects the Astros George Springer pops up at number 5 on the list. Not too shabby there. If you read the whole article linked below, you find that Delino DeShields Jr gets an honorable mention as an 11th choice. If our prospect pan out the Astros outlook for the future are really bright!

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/hou/prospect-watch-mlbcoms-top-10-outfielders?ymd=20140122&content_id=66895860&vkey=news_hou

[eagle eye]

Here's a link to Astros.com's article from MLBProspects.com about Carlos Correa and Mark Appel ranking them the best one-two punch of position player and pitching prospects in any MLB franchise.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/hou/pipeline-perspectives-carlos-correa-mark-appel-give-houston-astros-baseballs-best-hitter-pitcher-prospect-duo?ymd=20140128&content_id=67199846&vkey=news_hou

 

Here's another artcle from Astros.com that reports that ESPN.com has ranked Houston's minor league system the best in baseball.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/hou/astros-farm-system-ranked-no-1-by-espn?ymd=20140128&content_id=67201986&vkey=news_hou

 

One last link to an article about an impending meeting with Astros owner Jim Crane and Nolan Ryan that could result in the elder Ryan's return to the Astros organization. Ryan's son, Reid, was hired this off season to be President of Business Operations is all in on his father's prospective deal with the Astros. Many Astros fans were very upset when Nolan was allowed to leave back in the early 1990's. He eventually signed with the Rangers with whom he recorded his seventh no-hitter and set the record for most strikeouts in a career. Many, including me, believe Ryan should never have been allowed to leave and those records should have been set in an Astros uniform. The good will and PR Nolan Ryan would bring to Houston would be like the commercial saying----"Priceless".

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/hou/astros-owner-jim-crane-set-to-meet-with-nolan-ryan-about-position-with-team?ymd=20140124&content_id=67098596&vkey=news_hou

[Big T]

Here's a link to Astros.com's article from MLBProspects.com about Carlos Correa and Mark Appel ranking them the best one-two punch of position player and pitching prospects in any MLB franchise.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/hou/pipeline-perspectives-carlos-correa-mark-appel-give-houston-astros-baseballs-best-hitter-pitcher-prospect-duo?ymd=20140128&content_id=67199846&vkey=news_hou

 

Here's another artcle from Astros.com that reports that ESPN.com has ranked Houston's minor league system the best in baseball.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/hou/astros-farm-system-ranked-no-1-by-espn?ymd=20140128&content_id=67201986&vkey=news_hou

 

One last link to an article about an impending meeting with Astros owner Jim Crane and Nolan Ryan that could result in the elder Ryan's return to the Astros organization. Ryan's son, Reid, was hired this off season to be President of Business Operations is all in on his father's prospective deal with the Astros. Many Astros fans were very upset when Nolan was allowed to leave back in the early 1990's. He eventually signed with the Rangers with whom he recorded his seventh no-hitter and set the record for most strikeouts in a career. Many, including me, believe Ryan should never have been allowed to leave and those records should have been set in an Astros uniform. The good will and PR Nolan Ryan would bring to Houston would be like the commercial saying----"Priceless".

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/hou/astros-owner-jim-crane-set-to-meet-with-nolan-ryan-about-position-with-team?ymd=20140124&content_id=67098596&vkey=news_hou

 

The Astros have the best system in MLB and it is only going to get better after this draft. Just imagin Carlos Rodon, as this is the most probable candidate for the Astros number one overall pick, Mark Appel, Lance McCullers, Folty, and Velasquez who is the most under rated player in the Astros system. All five of them have the potential to be number one starters in the MLB. Now if I had to say what I think they will become I would say Rodon and Velasquez will be number ones, Appel a number two, and McCullers a number three. I see Folty as being a Closer with that amazing fastball but not much of a breaking ball to back it up.

 

On top of the pitching the Astros have Correa, Singleton, Springer, DDJ, Nolan Fontana who y'all know I love, and Rio Ruiz. I am not that high on Domingo Santana as he has never been able to put it together and he has a hole in his swing bigger than Adam Dunn's. They have all of that plus what they are going to pick up in this years draft and they will have all of their draft picks as they did not sign any type A free agents. Then there is the international signing period!

 

Now if we could only get these players to develop like we all know they can and this team will be unstoppable in four years. We will start to see the advancement this season and I believe this team could win 65-70 games. You might think that's much, but it will signify the fact that they did not lose a hundred games and they improved enough to be +14-19 games from last season. Both would be significant steps for this organization.

[eagle eye]

Since Houston lost a franchise record 111 games last season a +14-19 turnaround would be huge. The fact that Jim Crane and Jeff Luhnow have upgraded the bullpen, significantly upgraded, the 10-12 games (and that's conservative) that was blown by the bullpen we can expect we can win at least 75% of those types of games in '14. What you hope is the offense is improved from last year. There were quite a few starts that Houston probably could have or should have won if they got some run support then Big T's estimate of a big turnaround is really realistic. We have to be cautiously optimistic if spring training games have the Astros looking like world beaters because when real games start and the pitching is a lot better you shouldn't be surprised if they aren't as good as we thought.

 

BTW - spring training is only 17 days away.

[eagle eye]

Here's a couple of items from Astros.com.

 

> Mark Appel had to undergo an emergency appendectomy on Thursday. It is being reported that the surgery went well with no complications and it's expected he'll be ready to report to spring training on the 15th. At the time they report his health will be evaluated by the team and how much he will work when camp begins.

 

> Left hand pitcher Raul Valdez, who was claimed off waivers this past off season, underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee yesterday. He will report with the pitchers and catchers but he will not begin workouts right away. The surgery he had has a 4-6 week recovery period. Valdez was claimed from the Phillies who had him pitching in AAA Lehigh Valley last year. He did make 17 appearances for Philadelphia including one start. In AAA he made 14 starts posting a 4-5 record with a 2.86 ERA.

 

Here's a nice article about prospect Mike Foltynewicz who, by the way, looks like a young Curt Schilling who began his career in Houston.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/hou/astros-pitching-prospect-mike-foltynewicz-bringing-heat-to-camp?ymd=20140131&content_id=67319844&vkey=news_hou

 

Last but not least for those who remember and those who just know the legend that is Nolan Ryan will enjoy this article from Astros.com titled, "Five Moments When Nolan Ryan Was The Baddest Man In Baseball".

 

http://wapc.mlb.com/cutfour/2014/01/25/67126650/video-nolan-ryan-birthday-best-performance

[eagle eye]

Craig Biggio missed getting into the baseball Hall of Fame by two measly votes but he is getting a big honor tonight as he will be inducted into the Ted Williams Hitters Hall of Fame along with Johnny Damon and Frank Howard at Tropicana Field in Tampa Florida. Who knows, maybe this is just the ticket to get him into the BBHOF next season.

 

Here's a link to the Astros.com article about his induction. Take a look at the reply post after the article that compares Biggio's career numbers to Hall of Famer Joe Morgan's career numbers. Add this to the numbers detailed in the article you wonder how in the world Biggio wasn't a first ballot inductee. For those of you who don't know who Joe Morgan was I suggest a trip to Wikipedia. Morgan actually began his career in Houston but he was traded to Cincinnati and he became a fixture of the 1970's Big Red Machine joining Johnny Bench, Ken Griffey Sr, Pete Rose and a host of others who made up one of the best all-time baseball teams ever. Morgan now does broadcast work for ESPN's baseball coverage.

[eagle eye]

The Astros have added yet another pitcher to their roster. Pending a physical scheduled for Wednesday, right handed veteran pitcher Jerome Williams whose most recent stop was with the Angels last season will join the club on a one year deal. Williams claims he's excited about joining the Astros and he's willing to either start or come in out of the bullpen as a reliever. With spring training beginning next Friday Houston seems to want to send a lot of arms to Kissimmee. Here's a link to the article about William's signing.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/hou/astros-add-versatile-veteran-pitcher-jerome-williams?ymd=20140203&content_id=67402930&vkey=news_hou

 

I mentioned that Astros owner Jim Crane was going to meet with legendary pitcher Nolan Ryan and rumor was Crane was going to offer him a job. Here's a link to an article that talks about Crane's hope that Ryan will accept the job he was offered. The job Ryan was offered was not immediately clear from the article but Crane made it clear they want him in any capacity he will accept. Even if it's making up a position for him!

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/hou/jim-crane-hopeful-nolan-ryan-accepts-offer-to-join-houston-astros?ymd=20140201&content_id=67364294&vkey=news_hou

[eagle eye]

Now I'm talking season. The Astros begin the 2014 season on April 1st (no jokes please!) and they start the season at home against the Yankees. I had a friend tell me the tix for this series are pretty steep. I wondered how steep so I went to the Astros web site to check how bad the damage was going to be. Lo and behold, the only tickets available right now are road games vs Toronto and in California. There wasn't a single home game where tickets were available--yet. So, I'm guessing he was looking into season tickets or a mini package. I'll have to check with my friend on this. I is cool that we won't have to wait until the end of September for the Yankees to come to town. CC Sabathia vs ?????? on opening night. Not bad.

[eagle eye]

One of the Astros off season moves this past winter was to sign pitcher Jesse Crane. That's been posted earlier in this thread. He missed the last 3 months of the season last year due to tendonitis in his throwing arm with required surgery last October. Monday Crane made the next step in his rehab by throwing for the first time since his surgery.

Here's a link to an article about Crane from Astros.com.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/hou/astros-pitcher-jesse-crain-throws-for-first-time-since-october?ymd=20140204&content_id=67443942&vkey=news_hou

[eagle eye]

I posted a few days ago that Houston was planning to sign RHP Jerome Williams pending the results of a physical this past week. Well, yesterday they made it official by announcing they have come to terms on a contract with Williams on a one year deal reportedly for $2.1 mm with $1 mm in incentives. Now comes a bit of a surprise. To make room for Williams on the 40 man roster the Astros have designated 1B/3B Brett Wallace for assignment. What that means is Wallace is still part of the Astros organization but only as a minor leaguer. Wallace was, and is, expected to compete for a spot at first base. Wallace has largely been a disappointment especially since he has performed well in the minor leagues. I think fans have lost some patience with Wallace and are looking for Jonathan Singleton to step in and take over 1st base. If not Singleton there are other prospects who could get their shot.

[eagle eye]

I sure hope this is an omen for the upcoming season because it would mean Astros fans will have a big smile on their faces. Yesterday the final round of the AT&T National Pro-Am at Pebble Beach, California it was won by a guy who's been on a bit of a hot streak, Jimmy Walker. What has this got to do with the Astros? The AT&T is what it says it is -- a pro-am which means that Amateur partners are paired with pros who compete together against the other pro-am groups. This tournament is different in that the amateurs play through the final round to determine the pro winner as well as the pro-am team. It's a celebrity driven affair originally begun by Bing Crosby. (Look him up if you don't know who he is.) Eventually, after Crosby's death the tournament sold out to corporate money and the old Crosby Pro-Am became the AT&T and the Crosby family refused to lend ole Bing's name to the event any more. But I digress. The amateur partner of Jimmy Walker was none other than Astros owner Jim Crane. Crane is an avid golfer and he actually owns the Floridian Golf Club in southeast Florida. He was front and center for Walker's win, one which Walker nearly blew. Beginning the final round Walker owned a 6 shot lead and a testy par putt on 18 preserved a one stroke victory. As for the team of Walker/Crane? They finished in a tie for 14th at -21 while the pro-am winners were Jim Renner and businessman John Harkey Jr. Crane is side by side with a PGA pro winner in the most famous pro-am on the planet. Maybe a little of that Karma will rub off on Crane's Astros!

[eagle eye]

You can almost smell the pine tar and the smell of fresh cut grass----well maybe not the grass thing since the cold spell in what has become the frozen tundra of the golden triangle hasn't allowed much grass to grow but you know what I mean. Baseball is right at our doorstep! The Cardinals are gearing up for their season and Saturday the Astros start workout with the pitchers and catchers! The coaches and trainers are already in Kissimmee and many of the players are on had already despite the fact that only the pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report tomorrow. There is already some big news to report.

 

Legendary pitcher and southeast Texas native son Nolan Ryan has been hired by the Astros to be an executive consultant to Jim Crane, Jeff Luhnow and his son Reid who was hired this past fall. More than anything this is a PR bonanza for Houston. Astros fans were PISSED when the Astros management at the time did not renew Ryan's contract back in '88 and even more frustrated when he signed with the Rangers. Ryan is legend and he's beloved by fans in this part of the country. Ryan helped to build the Rangers into a winning franchise and with the strides the current management has made this is just icing on the cake. I can hardly wait until Houston is again at the top of the mountain and in the conversation as one of the elite franchises in baseball. I'm still pissed we're in the American League but going forward the future is looking really bright.

 

In other news, last night Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter announced this will be his last season to play ball. His first stop on his farewell tour will be right in Houston Texas at the Juice Box as both teams begin their 2014 seasons together. Opening day should be a tough ticket so stub hub or seatjunkie.com will be the place find tix for the opening game and series. Jeter is truly one of the class acts in sports so it would be worth a little extra to see him in person.

[eagle eye]

The addition of Nolan Ryan could mean more than just a nice PR move. Ryan, who owns the Rangers AAA affiliate, the Round Rock Express, may change affiliation and return to the Astros organization where it began in 2004 when Ryan and his group SRS purchased the Edmonton Trappers who were affiliated with the Montreal Expos in the Pacific Coast League. The RR Express began as a AA franchise and later became a AAA club replacing the New Orleans Zephyrs. The other move for the Astros was to move their AA club to Corpus Christi. Here's a link to Astros.com explaining how Round Rock could be the new home of the AAA franchise replacing Oklahoma City. The easiest thing would be for Houston and Texas to swap locations Logistically, it wouldn't make much difference for the Rangers but it would move the Astros AAA club considerably closer to home. We'll see what happens but it would allow Astros fans a chance to see the AAA club with Round Rock a stones throw from Austin.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/hou/nolan-ryans-return-to-houston-astros-may-impact-triple-a-round-rock?ymd=20140213&content_id=67747586&vkey=news_hou

[eagle eye]

The Astros fell to St Louis yesterday largely due to a very shaky outing by starting pitcher Jared Cosart. He pitched 3.1 innings and he gave up 5 earned runs on 6 hits. The bad thing was his inconsistency. In the first and third innings he retired the Cardinals in order. Easy Peesy. It was in the second and third innings that things fell apart. Cosart allowed 3 runs in the 2nd when the Cardinals batted around and he gave a run and left the game with runners on base. Cosart's relief, Raul Valdez, allowed the runners to score on a Matt Carpenter double giving Cosart a final line of 3.1 innings pitched, 6 hits, 5 earned runs, 2 walks, 4 K's. The Astros were down 6-0 in the bottom of the seventh when they made a furious comeback. The Cards aided the Astros with a wild pitch and 2 errors on the same play by their left fielder. The comeback came up short as Houston only managed 4 runs but they left the bases loaded to end the threat. The last two innings were played out and the game ended on a Delino Deshields Jr ground out.

 

Next up was Houston playing today against the Tigers but things didn't go well beginning in the 1st inning. Lucas Harrell got his fourth start of the preseason and contrary to the excellent outings he's had so far today was much different. He went 1.2 innings giving up 12 hits, 10 runs, 9 earned and a home run with no walks or K's. Right now after 7-1/2 innings Houston is trailing 14-3.

[eagle eye]

Here's some notes from spring training including an item about GM Jeff Luhnow going to watch potential first pick in this summer's MLB draft, Carlos Rodon.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20140315&content_id=69375752&notebook_id=69378370&vkey=notebook_hou&c_id=hou

[eagle eye]

The Astros have named RHP Scott Feldman as their opening day starter when Houston faces the Yankees on April Fools Day. Hopefully, this isn't a harbinger of the season we can expect from the Feldman. He has been a steadying influence in the clubhouse so far this spring. The 6'7" hurler acquired this off season has made two starts so far in the spring going 6 total innings giving up 9 hits, 3 earned runs, 2 homers, a walk and five K's with a 4.50 ERA. Last season for the Cubs and Orioles he went 12-12 with a 3.86 ERA. Feldman has had one other opening day start in his career in 2010 for the Texas Rangers against the Blue Jays going seven innings with a no-decision. Feldman does eat up innings and that will be a benefit for the team as the season progresses. Feldman's last outing was yesterday against the Nationals in which he went 4+ innings giving up 8 hits and 3 runs striking out 5. Feldman admitted he is still working on harnessing command of his pitches which is okay because that is what ST is for.

 

The Astros have trimmed seven players from their spring training roster. They are: left-handed pitcher Rudy Owens and right-handers Jose Cisnero, Collin McHugh and Chia-Jen Lo and reassigning catcher Tyler Heineman and right-handers Jorge De Leon and Rhiner Cruz to Minor League camp.

None of the cuts, most of which were announced in the morning, came as a surprise. De Leon and Cruz, neither of whom was on the 40-man roster, were told the news following the Astros' 4-3 loss to the Nats on Sunday in which De Leon threw one inning and allowed two hits.

The moves leave the Astros with 44 players in camp -- 21 pitchers, four catchers, 11 infielders and eight outfielders.

--the info comes from Astros.com

 

Quad Cities, the Astros class A affiliate, won their league championship in 2013 and on Sunday they received their championship rings in a dinner and ceremony at the Astros minor league clubhouse at Osceola County Stadium. The team included 1st round picks Carlos Correa and Mark Appel along with Lance McCullars, Teoscar Hernandez, Vincent Velasquez, Rio Ruiz and Josh Hader.

 

 

[eagle eye]

The Astros lost to Miami today 8-1 mainly because of the horrendous outing by starting pitcher Dallas Keuchel. Keuchel pitched 4 innings and he looked decent in innings 3 and 4. It was the first and second innings that killed Keuchel and the Astros. In the first inning Houston was down 3-0 before Keuchel record the first out. Lead off singles by the Marlins 1 and 2 hitters, the 2nd a legged out bunt that was probably supposed to be a sacrifice but it was such a good bunt it turned into a single. That was followed by a three run bomb by Giovanni Stanton to stake the Marlins to the early lead. The Astros actually began the game batting first and pushing across a run to give the Astros their first and only lead. However, after surrendering 3 runs in the first and 4 in the second it was pretty much a done deal from then on. Houston hitters had no answer for the Marlins pitchers who stymied them all game. The Astros could only manage 3 hits all game to go along with five walks scattered across 9 innings. After scoring an oh-by-the-way run in the first Houston never threatened again. The Marlins pitchers were led by Jacob Turner who got the win after going 5 complete allowing 2 hits and one run and Houston may not have scored if a pickoff throw to first that ended up in the Marlins bullpen allowing baserunner Jonathan Villar to go to second. Villar reached on the first of Turner's three walks on the day. Turner advanced Villar to second on that errant throw and a single by Mark Krauss advanced Villar to third where a sac fly by Chris Carter scored Villar. It was kind of an usual way to score a run to be sure. That was it. The high point of the game for Houston on offense. There were some nice plays in the field though. To name a few there was a nice leaping catch of a shot to right made by George Springer in the first and a really nice play in the 8th by Carlos Correa to hold a runner at third and get an out at first on a sharply hit ground ball. Springer was actually robbed of a couple of hits on a couple of smoking ground balls that were well played by the Marlins third baseman Casey McGehee. The loss today drops Houston's ST record to 7-11. Next up is a game on the road against the Nationals tomorrow. it is scheduled to be televised on MLB Network but you can bet your bottom dollar it will be blacked out locally. (which I think is total BS)

[KABrother88]

Couple points of interest regarding the future

 

Reports surfaced last night that in September OF George Springer turned down a 7 year deal worth $23 million...probably a smart move on his part cause he has the potential to have that doubles in a couple years...as a fan it would have been nice to know a portion of the foundation of the future was locked in for so cheap though

 

Today it's been reported that the Astros and 3B Matt Dominguiz are nearing a 5 year extension worth $17 million with 2 club options worth $8 million and $10 million

 

Last night SP Jared Cosart pitched 5 perfect innings with 9Ks. Good sign after the young right handler had struggled this spring. Top prospect SS Carlos Correa left after being hit by a pitch on the hand. X-Rays can out negative and Correa said he feels fine just sore

 

The biggest question all spring was answered this morning. Would Springer break camp with the big club...the answer...no. Springer along with Correa, Mark Appel, Jon Singleton, Delino DeShields JR, and Mike Foltynewicz were all sent to the minor league camp