Houston Astros 2014 Season Thread

[KABrother88]

And just saw Mengden was another two-way player before concentrating on pitching this season...is Luhnow trying to field an Iron-9 team?...everybody can pitch and hit lol

[Big T]

5-1 Jacob Nix RHP from Cali. Another HS arm. I really, really like this pick.

[KABrother88]

Just read he was projected as a 2nd to 3rd round guy before this season and he's slipped because of a poor performance. Think he's a project but we are deep enough pitching wise that he has plenty of time to develop

[KABrother88]

With current pitchers in the minor leagues with last names like Oberholtzer, Foltynewicz, Wojochiechowski, and Tropeano, Jeff Luhnow has out done him self landing that rare letter "X"...with the first pick in the 6th round Houston takes RHP Brock Dykxhoorn from Central Arizona College

[eagle eye]

There's no such thing as too much pitching. At 6'8" and 240 lbs if this guy can throw a baseball will look like a BB in a hurricane blowing off a mountain. He's the sixth round pick.

 

Here's an up-to-date list of picks.

 

7th RD - Derick Velazquez - RHP Fresno State Junior - 6'4" 200 lbs

http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/67565098/v33211011/draft-report-derick-velazquez-college-pitcher

 

8th RD - Bobby Boyd - CF West Virginia Junior - 5'8" 180 lbs R/R

 

9th RD - Brian Radziewski - LHP Miami Hurricanes Senior - 5'10" 190 lbs

 

10th RD - Jay Gause - LHP Faulkner U (Ala) Junior - 6'4" 250 lbs

 

11th RD - Begins tomorrow when rounds 11-40 will take place.

 

 

[Big T]

Astros win again tonight no thanks to the bullpen 5-4. Dallas went another six scoreless innings. Just amazing.

[eagle eye]

Scott Feldman is struggling. No doubt about it in the last couple of starts he just hasn't had it. He struggled from the git-go. He got out of the 1st inning unscathed but he just couldn't stop Minnesota's offense at all. He even helped them out by hitting the lead off batter with a 1-2 count in the 2nd. Again, Bo Porter left his pitcher in the game too long as Feldman gave up 3 runs and loaded the bases before he got him out of the game. Paul Clemens came in and stopped the bleeding but it was only a temporary reprieve. After getting the Twins 1-2-3 in the 3rd his day turned south in the 4th. In 2/3 of an inning Clemens walked 5, allowed a sac but, 2 hits and 4 runs. Since he's come back from AAA Clemens has been less than good to say the least. Jerome Williams came in after Clemens' 5th walk Porter ended the inning facing one batter. Williams got through the fifth and sixth giving up a hit but he just can't seem to make an appearance lately without giving up one run and the seventh was his inning. Williams gave up 2 hits and two walks on his way to allowing the Twins 8th run of the game. So, after seven innings the Astros were done for the day it seems being shutout 8-0 with the Twins Kyle Gibson going 7 strong and his bullpen wasn't as leaky as Houston's. Jared Burton and Caleb Thielbar shut the door on the Astros day. The Astros managed only 5 hits on the day and maybe it was because it was cool day with the temp in Minneapolis at game time a brisk 56 degrees. Who knows what got into the Astros but it's not a big deal. As Scarlett O'Hara said, "Fiddle-dee-dee, I'll worry about it tomorrow." It's a long season and sometimes it's just not your day.

[KABrother88]

There are some reports out but nothing confirmed from the team that 1st overall pick Brady Aiken has already agreed to terms on a $6.5 million signing bonus...slot value was $7.922 million...that extra $1.422 million would go along way to locking up guys like 5th rounder Jacob Nix who will most likey need more than slot value to turn down UCLA.

[Big T]

That is very good news.

[Big T]

They have already come to terms with the eighth round and tenth rounds picks. The sixth round pick is also very close to signing.

[KABrother88]

Don't think well have many issues with signing our picks from the top ten rounds...in the 21st round we took HS LHP Mac Marshall and he's viewed as a very difficult sign...hence why MLB.com's #66 draft prospect slid all the way #616...but not signing your 21st round pick won't hurt too bad...just keep in mind that anything over $100,000 to a player after round 10 is included in the pool you get for the slot value of each of those picks...going over the pool cap results in the team being taxed and potential loss of draft picks

[Big T]

Astros crushed the twins today with slams from Singleton and Carter. Springer also contributed with a solo shot.

[eagle eye]

With the draft over with we, as fans, need to get off our keesters and show some of the Astros players some support by voting for them to make the All Star team. Jose Altuve has just cracked the top 5 second basemen in voting. He's got 380,000 + votes to No 1 vote getter Robinson Cano who has 1,100,000 +. You can vote for whoever you want (Astros) and you can do it 25 times. Guys that really deserve a vote are Altuve and Springer. I don't think the people who bitched about Yasiel Puig last season have the same gripe this year with Springer. He played all season except for about 2 weeks and he was named AL Player of the Week and AL Player of the Month in May. The guy deserves a little love from us fans. If you are really feeling homer-ish I'd say Jason Castro is the next best choice with 27 RBI's he's tied for 2nd among AL catchers.

 

Here's the link to go vote. WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

 

2014 All-Star Game MLB.com Ballot Sponsored by Experian

 

If you are still on the fence then you may want to know that Houston has agreed to terms with their 9th round pick Bryan Radziewski the LHP from Miami (Fla). His friend and teammate a Miami and Houston's 40th round pick 2B Alex Hernandez may soon be headed to short season Tri-Cities later this week because Houston has also agree to a deal with him. Actually, Hernandez is still waiting to be told where he will be sent.

Sixth round pick Brock Dykxhoorn, a right-handed pitcher from Central Arizona College, said on Saturday that he had agreed to a signing bonus and was sorting out the final details of the contract.

 

Okay, now go vote. The Astros play Arizona tonight. The home page on their web site says 8:40. I'm confused because Arizona doesn't observe daylight savings time so CDT is the same as MST which is the zone Phoenix is in. Weird. Talk about weird, Houston plays the D-Backs twice in Phoenix and then plays them at home for a split 4 game series. I'm not sure if I've ever seen that before.

[Big T]

You can get up to four free tickets for the Stros and D-Backs game on November the 12! I already got mine!

 

http://www.heavenlysteals.com/2014/06/4-free-mlb-baseball-tickets-to-arizona.html

[eagle eye]

I know you're excited Big T but the tickets are for JUNE 12th which is this Thursday not November 12th. LOL!!

[eagle eye]

George Springer was a late scratch from the lineup last night due to knee soreness. He will be listed as day to day for a little while. Hope it isn't serious. Jon Singleton took his spot in the lineup.

 

The Astros have agree to terms on a deal with their 2nd round pick AJ Reed the slugging 1st baseman MLB.com analysts dubbed college baseball's Babe Ruth when Houston selected him last Thursday. The Astros have not confirmed this but Reed said in an interview with MLB.com that he would be in Houston on Wednesday to sign a contract.

 

Reed led the nation in homers (23), slugging (.735) and on-base plus slugging percentage (1.211), while ranking as the Southeastern Conference leader, and fourth in the NCAA, in pitching victories (12). Reed hit .336 with 18 doubles, one triple, 73 RBIs, 49 walks and a .476 on-base percentage while posting a 2.09 ERA as the Wildcats' Friday night starter. - Quote from Astros.com -

 

The Astros have also agreed to terms with their 3rd round pick JD Davis from Cal State Fullerton. Davis was a hitter and pitcher in college but he will start off playing 3rd base for the Astros. He is scheduled to report to short season Tri-Cities at the end of this week.

 

With the signing of these two picks Houston's George Springer and Matt Dominguez will now have someone breathing down their throats to take their jobs. It should make them better and gives the Astros organization some really nice options. So, now 5 of the top ten draft picks are signed, sealed and delivered. Not half bad Jeff Luhnow.

[Big T]

I know you're excited Big T but the tickets are for JUNE 12th which is this Thursday not November 12th. LOL!!

 

Why the hell did my phone put November?!?! Lol

 

[KABrother88]

Reports are saying 2nd rounder A.J. Reed's signing bonus is for 1.35 million...all of the slot value. I still haven't seen anything official on Aiken but assuming his 6.5 million number is accurate then we might need a bit of a discount from Derek Fisher to be able to sign 5th rounder Jacob Nix...this is also assuming other picks have signed at slot value as I haven't seen any official numbers for them. So far MLB.com says we have reached an agreement with our 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 8th, 9th, and 10th round picks with Aiken very close. Virginia advanced to the College World Series so Fisher can no be signed until they are through playing and Nix will probably be the last to sign so the FO has an idea how much money they will have. The only other picks left is 4th rounder Mengden and 7th rounder Velazquez who are both college pitchers and I'd assume they'd sign. Teams are allowed to go over their allotted bonus pool but it results in penalties. 0-5% over calls for a 75% tax on the overage amount, 5-10% overage calls for the same 75% tax plus a loss of the next years 1st rounder, and 10-15% overage leads to a 100% tax and loss of the next years 1st and 2nd round picks. Houston's pool totaled $13,362,200. 5% of that would be $668,110. I'm sure Houston doesn't want to go over any but if they have a shot to somehow sign 21st rounder Mac Marshall (even though I've read he told the team he was going to school) they would explore into the 0-5% range...but as much value as they put on the draft they will not exceed that and lose a pick.

[eagle eye]

The Astros and 7th round pick Derick Velazquez, the RHP from Fresno State. It's being reported that Velazquez will report to Kissimmee before heading to Tri-City.

 

So far the Astros have agreed to terms with all the following. It doesn't mean all have signed their contract yet.

 

1. Brady Aiken - agreed to terms; possibly sign his contract this week

1A. Derek Fisher - still in college world series

2. A J Reed - agreed to terms and signed his contractJ D Evans - agreed to terms and signed his contract

3. J D Evans - agreed to terms and signed his contract

4. Daniel Mengden - has yet to agree to terms

5. Jacob Nix - has yet to agree to terms if he will; committed to UCLA

6. Brock Dykxhoorn - agreed to terms; still ironing out details of his contract

7. Derek Velazquez - agreed to terms and signed his contract

8. Bobby Boyd - agree to terms and signed his contract

9. Bryan Radziewski - agreed to terms and signed his contract

10. Jay Gause - agreed to terms and signed his contract

 

Add to the lower round players who have agreed to terms I'd say one week after the draft Houston is doing pretty darn good.

 

5.

6.

[eagle eye]

George Springer came back into the lineup tonight and it was as if he hadn't missed a beat. He went 2-3 with an RBI and a run scored and no walks or K's. Who knows what's up with Chris Carter lately but I hope it continues. He went 2-4 with 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored with no walks or Ks. What? No Ks? Bless my soul there is some strange voodoo in Houston right now. Houston is now 30-37 and it's been a while since they have been 7 games under .500. They are only 2 games back of 4th place Texas and only one in the win column. The Rangers are 31-34 after smacking the Marlins around tonight and they have played 2 less games than Houston. Another good week by Houston and a bad week by the Ranger then we will climb out of the AL West cellar. How 'bout them apples? Tonight marked the first game this season Jose Altuve wasn't in the starting lineup. He strained his oblique muscle swinging at a pitch on Tuesday's final game in Arizona. I guess Cal Ripkin's consecutive game record is safe -- for now. Dallas Kuechel was bad to the bone again tonight. In the Astros 5-1 win Kuechel pitched 8 complete innings allowing just the one run on 4 hits, a walk and 5 Ks and lowered his ERA to .238. If this guy doesn't make the All Star squad there will be more than cheese that smells funny in Wisconsin. Chad Qualls pitched a scoreless 9th but it was not a save situation but if I'm Bo Porter I have to wonder if there's anyone I can trust lately from my bullpen except Qualls. He's lowered his ERA to 1.99 so there's that. Jon Singleton didn't get a hit tonight but he got an RBI on a ground out to 1st allowing Jonathan Villar to score. Villar had a nice game and he's been waaaaaaaay overdue for one. 2-3 with a run scored with no walks and no strikeouts.

What tonight's win means is Houston is guaranteed a split of this set of two games at home and split of the four game series with Arizona. THAT means Houston has not lost a series since they lost 2 of 3 to Anaheim way back on May 19-21. That's 8 series ago! EIGHT! They have won 3 series and are guaranteed to split 5 depending upon what happens tomorrow. If they win tomorrow they will have gone 4-0-4 in their last 8 series. If you count the current 4 games with Arizona as one series then if they beat the D-Backs in the finale tomorrow then Houston will have a record of 4-0-3. Houston has got to have the rest of the MLB quoting Paul Newman in Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid, "Who are those guys?"! It's freakin awesome!

[Big T]

19-11 in the past 30 games. Don't know about y'all, but I will take it!

[KABrother88]

According to a tweet I saw yesterday 4th rounder Mengden has agreed to terms but won't sign until June 24th for some reason...no dollar amount given.

 

Dallas Keuchel has been pitching out of his mind despite having "average stuff" according to Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon...looked up his numbers vs ground ball machine Brandon Webb who won the Cy Young in 2006 for...right now Keuchel has a Ground Out/Air Out ratio of 3.45...Webb's career best was 3.36 in that Cy Young season. Across the board Kuechel's numbers are eerily similar to Webb's 2006 number...except Webb's ERA was 3.10 vs Keuchel's 2.38 and Webb went 16-8 and Keuchel is currently on pace to go 19-6...again 19-6...from an Astros pitcher

[eagle eye]

According to a tweet I saw yesterday 4th rounder Mengden has agreed to terms but won't sign until June 24th for some reason...no dollar amount given.

 

Dallas Keuchel has been pitching out of his mind despite having "average stuff" according to Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon...looked up his numbers vs ground ball machine Brandon Webb who won the Cy Young in 2006 for...right now Keuchel has a Ground Out/Air Out ratio of 3.45...Webb's career best was 3.36 in that Cy Young season. Across the board Kuechel's numbers are eerily similar to Webb's 2006 number...except Webb's ERA was 3.10 vs Keuchel's 2.38 and Webb went 16-8 and Keuchel is currently on pace to go 19-6...again 19-6...from an Astros pitcher

 

...from an Astros pitcher on a sub .500 ball team. Kuechel is having a hoot of a season. If he gets to 10 wins by the All Star break he could conceivably win 20 games. If the summer call ups infuse this team the way George Springer and Jon Singleton have, look out folks, we could be looking at a .500 ball club!

 

This Astros front office is nothing if not busy. It was announced today that there has been movement in the minor leagues. First, the Astros have promoted Preston Tucker up from the Corpus Christi Hooks to the OKC Redhawks. To make room for Tucker the Astros traded 27 year old OF Adron Chambers to Toronto for two minor league players. They are LHP Alejandro Solarte and IF Will Dupont. Both are 19 years old and will report to Kissimmee. For a detailed account check out this link to Astros.com. Check out Tucker's numbers in CC. Holy crap has this organization become really good or what?!

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/hou/houston-trades-minor-leaguer-chambers-to-blue-jays?ymd=20140612&content_id=79429256&vkey=news_hou

[KABrother88]

I've always been a fan of Tucker an his bat...MLB.com has him at #20 right now but I personally think he should be in the 11-13 range ...all the guy does is hit and doesn't have the bad strike out numbers that many of out top hitting prospects have...the front office may have a tough decision to make now...depending on how Tucker performs at OKC they could possibly have 3 OF worthy of a summer call up with only 1 OF (LF) position seemingly available...good problem to have

[eagle eye]

If you want to see some of the Astros future the CBS Sports Network (Channel 221 on Directv) is showing the Corpus Christi Hooks (Astros AA franchise) vs the Frisco RoughRiders in a game in Corpus. Right now it's the bottom of the 3rd with CC winning 1-0 on a lead off home run.