2012 Winter signing Rick Ankiel hit 5 HRs in his first 40 AB with the Astros to start last year – including a huge Opening Day long bomb, but he could not buy a hit after that. The Astros released him soon after that. Ankiel was one of the acquisitions from last winter, so we can at least see the club is going after more astute players.
The Astros have scaled their Payroll to miniscule proportions. As of this minute, the players they have signed – that aren’t on entry level deals, equals $4.37 MIL, and that is if the club picks up their Team Option on Philip Humber for 2014. The only other player that makes more than an entry level is Jose Altuve at $1.37 MIL in 2014. The club is paying more in dead money to Wandy Rodriguez ($5.5 MIL in 2014) as part of the 2012 Trade worked out between clubs. It has been bantered about that the ownership and management are willing to spend some money in Free Agency for 2014. MLB currently does not have a floor for Team Salary in the current CBA, so why would the club do that until they are ready to compete?
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @mlbreports and Jeff Kleiner (Salary, Roster and Depth Chart Expert for the MLB) – visit his website here Follow @prosportsroster
A 3rd straight season with 105+ Losses, and 15 straight losses to finish the 2013 campaign does not give the fans very much to look forward to in 2014.
I am here to tell you that the MLB should be ashamed of letting the Houston Astros field such an incompetent team.
Having said this, I don’t personally blame them for tanking it over the last 3 years. They are the other ‘extreme’ – of what the New York Yankees and LA Dodgers have done payroll wise.
Last season at the end of the year, their highest paid player for the Active Roster was Erik Bedard, making $1.1 MIL.
If they keep picking 1st overall, it is only a matter of time before the team becomes very good, just like the Rays, Nationals, Twins and Pirates have all done in recent times.
For the Up to Date Roster for the Astros all year around, please visit Jeff’s Website right here
For the Entire Page of teams links we have dedicated to Payroll, Rosters, Depth Chart, State Of the Unions and Roster Trees, please click right here. Please bookmark this page and check back, as we are busy on the analysis at MLB Reports always.
On today’s show, brought to you by MLB Reports (www.mlbreports.com) & The Bench Warmers Show (thebenchwarmers.podomatic.com), I started by paying respects to a follower of mine on twitter (the great late Kiley) Follow @jeterfan_02 who passed away last week…not only she was a great Yankee fan who loved Derek Jeter – but also was the most sweetest giving person ever, R.I.P….
I start to talk about the Subway Series then I interviewed my first guest Derek Jackson (10 Minute Mark – 20 Minute Segment. Follow @djaxmlbreports who is a fantasy expert for MLB Reports! We talked about which callups to watch midway through the season,a look at the rookie crop of players & second year players…check out his latest fantasy article hereRead the rest of this entry →
Reid Ryan will be at the helm for his 1st ever draft as Team President for the Astros on June 6th. The team is picking 1st overall – and will most likely pick 1st or 2nd in next years Amateur Draft as well in 2014. This 2013 Draft Day Decision should be priority #1 with the management right now. Ryan was named Team President of the franchise only a few weeks ago.
The Houston Astros select first overall in the draft for the second consecutive year but have a big decision to make and that is the strategy they use. First let’s go through who the key people in the front office are.
Reid Ryan – Team President Jeff Luhnow: GM- Upenn David Stearns: Assistant GM- Harvard Craig Biggio, Roger Clemens – special assistants Sig Mejdal- director of decision sciences (best title name in baseball) Mike Elias: director of amateur scouting Kevin Goldstein: director of pro scouting Paul Ricciarini: scout David Post: national cross checker
Before I talk about the Astros potential strategies I think it is worth mentioning that Craig Biggio‘ s son Cavan Biggio is in this draft and that is something to watch for although he will not go first overall.
The Padres have played great baseball since they plugged Chase Headley back in the lineup. Players like Yonder Alonso, Will Venable, Everth Cabrera and even Kyle Blanks have bashed the ball around. Since a lot of the NL West clubs have not run away with the Division, the San Diego club has entered the picture for the Division Race.
The Rangers are #1 again based on the Division lead they currently possess, plus the fact they play all of these teams a total of 76 Games this year.
The Braves (rose their division lead to 2.5 Games with a 4 – 2 week), and Padres (18 – 13 in their last 31 Games and have been clubbing the ball lateley) were the biggest movers up for the week standings by climbing 6 spots apiece.
The biggest drops were the San Francisco Giants (hate their Starting Pitching right now – except for Madison Bumgarner) and the Baltimore Orioles (late inning magic might be dying – and still need a DH + a Veteran Starter or 2).
The Los Angeles teams keep losing ball games – and the Blue Jays lost 2 straight versus the Yankees just when they looked to be on track.
Cleveland is still ranked outside the top ten because I don’t have faith in their strength of schedule in the next month starting May 21st: 2 vs DET, 4 @BOS, 2 vs CIN, 2 @CIN, 2 vs TB, 3 @NYY, 3 @DET, 3 @TEX, 3 vs WSH and finally 3 vs KC. If they are above .500 after this stretch, I will be impressed.
Fernando Martinez clubbed a 2 Run HR in 1st game back with the Houston Astros this year. Unfortunately, he took a monster dive in Averages right after his ensuing opener. The 24 Year Old Man from the Dominican Republic, hit for a 3 Slash Line of .181/.229/.501 – after posting a .237/.300/.766 during his 2012 campaign with the big club – spanning 118 AB (6 HRs and 14 RBI). Martinez went unclaimed this week, after being placed on waivers – and will report to Oklahoma.
By Brian Hamilton(Astros Correspondent visit the StrosBros Website here): Follow @bham2421
Week That Was For The Stros:
Fernando Martinez, whom the Astros acquired off waivers from the New York Mets in January 2012, will be joining the AAA Oklahoma City RedHawks.
He was designated for assignment by the Astros last week. Martinez did not have any options remaining, meaning that he would have to clear waivers and be placed on an MLB teams active roster in order for the Astros to lose him.
This was from a few days ago before the club announced the hiring of new President Reid Ryan. Look for a new article tomorrow. Until then, listen to the PODCAST.
Richard and Lee are joined by Jared Webb of Farmstros, discussing prospects, the draft, and the exit of Astros CEO/President George Postolos . click the READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY for more details or scroll down. Read the rest of this entry →
The Blue Jays are reportedly in agreement on a three-year deal with star shortstop Bo Bichette to buy out his remaining seasons of arbitration eligibility. The contract will not affect the team’s window of club control by delaying his path to free agency. Bichette is represented by Vayner Sports. Bichette debuted in the second half of the…
The Astros announced to reporters, including Mark Berman of Fox 26, that they have signed right-hander Bryan Garcia to a minor league deal with an invitation to major league Spring Training. Garcia, 28 in April, joins just his second organization, as he’s spent his entire career with the Tigers up until this point. He got…
The Phillies are in agreement with left-hander Kyle Hart on a minor league deal, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive. The southpaw will presumably receive an invitation to major league Spring Training. Hart, 30, will join just his second organization, as he was drafted by the Red Sox and has spent his entire career with them…
The Guardians and left-hander Phillip Diehl are in agreement on a minor league contract, tweets Robert Murray of FanSided. The Dynamic Sports Group client will be in big league camp this spring. Diehl, 28, has appeared in parts of three minor league seasons but tallied just 19 innings. He most recently spent time with the…
The Acereros de Monclova of the Mexican League announced last week that left-hander Mike Montgomery has signed for the 2023 season (Spanish-language link). The Acereros also announced a deal with reliever R.J. Alaniz (on Twitter). Montgomery, now 33, pitched in the majors in each season from 2015-20. A top prospect between 2010-12 while in the Royals’ system […]
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