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Why The Houston Astros Have The Brightest Future In Major League Baseball
Carlos Correa was the 1st overall pick in the 2012 Amateur Draft for the Houston Astros. He came up in early June and proceeded to win the American League Rookie Of The Year Award with a 3 Slash of .279/.345/.512 with 22 HRs (led all shortstops in the MLB) and 22 Doubles in just 99 Games. This type of production will change the complexion of the team for the next 6 years. He is just going to be 21 for all of next season – and he looks exactly like a young Alex Rodriguez. In his 1st postseason action, Correa smacked 2 HRs in that pivotal game 4 of the ALDS for Houston, staking them to a 6 – 2 lead before the Bullpen gave up the game.
Trey Rose (Featured Fantasy Baseball Writer/Owner – dynastydigest.sportsblog.com) Follow @Dynasty_Digest
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The Houston Astros had some very rough years from 2011 to 2013 (162-324 record).
While this was a tough time for the Major League Organization, their Minor League affiliates were thriving. Luckily for the Astros, a lot of their young talent has made their way through the minors and has finally landed in the big leagues.
This youth movement has helped the team drastically. Many baseball experts and fans didn’t predict the Astros to compete in 2015, but they proved them wrong.
In 2015, they made the playoffs for the first time since 2005. They accomplished this feat while having the 6th youngest roster in Major League Baseball (Average age of 26.7 years old).
If the Astros were this successful with a roster with so little Major League experience, then can you imagine what they will do once their talent matures throughout the next few seasons?
How To Stop Tanking Maneuvers In Order To ‘Rebuild’ MLB Teams
In the last year of the current ‘CBA’ there may be a change to the new agreement that would stop teams from intentionally losing under the “integrity of competitiveness” clause. Teams such as Houston and the Chicago Cubs have laid the template down, and now other teams are following suit like the Phillies, Braves, Reds, Padres, Rockies and Brewers.
Jordan Gluck (Part Owner/Featured Writer): Follow @jgluck777
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How to stop Tanking?
Spearheaded by Jeff Luhnow – the complete ‘tank philosophy’ has taken off across sports which is a terrible thing for competitive balance.
Teams in other leagues such as the Philadelphia 76ers, Chicago Cubs, Buffalo Sabres, Minnesota Timberwolves and Indianapolis Colts have had completely terrible teams with the goal of landing the top selection in that draft(s).
Tanking has become much more widespread and is EXTREMELY EFFECTIVE. The problem is losing this badly leads to teams being terrible likely for long periods of time so they can be at the top of the draft and have a chance at elite players.
The differences in tanking differ by league though, in basketball if you don’t have the elite talent then you will never win and that talent is found almost always at the top of the draft.
In football you need a quarterback to be a super bowl contender and tanking will likely be just for the quarterback as the Colts did for Andrew Luck.
Hockey (like baseball) requires depth but top line players carry a huge premium and are available at the top of the draft and you defiantly need at least a few to be Stanley Cup contenders. Read the rest of this entry
Houston Astros State Of The Union For 2016
The Houston Astros were the worst team in the Major Leagues from 2011 – 2013, where they topped the 100 Loss barrier for each of those seasons, underwent an ownership change, and also moved from the tough NL Central to the AL West. Last year the Astros finally turned the corner with the 2nd Wild Card Spot, won that game in New York and took the KC Royals to the brink of elimination before they lost. They are young, have a core nucleus of team controllable superstars and exceptional depth that they can use for upgrades. It is a great time to be a ‘Stros fan.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer/Part Owner) Follow @stokes_hunter21
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The Houston Astros are set to contend for the foreseeable future. A 6 year stretch in which they revamped their entire Minor League System – and kept payroll down to grab top Draft Picks finally reeled in the teams 1st playoff spot in a decade in 2016.
After taking a 6 – 2 lead in Game 4 of the ALDS series against the Royals with 2 – 1 lead the Bullpen coughed up the margin – with the club also losing the next game to the eventual World Series winner.
It was a tough lesson to learn in the postseason – but it may be the 1st of many appearances in October in the near future.
The #1 task of acquiring a lock down Closer has been addressed in the recent trade for Ken Giles. Yes it cost them Brett Oberholtzer, former #1 overall Draft Pick Mark Appel, and a few other prospects, but it also sets up the nucleus core for 4 – 5 more years.
The clubs offense featured 11 guys with double digit Homers in the lineup, and 2 others that fell just a dinger shy of the clip. Read the rest of this entry
MLB Top Free Agent Predictions (Picks 26 – 50)
Matt Wieters accepted the 1 Year Qualifying Offer with the Baltimore Orioles. He joined both Colby Rasmus and Brett Anderson as the 1st 3 men to ever accept the ‘QO’ under the new format. Marco Estrada was also taken off off the market Friday, accepting a 2 YR/$26 MIL deal with the Toronto Blue Jays.
Jordan Gluck (Part Owner/Featured Writer): Follow @jgluck777
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MLB Free Agent Predictions
I will be using mlbtraderumors.com top 50 free agents to make things easy. To be clear there are other free agents outside this list (some who I think should be on it) who will be available and many could have breakout or comeback seasons.
Additionally there will be players that get non tendered during arbitration. Well so here are my predictions.
D’Backs Pitching Staff In 2014: The Roster Tree Shows Now Ex – GM Towers Fault(y) On Assembly
Kevin Towers had been at the GM helm since Sept.22, 2010 before having his duties relinquished today. He authored some of the worst trades in club history, and has seen his team pay the price for it the most this year, with a 59 – 81 record, after back to back 81 seasons in 2012 and 2013, and a NL West Title in his 1st year on the job in 2011. Towers traded away Stephen Drew, Justin Upton, Mark Reynolds, Chris Young, Tyler Skaggs, Adam Eaton, Matt Davidson and Martin Prado – all without much of talent brought back to the fold in return. It was time to go.
How All Of The D’Backs Pitchers Were Acquired:
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
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It has not been a banner year for the Arizona Diamondbacks. I don’t need to beleaguer that point out to much to the common fan of the franchise.
What I found most disturbing out of the Roster Tree, is the team’s brass continued reliance and insistence on Relief arms.
But before we divulge into that, the name Dan Haren is still haunting this franchise. (Not Towers fault, but still an important trade historically) Read the rest of this entry
ALL – Time TJ Surgery Tracker 1974 – 2014 (30 Updates Including Jonny Venters 3rd Time)
Dr. James Andrews – leading Tommy John surgeon is the new senior leader on this innovative and break through procedure, championed 1st over 40 years ago, and responsible for extending over 700 players careers now.
For all the talk of baseball players (pitchers mostly) that will be undergoing Tommy John Surgery, we will be keeping a running list! E-mail us at mlbreports@gmail.com if you have any names to add to our totals.
How many players are having or had TJ in history? You are about to find out:
Links
TOMMY JOHN SURGERY – 2014 (30)
2014
Jonny Venters – (3rd Time Probable) Braves: Aug/Sept 2014Jeremy Hefner, NYM Aug 2014 (TJ Watch List – Possible 2nd TJ Surgery)
Tyler Skaggs, Angels, Aug 10 – will have season ending TJ surgery soon. expected to be out til 2016
Nate Jones, White Sox, July.30
Tyler Chatwood, Rockies, July,19
Masahiro Tanaka, Yankees (Partially Torn UCL, (TJ Watch List), July 10th
Bronson Arroyo, D’Backs July Surgery.
Matt Wieters, Orioles, June 17th
Sean Burnett, Angels, June 5th
Chris Withrow, Dodgers, June 3rd
Jose Cisnero, Astros, May 28th
Martin Perez, Rangers, May 19th.
Jose Fernandez, Marlins, May 16th
A.J. Griffin, Athletics, Apr.25th .
Pedro Figueroa, Rangers, Apr.30th
Ivan Nova, Yankees, – Apr.29th
Josh Johnson, Padres, – Apr.24
Matt Moore, Rays – Apr.24, 2014 – Link: With Moore Out For TJ Surgery – The Rays Should Hold Onto Price Through 2015
Jameson Taillon – Pirates – April 9, 2014
Bobby Parnell – Mets – April 8th
Cory Gearrin – Braves – Mar.29 – Went on the 60 Day DL with partial ligament tear of right elbow Mar.29, 2014 – May Require TJ Surgery.”
David Hernandez – D’Backs – Surgery April 2014.
Bruce Rondon – Tigers – Mar.2014
Patrick Corbin – D’Backs – Mar.2014.
Jarrod Parker – Athletics – March 2014
Brandon Beachy – Braves – “2nd TJ Surgery” Mar 2014
Kris Medlen– Braves – Mar 2014
Luke Hochevar– Royals – March.07, 2014.
Miguel Sano – Twins (Position Player) Mar, 2014.
Cory Luebke – Padres: Luebke went under the knife for his 2nd TJ Surgery Feb 2014. Read the rest of this entry
ALL – Time Tommy John Surgery List 1974 – Present
For all the talk of baseball players (pitchers mostly) that will be undergoing Tommy John Surgery, we will be keeping a running list! E-mail us at mlbreports@gmail.com if you have any names to add to our totals.
How many players are having or had TJ in history? You are about to find out: Read the rest of this entry
How All Of The Diamondbacks Hitters Were Acquired (2014 Roster Tree)
How All Of The D’Backs Hitters Were Acquired:
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Follow MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
The Diamondbacks are having a brutal season at 30 – 44 thus far, and are now under the microscope of Tony La Russa.
This has to be done for good reason. The club’s transaction record recently is highly suspect even though they are being led by veteran GM Kevin Towers.
When covering this Roster Tree (just for the hitters) I have found a disturbing trend of 2 team and 3 way trades that may not be beneficial to the long term success for the snakes.
The 1st one coming to mind is shipping out Trevor Bauer, Bryan Shaw and Matt Albers for a fringe 1B prospect in Lars Anderson, Reliever Tony Sipp and shortstop Didi Gregorius (even though Chris Owings was already in the system). Read the rest of this entry
Houston Latest Team To Complete MLB Runs Survivor 2014: 6 Teams Left
The Astros lost the last 15 games to end the 2013 campaign, and put forth an 111 game loss season, and it looked bleak for the franchise in 2014 just 5 weeks ago. Since then, Springer has smashed 12 HRs, added almost an RBI a game, and has lit a fire under the teams offense. Oh Yeah. Jose Altuve is also in the top 5 for AL Batting, Chris Carter has hit HRs of late, and Dallas Keuchel and Collin McHugh are both pitching fantastic for the squad that is now 29 – 36.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer): Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
The Houston Astros are playing a great brand of ball over the last several weeks. George Springer has ignited this offense to scoring more runs than have plated since the Killer B’s.
By virtue of them pasting the Twins with a 14 – 5 routing on Sunday, it nailed down their elusive 10 or 10+ Runs column for their 11th different run scenario.
No Longer is this team a laughing stock in the Majors.
The Astros have turned out a 10 – 5 record since May 24th, and are quietly inching towards the .500 mark, Not bad for a club that lost 111 contests in 2013.
I even have to admit I love the move skipper Bo Porter did last night in bringing in Tony Sipp for a batter, then moving him to right field, enabling Jerome Williams to face the next batter, before bringing him back to the mound again.
Now that is thinking outside of the box.
The Astros have runs scored of 7, 8, 9 and 10 or 10+ in the last 2 weeks. It looked like they were a shoe in to lose this entire competition back then.
Now there is only the Yankees (8 runs) and Red Sox (10 or 10+) left in the AL (who would have thought that with those perennial high octane offenses?),
The AL Central and West have all teams that have fulfilled their obligations on the MLB Runs Survivor.
The teams needing 1 more result in the NL are the Diamondbacks, Reds, Mets and Braves. Arizona and Cincy need 9 runs in a game, and New York and Atlanta need games where 8 cross the plate. Read the rest of this entry
The Arizona Diamondbacks Players In All Organizational Affiliates, Prospects, Depth Charts, (MLB + MiLB) Fall 2013
The Arizona Diamondbacks didn’t have the type of year in 2013 that they had wished for, however the future looks really strong. Aided by a slugging 1st Baseman (Paul Goldschmidt), and great young Staring Pitching like Wade Miley and Patrick Corbin, added with Veterans Miguel Montero, Martin Prado and Aaron Hill, with prospects A.J. Pollock and Adam Eaton being the future core, this team should see some heavy duty improvement from year to year.
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
The Arizona Diamondbacks are one of the better run franchises in the MLB In fact, they are in a constant battle with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, for the best record ALL – Time for an expansion team.
The club has made the playoffs in 5 of its 15 years existence. While they won’t make the Post Season in 2013, they have been competitive for yet another campaign.
One of the best things they could have done was to lock down Paul Goldschmidt to a a lengthy (team friendly contract, that will see the big First Baseman be the pillar behind the offense for the next several seasons.
Kevin Towers and his scouting staff are always on top of the mark for player development, and it will probably result in the team having a chance every year in both the NL West Race and for a Wild Card Birth.
For a Full 3 year Salary Outlook plus last years Stats for every player in the D-Backs Organization click here.
Paul Goldschmidt Highlights 2013
Dbacks’ Make Move At Trade Deadline To Improve Their Bullpen
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Joe Thatcher was dealt to the Arizona Diamondbacks on the last day of the Trade Deadline. This acquisition makes their bullpen stronger with having a pitcher that can get lefties out on a consistent basis. He has 2.10 ERA in 30 innings pitched this season, while only giving three HRs, and walking four batters. He has a WHIP of 1.06 and has struck out 29 batters. He is holding the opposing batters to a .243 average this season, while holding left-handed batters to a .215 average. Thatcher is very good with runners in scoring position as well, by holding teams to a batting average of .121 in this situation. He does not throw hard with a fastball that sits in the mid 80s and a sweeping slider. He has held lefty batters to a 209./.269/.586 triple-slash in 344 career at-bats.
By Chris Lacey (Lead Baseball Columnist/Minority Website Owner) Follow @aecanada12
The Arizona Diamondbacks were the kings of the National League West division for most of this season, and that’s not saying much. That division is not what you would call competitive, with only two teams that have a record over. 500.
Arizona was able to maintain their lead in large part because the Los Angeles Dodgers were dealing with numerous injuries.Then once the Dodgers had key players healthy, Los Angeles started to play better.
Paul Goldschmidt 2013 Highlights – Parental Guidance Is Advised
Cleveland Indians Payroll In 2013: And Contracts Going Forward
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Follow @mlbreportsSunday Feb 24, 2013
The Cleveland Indians have been around since 1901. During the years the Indians have won 8,792 games & have lost 8,573 games. The Indians have won the World Series 2 times & have 31 players in the Hall Of Fame.
By Larry Myers (Indians Correspondent): Follow @TribeFanz1969
The Indians finished the 2012 season as a huge disappointment. The Indians had a strong first half before falling apart in the second half. The Indians the 2013 season with many new faces after a busy winter.
GM Chris Antonetti and President Mark Shapiro decided to make some major moves to improve the team for the 2013 season. The first move the Indians made was replacing Manny Acta with Terry Francona as manager. The Indians then traded Shin-Soo Choo & Tony Sipp in a 3 team trade to pick up Drew Stubbs, Matt Albers. Bryan Shaw & Trevor Bauer. The Indians signed a few Free Agents with the four biggest names being Nick Swisher, Mark Reynolds, Brett Myers, & Michael Bourn. The Indians showed that with the moves they made they are ready to contend now & in the future.
Cleveland Indians 2012 Season Highlights:
Arizona DiamondBacks Roster In 2013: State Of The Union
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The Diamondbacks will look to regain the magic that aided them in winning the division in 2011.
By Chris Lacey (Diamond Backs Correspondent) Follow @aecanada12
Arizona Diamondbacks fans had some high hopes coming into the 2012 season after winning the division in 2011 and making their way back to the playoffs for the first time 2007. The 2012 off-season saw them bring in free agent OF Jason Kubel. The season started off great with a three game sweep of the San Francisco Giants, but when CF Chris Young went crashing into the wall to catch a deep ball against the Pittsburgh Pirates the team was never the same. The Diamondbacks are in tough division the NL West, which is known for pitching. They will have to rely on their young starters if they hope to compete with San Francisco Giants & Los Angeles Dodgers. The offense will have to get better with manufacturing runs and instead of depending on the long ball to score runs. They traded away RF Justin Upton and 3B Chris Johnson, but they brought in versatile player Martin Prado and pitching prospect Randall Delgado.
Game #7 of the 2001 World Series – Gonzalez Game Winner – Can the 2013 DBACKS get back to the WS?
Arizona DiamondBacks Payroll In 2013: And Contracts Going Forward
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Arizona have won 5 Division Titles in just 15 years of existence – including winning the World Series in 2001. The franchise consistently is rated as one of the top rated front office organizations – and routinely rank as the most fan-friendly team in the MLB. The Franchise is 2nd amongst Expansion Clubs for Winning Percentage (.498) behind the Angels (.499.) The DBacks are only 10 games below .500 for their ALL-Time record (1210-1220). Will they be able to compete with the Dodgers and Giants in future years by increasing Payroll?
By Chris Lacey (Diamond Backs Correspondent) Follow @aecanada12
The Diamondbacks finished the 2012 season with disappointment as they struggled to get over .500 for much of the season. They lost the last game of the season to the Rockies that summed up what happened during the year. When they got good starting pitching, the defense would make a costly mistake, and then the offense would struggle to score any runs. The Diamondbacks enter the 2013 camaign with plenty of new faces on the club.
General Manager Kevin Towers has changed the makeup of this team these past two off-seasons. He has put an emphasis on players who can make consistent contact, rather than hitting the long ball. The Dbacks GM is always looking to improve upon the bullpen. He did this by taking a risk on Heath Bell who had a bad year with the Marlins, but Towers believes a change of scenery will help. Towers not only brought in bullpen help, but also signed some key players’ to long-term contracts that will aid the team to not only contend now, but for the future.
2011 DiamondBacks Post Season Highlights. Lyrics May Contain mature content so Parental Guidance is advised:
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