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Footballguy
I agree. Really horrible.
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Astros 2012 thread: Crane era takes flight (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter coolnerd
- Start date
Well, let's see...guy just bought arguably the worst team in the majors.guy is trying to get the organization name out there by discounting tickets, changing promotional offers, allowing food and beverages into the stands, and then throwing out there about the name change. It's going to start discussion about the team.Also, new team name will mean new merchandise to be made/sold.Current organizations changing names while remaining in the same city has not happened recently that I can think of off the top of my head, but it's happened in the past (case in point, Astros were original the colt 45's)Lastly, it's not as if this Astros organization has a long history of championships to boast. I'm not a big fan of the name change myself, but i think it's not much more than a publicity stunt personally. I would expect a logo change however in the not too distant future.
coolnerd
Footballguy
While I am down as anyone about the curent state of the franshise, it is not like the Astros don't have a legitimate history. While no World Series titles, the team from around 1995-2005 was as consistently in the mix, they have two of the more memorable playoff series 1980 & 1986, and a few great moments of pitching. The city of Houston already had the Oilers history sort of flushed down the drain, but at least they moved.
Someting like 80-90 of the fans were against it in a local poll that I saw. Enough baseball fans are up in arms about AL baseball, changing the name would take him years if not decades to recover from.
Someting like 80-90 of the fans were against it in a local poll that I saw. Enough baseball fans are up in arms about AL baseball, changing the name would take him years if not decades to recover from.
coolnerd
Footballguy
Captain Hook
Footballguy
Just say NO...............guy has been terrible for years. I would rather have a not quite ready prospect get some experience than wasting money on another retread'coolnerd said:
coolnerd
Footballguy
looks the name changing talk has went awayhttp://footer.mlblogs.com/2012/01/30/jim-crane-we-will-not-change-the-name-astros/
coolnerd
Footballguy
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/31/the-astros-sign-livan-hernandez-to-a-minor-league-deal/
Livan Hernandez maybe to eat up innings and fill out the roster
Livan Hernandez maybe to eat up innings and fill out the roster
coolnerd
Footballguy
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/02/06/justin-ruggiano-declines-rays-assignment-to-triple-a/
a dart named Justin Ruggiano corner outfielder with some power potential
a dart named Justin Ruggiano corner outfielder with some power potential
cosjobs
Footballguy
Not really a LH fan, but I think this signing is really good. He should consume enough innings to prevent burning out some of the young arms, whether physically or psychologically.
Eephus
Footballguy
He's still a fun guy to watch work
coolnerd
Footballguy
Eephus
Footballguy
coolnerd
Footballguy
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7579203/the-blueprint-how-fix-houston-astros
looks like innovative from the new administration
looks like innovative from the new administration
coolnerd
Footballguy
most of that is in three players...Wandy, Lee, Myers are around $40 million of that
cosjobs
Footballguy
From Insider
Houston, We Have (Lots of) Problems
The Astros' blueprint for rebuilding
By Jonah Keri on February 15, 2012
PRINT
There are thousands of ingredients that go into building a successful baseball franchise. But sometimes the difference between a great franchise and a lousy one can be summed up with a single number.
In 2005, 2006, and 2007, the St. Louis Cardinals drafted a total of 24 players who've since made it to the big leagues — the highest number for any team during that three-year span. The Cardinals won the World Series last year thanks in large part to players like Jaime Garcia, Jon Jay, Allen Craig, and Lance Lynn.
In the 2005, 2006, and 2007 amateur drafts, the Houston Astros drafted a total of four players who've since made it to the big leagues, the lowest rate of return in the majors. The Astros went 56-106 last year, good for the worst record in baseball and the worst in franchise history.
Twenty-four to four. That's what separates baseball's champs from its chumps. It's also what prompted the Astros to make the most logical move, given the circumstances: They hired two of the men most responsible for the Cardinals' success.
If you can't beat 'em, poach 'em.
The Astros were one of baseball's top teams not long ago, banging out six playoff appearances in a nine-year stretch starting in 1997. But owner Drayton McLane kept pushing for big-ticket free agents rather than focusing on the farm system that had produced quality players like Craig Biggio and Ken Caminiti. That strategy hit its nadir in 2007, when the Astros lost their top two picks as compensation for signing Carlos Lee and Woody Williams — the former proving to be an overpriced pickup, the latter an unmitigated disaster.
But the rot ran deeper than the casual fan could see. Take the case of master talent evaluator Andres Reiner. Thanks to Reiner, the Astros had established themselves as the industry leaders in scouting Venezuelan talent in the 1990s, signing big names like Bobby Abreu, Johan Santana, Carlos Guillen, and Freddy Garcia.1 Those efforts dried up when Reiner departed in 2005 and McLane got stingier with draft picks, becoming increasingly rigid about sticking to league recommendations for player bonuses. Slowly but surely, the stable of minor league talent eroded to almost nothing.
Which leaves us where we are today. And it's not pretty: a major league roster woefully short on talent; a farm system that's only now starting to recover from years of neglect; a move to the American League next season that will put the Astros in direct competition with the suddenly mighty Rangers and Angels, with the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, and Tigers also looming as fierce competition. So what's a team with hopes of being relevant sometime in the next decade to do?
The first step, says new GM Jeff Luhnow (hired away from St. Louis), is simply to catch up to other teams' brainpower. It's been a decade since a twentysomething front-office assistant named Chris Antonetti created DiamondView, a proprietary database that the Indians used to track all manner of statistical, scouting, and injury data on major and minor league players. Now multiple other teams have built their own proprietary data — the Red Sox, A's, Rays, and those pesky rivals in St. Louis, to name a few — leaving the Astros behind in the front-office talent race.
To fill those slots, Luhnow sought out candidates who had extensive experience outside baseball.
"There's a skill to not going native," says Luhnow. "Even though I've been in the industry for nine years, I want to remain capable of looking to other sports, other businesses, to keep trying to innovate. The game's been around for centuries, but change is accelerating, just like technology is accelerating. [That's] where we feel like we can gain an advantage."
Luhnow's first hire was Sig Mejdal, who had been his director of amateur draft analytics with the Cardinals. It's an important spot, since the Astros are picking first in June's amateur draft for the first time since they took Phil Nevin as no. 1 overall 20 years ago. Does the team like lanky Stanford right-hander Mark Appel for this year's top pick? Or would high school righty Lucas Giolito make more sense? Or, given how tough it is to find a dominant player at an up-the-middle position, maybe Arizona State shortstop Deven Marrero is the answer?
These questions are only the beginning. There's an unreal amount for Mejdal to do. He's not a scout, but he's in contact with scouts on a daily basis. He's never trained under Dr. James Andrews, but he's learning as much as he can about biomechanics so the Astros can make informed decisions on how to develop young arms. He doesn't have a PhD in psychology, but he's getting to know more about baseball intelligence, emotional stability, and motivation, all elements of that broad baseball term called "makeup."
These things matter for every club, of course. But when you're a team so starved for talent that the best prospect on your major league roster is 5-foot-5, 155-pound second baseman Jose Altuve,2 finding the best practices to develop winning players becomes that much more important. Though veterans like Carlos Lee and Chris Snyder and several low-pedigree young players are just eating space until better options emerge, it's still possible that the Astros find a keeper or two on the current roster. Bud Norris, one of the four players from those 2005-07 drafts who beat the odds and made the big leagues, has become one of the National League's more intriguing young pitchers. J.D. Martinez jumped from Double-A to the majors last year and could offer decent power as the team's everyday left fielder.
The Astros' not-so-secret weapon in their efforts to squeeze the most out of those players is a former semiconductor engineer named Mike Fast. Using his engineering background and the data available from sources such as Sportvision's PITCHf/x, which tracks the spin, velocity, and trajectory of every pitch thrown in the big leagues, Fast has studied the effects of abilities such as catcher pitch-framing. He concluded that the best pitch framers can be a lot more valuable than we thought, producing as much as two wins a season under ideal circumstances. He also tackled topics that had previously been considered mostly solved by sabermetricians. The hit-and-run play, he found, could be more valuable than many baseball analysts had long believed — assuming it was used correctly, and at the right time.
Though he's just been on the job for a few weeks, Fast says he expects to get involved in real decision-making, rather than risk getting buried with theoretical work. New manager Brad Mills has been receptive to new ideas, says Luhnow, and getting Fast's ideas in front of the new skipper can only help.
"Everybody is trying to figure out how to use it for player evaluation," Fast said. "All the sabermetric clubs I talked to have started doing that already. But very few people are receptive to using it for player training and development. That's one way we can get some of those edges."
There's no reason not to do things differently — not after a season in which the Astros lost more games than any other team, and struggled off the field too. There might be more short-term pain ahead, as the team shops veterans like Wandy Rodriguez and Brett Myers for prospects rather than risks losing them outright to free agency. The team's record could lag behind the credentials of its front office for the next several years. But if the Astros haven't hit bottom yet, they will soon. After that, there's nowhere to go but up.
"You lose 106 games, it has to make people open to questioning things," said Fast. "We know we can improve from where we were. But we also know there's no quick fix right on the horizon."
But with a progressive new front office in place, the slow climb back might be ready to begin.
Houston, We Have (Lots of) Problems
The Astros' blueprint for rebuilding
By Jonah Keri on February 15, 2012
There are thousands of ingredients that go into building a successful baseball franchise. But sometimes the difference between a great franchise and a lousy one can be summed up with a single number.
In 2005, 2006, and 2007, the St. Louis Cardinals drafted a total of 24 players who've since made it to the big leagues — the highest number for any team during that three-year span. The Cardinals won the World Series last year thanks in large part to players like Jaime Garcia, Jon Jay, Allen Craig, and Lance Lynn.
In the 2005, 2006, and 2007 amateur drafts, the Houston Astros drafted a total of four players who've since made it to the big leagues, the lowest rate of return in the majors. The Astros went 56-106 last year, good for the worst record in baseball and the worst in franchise history.
Twenty-four to four. That's what separates baseball's champs from its chumps. It's also what prompted the Astros to make the most logical move, given the circumstances: They hired two of the men most responsible for the Cardinals' success.
If you can't beat 'em, poach 'em.
The Astros were one of baseball's top teams not long ago, banging out six playoff appearances in a nine-year stretch starting in 1997. But owner Drayton McLane kept pushing for big-ticket free agents rather than focusing on the farm system that had produced quality players like Craig Biggio and Ken Caminiti. That strategy hit its nadir in 2007, when the Astros lost their top two picks as compensation for signing Carlos Lee and Woody Williams — the former proving to be an overpriced pickup, the latter an unmitigated disaster.
But the rot ran deeper than the casual fan could see. Take the case of master talent evaluator Andres Reiner. Thanks to Reiner, the Astros had established themselves as the industry leaders in scouting Venezuelan talent in the 1990s, signing big names like Bobby Abreu, Johan Santana, Carlos Guillen, and Freddy Garcia.1 Those efforts dried up when Reiner departed in 2005 and McLane got stingier with draft picks, becoming increasingly rigid about sticking to league recommendations for player bonuses. Slowly but surely, the stable of minor league talent eroded to almost nothing.
Which leaves us where we are today. And it's not pretty: a major league roster woefully short on talent; a farm system that's only now starting to recover from years of neglect; a move to the American League next season that will put the Astros in direct competition with the suddenly mighty Rangers and Angels, with the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, and Tigers also looming as fierce competition. So what's a team with hopes of being relevant sometime in the next decade to do?
The first step, says new GM Jeff Luhnow (hired away from St. Louis), is simply to catch up to other teams' brainpower. It's been a decade since a twentysomething front-office assistant named Chris Antonetti created DiamondView, a proprietary database that the Indians used to track all manner of statistical, scouting, and injury data on major and minor league players. Now multiple other teams have built their own proprietary data — the Red Sox, A's, Rays, and those pesky rivals in St. Louis, to name a few — leaving the Astros behind in the front-office talent race.
To fill those slots, Luhnow sought out candidates who had extensive experience outside baseball.
"There's a skill to not going native," says Luhnow. "Even though I've been in the industry for nine years, I want to remain capable of looking to other sports, other businesses, to keep trying to innovate. The game's been around for centuries, but change is accelerating, just like technology is accelerating. [That's] where we feel like we can gain an advantage."
Luhnow's first hire was Sig Mejdal, who had been his director of amateur draft analytics with the Cardinals. It's an important spot, since the Astros are picking first in June's amateur draft for the first time since they took Phil Nevin as no. 1 overall 20 years ago. Does the team like lanky Stanford right-hander Mark Appel for this year's top pick? Or would high school righty Lucas Giolito make more sense? Or, given how tough it is to find a dominant player at an up-the-middle position, maybe Arizona State shortstop Deven Marrero is the answer?
These questions are only the beginning. There's an unreal amount for Mejdal to do. He's not a scout, but he's in contact with scouts on a daily basis. He's never trained under Dr. James Andrews, but he's learning as much as he can about biomechanics so the Astros can make informed decisions on how to develop young arms. He doesn't have a PhD in psychology, but he's getting to know more about baseball intelligence, emotional stability, and motivation, all elements of that broad baseball term called "makeup."
These things matter for every club, of course. But when you're a team so starved for talent that the best prospect on your major league roster is 5-foot-5, 155-pound second baseman Jose Altuve,2 finding the best practices to develop winning players becomes that much more important. Though veterans like Carlos Lee and Chris Snyder and several low-pedigree young players are just eating space until better options emerge, it's still possible that the Astros find a keeper or two on the current roster. Bud Norris, one of the four players from those 2005-07 drafts who beat the odds and made the big leagues, has become one of the National League's more intriguing young pitchers. J.D. Martinez jumped from Double-A to the majors last year and could offer decent power as the team's everyday left fielder.
The Astros' not-so-secret weapon in their efforts to squeeze the most out of those players is a former semiconductor engineer named Mike Fast. Using his engineering background and the data available from sources such as Sportvision's PITCHf/x, which tracks the spin, velocity, and trajectory of every pitch thrown in the big leagues, Fast has studied the effects of abilities such as catcher pitch-framing. He concluded that the best pitch framers can be a lot more valuable than we thought, producing as much as two wins a season under ideal circumstances. He also tackled topics that had previously been considered mostly solved by sabermetricians. The hit-and-run play, he found, could be more valuable than many baseball analysts had long believed — assuming it was used correctly, and at the right time.
Though he's just been on the job for a few weeks, Fast says he expects to get involved in real decision-making, rather than risk getting buried with theoretical work. New manager Brad Mills has been receptive to new ideas, says Luhnow, and getting Fast's ideas in front of the new skipper can only help.
"Everybody is trying to figure out how to use it for player evaluation," Fast said. "All the sabermetric clubs I talked to have started doing that already. But very few people are receptive to using it for player training and development. That's one way we can get some of those edges."
There's no reason not to do things differently — not after a season in which the Astros lost more games than any other team, and struggled off the field too. There might be more short-term pain ahead, as the team shops veterans like Wandy Rodriguez and Brett Myers for prospects rather than risks losing them outright to free agency. The team's record could lag behind the credentials of its front office for the next several years. But if the Astros haven't hit bottom yet, they will soon. After that, there's nowhere to go but up.
"You lose 106 games, it has to make people open to questioning things," said Fast. "We know we can improve from where we were. But we also know there's no quick fix right on the horizon."
But with a progressive new front office in place, the slow climb back might be ready to begin.
coolnerd
Footballguy
coolnerd
Footballguy
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/03/02/new-astros-gm-says-the-rangers-spending-like-drunken-sailors-in-latin-america/
uhmm...as a fan of both..the Astros don't need to say much about anyone at the moment
uhmm...as a fan of both..the Astros don't need to say much about anyone at the moment
coolnerd
Footballguy
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/03/20/royals-acquire-humberto-quintero-and-jason-bourgeois-from-astros/
trade for a left handed live arm Kevin Chapman for two borderline plus 30 major leaguers.
trade for a left handed live arm Kevin Chapman for two borderline plus 30 major leaguers.
Eephus
Footballguy
and a PTBNL
Treynwreck3
Footballguy
Pretty solid move. Chapman is a likely middle rotation guy in a couple of years. Quintero and Bourgeois are exactly what went wrong with the Astros in the first place.ETA: Chapman is a big hard-throwing lefty who closed games for the Florida Gators. His final season with the Gators he had a 1.28 era, a .179 oba, and 11 saves.'coolnerd said:
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coolnerd
Footballguy
Cust is a low contact hitter (lots of walks and strike outs) that if he is not hitting for raw power is just stealing at bats from some young player who might develop into more than he has shown in the minors. I mean Bret Wallace (another left-handed heavy) was not very good in 2011, but there is at least some chance for development (even if no more than equalling Cust's 3 or 4 decent power years). Outside of Cust getting hot enough to trade for a mediocore prospect or two, he is not going to help the Astros win many games now or in the future. Literally, just filling out a roster,imo.I actually like the Cust signingHe's cheap, he gets on base, he has played his entire career in pitchers parks, and now gets to hit in a hitters park, second year appears to be a club option so if he's craptastic, he's easily jettisoned....he's early 30's and playing for contracts, so it's not like he's 36 and guaranteed to get paid 16million dollars whether he sucks or not....and with the Astros joining the AL next year, he would make a decent stop gap at DH....wth do they have that can play DH?Also like the Martinez dart. I already like this new GM.....gonna be a long few years in Houston, hopefully they can draft a few guys.
The Astros agreed with me in the end.http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/03/27/the-astros-cut-jack-cust-this-is-important-this-means-something/
coolnerd
Footballguy
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/03/27/jordan-schafer-leaves-astros-camp-to-see-hand-specialist/
Jordan Schafer is injured and I am looking out a west facing window at a setting sun.
Jordan Schafer is injured and I am looking out a west facing window at a setting sun.
coolnerd
Footballguy
and they did say no (also known as he sucked enough where they had no choice) http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/houston-astros-cut-pitcher-zach-duke-veteran-hitter-jack-cust/2012/03/27/gIQAQFeNeS_story.html
coolnerd
Footballguy
So another dude with a history of injury is injured
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/03/28/jed-lowrie-injures-thumb-gets-angry-at-omar-infante-for-blocking-base/
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/03/28/jed-lowrie-injures-thumb-gets-angry-at-omar-infante-for-blocking-base/
coolnerd
Footballguy
http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2012/03/30/astros-release-livan-hernandez-go-with-youth-in-rotation/
won't be Pacmanning innings in Houston
won't be Pacmanning innings in Houston
cosjobs
Footballguy
This is good news. Neither he nor Cust should have ever even been in camp. They are both the opposite of who should be getting any playing time in Houston.
Eephus
Footballguy
This is exactly the way the new regime should have played it. Bring cheap veterans in to see if they have anything left. Let them compete but if the young players look good, cut the vets.
coolnerd
Footballguy
Prospect Jordan Lyles sent to AAA
http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2012/04/02/astros-option-jordan-lyles-to-class-aaa-further-clarifying-rotation/
Rotation
Wandy Rodriquez
Lucas Harrell
Bud Norris
JA Happ
Kyle Weiland
Name to file away
Rhiner Cruz can hit 100 on the gun...possible closer of the future
http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2012/04/02/astros-option-jordan-lyles-to-class-aaa-further-clarifying-rotation/
Rotation
Wandy Rodriquez
Lucas Harrell
Bud Norris
JA Happ
Kyle Weiland
Name to file away
Rhiner Cruz can hit 100 on the gun...possible closer of the future
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coolnerd
Footballguy
Wait until I post the opening day line-up
Abraham
Footballguy
I've never been more excited about a season than this one. I think the stress I've been through the last year has made me subconsciously lean on the things of my childhood that made me happy. Above all, there was baseball. It reminds me of so many great memories and experiences with friends and family. When I was young my brother and I would race to the driveway to get the USA today to examine every box score. Then we'd play ball all day, hours on end until we couldn't see the ball in the east Texas darkness. Then we'd play another hour. My grandfather loved the Braves more than anything on earth. My brother and I loved the astros and cried when they lost to the mets. I didn't even watch the world series when they were in it. The pujols homer and Oswalt win took so much out of me that I could handle watching the world series.
So now here I am just craving baseball. I watched both games today like it was game 7 of the world series. I hooked up my 42" LCD on the patio with surround sound so I can float in the pool and watch as many games as possible.
And the saddest part is that this is the team I get to cheer for. :(
So now here I am just craving baseball. I watched both games today like it was game 7 of the world series. I hooked up my 42" LCD on the patio with surround sound so I can float in the pool and watch as many games as possible.
And the saddest part is that this is the team I get to cheer for. :(
Eephus
Footballguy
at least you're getting in on the ground floor
Eephus
Footballguy
First major leaguer ever named Marwin
coolnerd
Footballguy
http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2012/04/08/astros-claim-outfielder-maxwell-off-waivers-from-yankees/
The Astros have claimed free-swinging outfielder Justin Maxwell off waivers from the New York Yankees, general manager Jeff Luhnow announced on Sunday.
The 6-foot-5, 235-pound Maxwell has a .201 average with nine home runs and 83 strikeouts in 219 at-bats in the majors. Luhnow said Maxwell will report to the team Monday, at which point the Astros will make a corresponding roster move. The Astros have carried only four position players on the bench in the first three games, making it highly likely they will pare the pitching staff from 13 to 12 when Maxwell arrives.
Maxwell, 28, spent 2011 at Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and put up a .260/.358/.588 batting line in 177 at-bats, bashing 16 home runs and driving in 35. A fourth-round draft choice by the Washington Nationals in 2005, the righthanded Maxwell has a career .261/.357/.457 career line in the minors, with 74 home runs, 231 walks and 517 strikeouts in 1,703 at-bats.
He has played all three outfield spots, getting most of his time in the minors and majors in center field
The Astros have claimed free-swinging outfielder Justin Maxwell off waivers from the New York Yankees, general manager Jeff Luhnow announced on Sunday.
The 6-foot-5, 235-pound Maxwell has a .201 average with nine home runs and 83 strikeouts in 219 at-bats in the majors. Luhnow said Maxwell will report to the team Monday, at which point the Astros will make a corresponding roster move. The Astros have carried only four position players on the bench in the first three games, making it highly likely they will pare the pitching staff from 13 to 12 when Maxwell arrives.
Maxwell, 28, spent 2011 at Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and put up a .260/.358/.588 batting line in 177 at-bats, bashing 16 home runs and driving in 35. A fourth-round draft choice by the Washington Nationals in 2005, the righthanded Maxwell has a career .261/.357/.457 career line in the minors, with 74 home runs, 231 walks and 517 strikeouts in 1,703 at-bats.
He has played all three outfield spots, getting most of his time in the minors and majors in center field
Treynwreck3
Footballguy
On the telecast of last nights game, they mentioned the attendance numbers and said that the organization is reporting butts in seats and not tickets sold as had been reported in the past. So the 14,000 number from Sunday was actual attendance.
yupNo way that is only the third time in Minute Maid park there were less than 20,000 people. There were games last year were you'd be hard pressed to find 10,000I'll be there tonight - real close to the action.
coolnerd
Footballguy
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/04/15/report-astros-already-shopping-closer-brett-myers/
Already trying to dump Myers...and that's a good thing
Already trying to dump Myers...and that's a good thing
