A Saber-Slanted Baseball Community

The Houston Astros 5th round pick is off to a great professional start hitting .361/.459/.559 with 8 Doubles, 4 Triples, 4 Homeruns, 18 Stolen Bases, and a 22/18 BB/K rate in 39 New York-Penn League games. He talks about the draft, having his own baseball card while he was still in high school, and more.

Interesting thread from Battle Red Blog (Houston Texans). It's a holy place in Houston sports history that has fallen into neglect and disrepair.

What shouldn't be forgotten in all the hoopla, is that in 1962, when the Mets came into being, they were joined by another team -- the Houston Colt '45s, who changed their name to the less violent and more cosmic Astros when they moved into the Astrodome -- the first domed, artificial turf sports stadium.

Bad team. The Houston Astros were a bad team in 2011 (56-106) and will be a bad team in 2012. Long gone are the days of playoff contending teams. Biggio, Bagwell, and Berkman no longer exist on the Astros’ field. Roger Clemens and Roy Oswalt won’t touch the mound. In 2012, there will be no Houston Astros players that rival the talents of old. While it was only seven years ago (2005) when the Astros actually played in the World Series, this current team makes it seem like it was ages since this organization was competitive. Offensively, the 2011 Astros lineup ranked first in the National League in doubles (309), third in hits (1442), fourth in batting average (.258), and fifth in stolen bases (118). These sound like good numbers. As a matter of fact they are, but they are also very misleading. Houston ranked 13th in runs scored (615), 15th in home runs (95), and 16th (last) in walks (401). Those are BAD numbers. Despite the hits, doubles, and stolen bases, the Astros couldn’t and can’t score runs. Obviously, they were last in walks because they had no power in the lineup. There is absolutely no excuse for Houston to be ranked second to last in home runs. Minute Maid Park is the Major League equivalent to a Little League field. Opposing pitchers have no fear of this team. They go right at ’em.

The Brewers Bar interviewed me about some of the things going on with the Astros. Among other things I was asked about the changes taking place, Brett Myers move to the closer role and memories of the NL Central I'll take with me to the AL. Be sure to head over there and give me some traffic love.

Looks like we may have a vacant GM job next week. What are the chances he's out, and if so who do y'all like to replace him? CTH mentions Thad Levine as a replacement, I also like two guys who are on the Yankees staff.