tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62975102009-02-20T23:22:12.574-06:00The Juice Box'The Juice Box' is a nickname for Minute Maid Park, home of the Houston Astros.
Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04369450585644633280noreply@blogger.comBlogger595125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297510.post-61973965816861474352007-12-17T02:36:00.001-06:002007-12-17T03:27:32.848-06:00Well, there goes the farm.At least we got two of the most exciting and dynamic players in the game in last week's dealings. If nothing else, Miguel Tejada and Jose Valverde will sell tickets and generate excitement. I, for one, am DYING to see the 2008 lineup in action. It might not be ideal, but it'll be fun to watch:BournMatsuiTejadaBerkmanLeePenceWiggintonTowlesEd Wade had better be the great Andreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16930905445765012214noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297510.post-3809127100591595792007-12-05T00:39:00.000-06:002007-12-05T01:18:17.643-06:00Hello, Mr. Matsui. Goodbye, Mr. Burke. I can't help but think what a shame it is that Burke, the heir apparent to succeed Biggio at second base, is now all but out the door. Anyone remember his 18th-inning homer to beat the Braves in the 2005 NLDS? I remember thinking how awesome it'll be to have this guy for the next five years. Oh well. I guess you can say that Burke had his shot, though his Andreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16930905445765012214noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297510.post-72967114069170642007-11-19T03:27:00.000-06:002007-11-19T05:15:48.755-06:00After a thoroughly forgettable 73-89 campaign, the Astros appear to be starting fresh.First off: Farewell, Craig Biggio. The man has been an absolute pleasure to watch and root for since I started caring about baseball. Bidge wasn't ever the biggest, the quickest or the strongest player on the field, but by God he tried the hardest. Even in his last years, when his keen batting eye and his legs Andreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16930905445765012214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297510.post-64242529463937719472007-04-03T11:52:00.000-05:002007-04-03T11:54:10.311-05:00All I gotta say about Brad Lidge is.......I told you so.The Barstoolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07670792723819340917noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297510.post-43409019777933844622007-04-03T10:50:00.000-05:002007-04-03T11:10:56.117-05:00Three words: What the crap? In the last four days, the Astros have: 1) Sent down their second-best starting pitcher this spring (and quite possibly their second best starter overall). Nieve in my mind was a lock to make the rotation. He had very good numbers and showed no signs of the elbow problems that plagued him late last year. But no, Chris Sampson overtook him despite Sampson allowing eightAndreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16930905445765012214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297510.post-57679656180984864802007-03-27T14:54:00.000-05:002007-03-27T15:11:10.913-05:00Post No. 600. Yay. Dude, how about March Madness this year? Admittedly, I haven't been as excited as I was a few years ago when I was in college, but this year has been terrific. Incredible games, dominant players, thrilling endings, heartbreaking losses. This year's tournament has had it all. I caught the second half of the UNC-Georgetown game on Sunday, and it was the most well-played game I'veAndreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16930905445765012214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297510.post-11752971922143879472007-03-27T10:57:00.001-05:002007-03-27T11:24:11.117-05:00Time for a reality check. Posters all over the message board are either crowning us champions or getting ready for a last-place finish. Let's take a look at what's going to happen over the 2007 season. First, the offense:1. Carlos Lee will bring much-needed offense. Yes, he'll 'provide protection' for Berkman, not that he needed any in the first place. The duo will combine for at least 65 homers Andreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16930905445765012214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297510.post-16383625700041329472007-03-27T10:57:00.000-05:002007-03-27T11:17:40.154-05:00BASEBALL!!!Man, April can't get here soon enough. I've been reading Astros Daily, Rotoworld, Baseball Prospectus, Baseball Primer, and Aaron Gleeman so much lately that I felt guilty for not making a post of my own. So here goes.Astros NotesRichard Hidalgo and Ezequiel Astacio are gone. One had a bad spring (Hidalgo) and one had a good spring (Astacio), but Hidalgo was sent to the minors and Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04369450585644633280noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297510.post-46856590860181475032007-03-23T02:37:00.000-05:002007-03-23T03:03:35.065-05:00The offseason's not quite over — 10 more days til Opening Day! — but I think we can safely assume Purpura's done dealing. Of course, there are several players being shopped around, guys like Jon Lieber, Josh Fogg, Byung-Hyun Kim … maybe Brad Penny. I can't say I'm a huge fan of how the 2006 offseason played out, but at least it's been exciting. You can't tell me that shelling out $100 million forAndreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16930905445765012214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297510.post-51315149272774367282007-03-07T13:57:00.000-06:002007-03-07T14:13:27.833-06:00I've wanted to reserve judgment on the Astros for the first few weeks of spring training, so I've held off posting through our first handful of games. But I can't contain my excitement! Hunter Pence is knocking the cover off the ball. He's 9 for 12 with an OPS over 2.000. On the flip side, Richard Hidalgo was 0-for-ST until Wednesday's game, when he finally collected his first hit with an infieldAndreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16930905445765012214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297510.post-89227673726298487202007-02-28T00:46:00.000-06:002007-02-28T01:09:12.414-06:00The Astros are shaking off a few bumps and bruises down in Kissimmee. The most notable injury belongs to Héctor Giménez, who will undergo surgery next week to repair a torn right labrum. He'll probably miss the whole year, but Giménez, 24, should be OK in the long run. He hit very well in Venezuela this winter, but was facing an uphill battle to claim the backup catcher spot over Humberto Andreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16930905445765012214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297510.post-89533395728849710872007-02-21T11:10:00.000-06:002007-02-21T11:38:32.185-06:00I read an interesting article by Dayn Perry over at Fox Sports describing how the NL Central is by far the weakest division in baseball. He's right, too; he calculated the overall records of every division both for all of 2006 and against out-of-division opponents. In both cases, the NL Central was dead last by plenty. Don't believe that yet? Let's take a look at a few of the flaws for everyJackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04369450585644633280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297510.post-2404629299819156302007-02-21T01:05:00.001-06:002007-02-21T01:22:18.663-06:00Hello, everyone out there in InternetLand. Not too much news to report, other than the fact that Richard Justice is a moron. Way to call all of your "readers" idiots, Dick. Real classy. Apparently he was fed up of his "readers" complaining about Ausmus and Everett being useless. Justice wrote that if fans don't appreciate the value of those two players, then the fans are stupid. First off, as a Andreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16930905445765012214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297510.post-57730424964742387342007-02-21T01:05:00.000-06:002007-02-21T01:22:07.490-06:00Hello, everyone out there in InternetLand. Not too much news to report, other than the fact that Richard Justice is a moron. Way to call all of your "readers" idiots, Dick. Real classy. Apparently he was fed up of his "readers" complaining about Ausmus and Everett being useless. Justice wrote that if fans don't appreciate the value of those two players, then the fans are stupid. First off, as a Andreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16930905445765012214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297510.post-36188896535586267422007-02-16T15:51:00.000-06:002007-02-17T13:18:10.138-06:00Great day. My roommate Chris and I went to the batting cages to get ready for our slow-pitch co-ed D-league softball season that starts next week. Man, those pitches come slow. You gotta WAIT! Afterwards, we went back home and tossed the baseball around. My right arm has been pretty banged up since I ran into David Pillar playing ultimate three weekends ago. But it's feeling better, and I should Andreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16930905445765012214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297510.post-63744487908911647902007-02-16T12:00:00.000-06:002007-02-16T12:03:49.039-06:00I think Phil Garner is a pretty decent in-game manager, and I also think he does a pretty good job of getting his players ready to play. Every now and then, though, he lets loose with something like:"Those guys have not had more success," manager Phil Garner says in response to fans who believe the righthanded candidates have better major league track records than Rodriguez. "Wandy's won (19) Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04369450585644633280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297510.post-59587641263510777342007-02-14T19:22:00.000-06:002007-02-14T19:38:13.725-06:00I was browsing our archives today, and found some gems from the past two offsesasons. Back then, we did a bit more speculating, and most of it was complete garbage. Stuff like, "Trade Tim Redding and Raul Chavez for Mike Cameron." Obviously, we didn't know what we were talking about. Anyway, check this baby out:Tuesday, February 22, 2005, posted by Jack:My dream world:Astros trade Taylor Bucholz Andreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16930905445765012214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297510.post-73460928179510489262007-02-14T11:59:00.001-06:002007-02-14T11:59:11.357-06:00The Astros have been busy inviting a lot of washed-up pitchers to spring training (Rick White, Scott Sauerbeck, Kelly Wunsch, Ben Weber) and 'flirting' with Steve Trachsel (he gets HAMMERED by righties; he would be a terrible fit at MMP). Let's look at what Baseball Prospectus's projection genius PECOTA thinks of the Astros pitchers:Roy Oswalt: 213.0 IP, 3.67 ERA (seems like a high ERA, but he'sJackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04369450585644633280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297510.post-62835228921990823072007-02-13T12:18:00.000-06:002007-02-13T21:05:09.896-06:00I'd probably feel more comfortable right now if I were a Brewers fan. At least they have a solid rotation. Sure, Ben Sheets has injury concerns, but look at their starting 5: Sheets, Capuano, Dave Bush, Suppan and Claudio Vargas. Pretty sick. Almost every teams has 4 or 5 huge questions to answer before the season starts. Most are something like this: "If ________ pitches 200 innings, we'll Andreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16930905445765012214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297510.post-50588002582285125052007-02-10T23:42:00.000-06:002007-02-09T19:23:12.271-06:00It's official: Baseball season is upon us. The rents and I drove down to Minute Maid today to watch Vanderbilt play in the Houston College Classic and to check out the Astros Fan Fest going on around the park. Vandy beat ASU on the most ridiculous game-ending play I have ever seen. It was an exciting, well-coached and well-played game throughout. The Sun Devils started hot, just like they did Andreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16930905445765012214noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297510.post-64558119188136346732007-02-09T19:10:00.000-06:002007-02-05T16:08:01.239-06:00Missed the Astros caravan in College Station this week. Probably didn't have time to stand in line for a few hours anyway — I've been swamped at work all week. Baseball Prospectus has ranked their top five second basemen for 2007 in VORP:Chase Utley, 49.0Ray Durham, 38.7Eric Patterson, 34.9Brooks Conrad, 29.2Jeff Kent, 28.2Free Brooks Conrad! Dude went .267/.334/.534 and led the PCL in extra-baseAndreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16930905445765012214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297510.post-28577178246100001192007-02-05T15:31:00.000-06:002007-02-14T11:58:24.578-06:00The Astros have been busy inviting a lot of washed-up pitchers to spring training (Rick White, Scott Sauerbeck, Kelly Wunsch, Ben Weber) and 'flirting' with Steve Trachsel (he gets HAMMERED by righties; he would be a terrible fit at MMP). Let's look at what Baseball Prospectus's projection genius PECOTA thinks of the Astros pitchers:Roy Oswalt: 213.0 IP, 3.67 ERA (seems like a high ERA, but Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04369450585644633280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297510.post-6605093519621803892007-02-05T13:19:00.000-06:002007-02-05T16:08:01.909-06:00Long time, no post. Only 50+ days til Opening Day!Since we last posted, the Astros have made several minor moves. Really, though, it's the minor moves that can make the difference between an 85-win season and a 90-win season. So let's check 'em out:• Signed Richard Hidalgo to a minor-league contract. Nothing is guaranteed, but in my mind this is a fantastic low-risk, high-reward move that PurpuraAndreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16930905445765012214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297510.post-1169154427614345572007-01-18T14:20:00.001-06:002007-01-18T15:07:07.653-06:00Every year, Baseball Prospectus comes out with their annual PECOTA projections, which estimate what every major league baseball player will do in the coming year. They're more than estimations, really; year after year, PECOTA is by far the best projection system out there. I thought I'd take a lot at a few of their Astros projections, and analyze what I think of them.In alphabetical order, hereJackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04369450585644633280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297510.post-1168482693116602672007-01-10T19:47:00.000-06:002007-01-10T20:31:33.243-06:00The offseason isn't over yet — and with only three legitimate starters, let's hope it isn't — but I thought I'd take a look at our team's moves so far this winter. Pretty much all of our major moves were of the "good news/bad news" variety. That is, each of them had value, but with a cost. The Carlos Lee signing was a big boost for next year's offense. We haven't had a decent lineup since 2004, Andreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16930905445765012214noreply@blogger.com0