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What a difference a year — or two — makes for Astros
So, right now we’re all looking over the National League, trying to figure out who the Astros will play in the World Series and checking Trip Advisor to get an early look at hotel prices in San Francisco, New York and Chicago (just kidding) for late October. Yeah, the times they are a changin’. I…
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Spring training 2016: The non roster invitees
Every year teams bring the members of their 40 man roster to Spring Training. These include the most likely folks to go west with the team on the 25 man roster, and the 5 to 10 players who will be the next men up, plus a number of other players who likely need seasoning, but…
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Houston Astros 2016: Seventy-Nine Opportunities to Improve
The Astros record in 2015 was 86-76 and including the post-season they were 89-79. That means there are 79 opportunities for improvement for the team entering 2016. Some overall numbers relative to their 2015 season, including the post-season: Road record. 35-50 even though they outscored the opposition 376-351 Home record. 54-29 outscoring the opposition 377-292…
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Untouchable: Which Astros are like Eliot Ness?
Over the last few seasons, the Astros’ front office under the reign of GM Jeff Luhnow has been very active and fairly unpredictable in their actions. Many of the trades they made seemed to come out of left field with very few whispers ahead of time (the Ken Giles trade being an exception). The players…
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Brian T: What will I be watching this spring?
So, we’re about three and a half weeks from Spring Training games. Welcome back to the Grapefruit League, folks! Well, in 24 days. But you get my point. So, what will I be watching for this spring? Honestly, this could be a boring spring in many ways. We don’t have six position battles and three…
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Astros 2016: Ranking the 25-man roster
It is always a bit touchy to rank pitchers and everyday players together. Is a player who pitches every 5th day worth as much as a player who is on the field everyday? (Try removing Dallas Keuchel from the team last year and see if they make the playoffs or not). But this is for…
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Astros 2016: Bring back the nicknames
The recent passing of Walt “No Neck” Williams harkened back to a time when nicknames were fun and often descriptive of the players. Whether it was the “Toy Cannon” Jimmy Wynn or the “Red Rooster” Doug Rader or “Le Grand Orange” Rusty Staub, nicknames were plentiful and known by all. In this more corporate baseball…
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Astros 2016: Five challenges for spring training
The Houston Astros are just over 2 weeks away from the pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training and 3 weeks away from having all hands in camp. For the first time in a decade the team that heads to camp will do so off of a playoff appearance. The Astros appear to be in much better…
ALL THINGS ASTROS 