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Spring is about to spring, so let’s review
A week from today, the Astros will be prettying up Minute Maid Park, Dallas Keuchel will be spiffying up his beard, and some players will be prepping for their first opening day in Houston. Most fans and even media onlookers would suggest that the Astros have had a successful spring. The sentiment is largely upbeat…
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Sunday ramblings: The right decision for Astros’ roster
Everyone knows that politics is involved in sports too. There are so-called business decisions. There are the saving face decisions. There are also the behind the scenes decisions that don’t make sense “in front” of the scenes. All of that aside, here’s the way the Astros’ roster should line up beginning the 2015 season. After starting with…
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Saturday scatter shots: Thoughts, notes and day dreams
It’s the weekend and plenty of baseball in the air. With only a few days left in Kissimmee, manager A.J. Hinch says he’d like to clear up his roster questions by Wednesday. If that’s the case, those decisions could go right up to the deadline given some of the remaining battles and the injuries to…
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Free Blog Weekend: Astros’ turning points are evident
Turning points are critical to any organization. It’s the only way forward, whether the sports team is good or bad. Good teams adjust and rarely see the bottom of the barrel. Others are forced to scramble regularly, due to bad management, changes in the market, changes in ownership or other outside factors. The Astros are…
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The “Why” behind the Astros off-season moves
In previous posts the subject of the Astros closing their runs allowed vs. runs scored gap has been discussed. In their three 100-loss seasons the Astros gave up between 1.11 (2011) and 1.47 (2013) runs more per game than their opponents. Last season, they improved that to only a 0.58 run/game deficit mostly on the…
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Astros’ 2015 roster: Is the shuffle complete?
The first spring training for A.J. Hinch is winding down. Perhaps the most important spring training to date for Jeff Luhnow is coming to a close. And, for a few select, remaining players, decision time looms. In Hinch’s mind, most of the roster positions may have already been decided. However, with no public decisions and…
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Astros’ unusual youth movement
When the Houston Astros set their opening day 25-man roster last season, no player would be making their major league debut on that roster. This was extremely unusual for a team that was the youngest in the majors last season. Truth to tell there were eight players on that roster, however, who had never been on a major…
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Monday thought: The Astros’ pipeline is rich
For most of Jeff Luhnow’s tenure, the Astros have had one of the best minor league systems in all of baseball. While the major league club has yet to significantly experience the fruits of his labor, the pipeline is replete with top line recruits working their way to Houston. MLB’s latest rankings list the Astros…
ALL THINGS ASTROS 