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The Houston Astros sign Erik Bedard

chinmusic — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 13:08:33 +0000

The Astros have signed 33-year old lefty starting pitcher Erik Bedard to a minor league deal. He pitched in 24 games (all starts) for the Pirates last year and he was 7-14 with a 5.01 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. Bedard has now pitched in 192 games (189 starts) in his first nine years in the majors and he is 63-64 with a 3.85 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. This was a good low risk signing for the Astros. Bedard will come into spring training this year as a huge favorite to win a spot in the Astros’ starting rotation for 2013.

The Houston Astros sign Rick Ankiel

chinmusic — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:44:54 +0000

The Astros have signed 33-year old lefty swinging outfielder Rick Ankiel to a minor league deal. Ankiel played in 68 games for the Nationals last year and he was 36 of 158 (.228 avg, .694 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 5 homers, 15 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has now played in 608 games in his first 10 years in the majors and he is 438 of 1,793 (.244 avg, .729 OPS) with 247 runs scored, 69 homers, 233 RBIs and 21 stolen bases. Ankiel will have a good shot to win a bench job, or maybe even a starting job this spring.

The Houston Astros hope Jason Castro can stay healthy in 2013

chinmusic — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 14:01:22 +0000

The Astros hope that 25-year old lefty swinging catcher Jason Castro can stay healthy and have a breakout season in 2013. Castro played in 87 games for the Astros last year and he is 66 for 257 (.257 avg, .735 OPS) with 29 runs scored, 6 homers and 29 RBIs. He has now played in 154 games in his first two years in the majors and he is 106 of 452 (.235 avg, .665 OPS) with 55 runs scored, 8 homers and 37 RBIs. Castro played in 79 games (73 starts) behind the plate for the Astros and he had 6 errors and 8 passed balls. He also threw out 12 of 69 base stealers (17.4%) and Astros’ pitchers had a 4.34 ERA when throwing to Castro. 29-year old switch-hitting Carlos Corporan will head into spring training as the Astros’ backup catcher. He played in 27 games for the Astros last year and he was 21 of 78 (.269 avg, .758 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 4 homers and 13 RBIs. He has now played in 80 games in his first three years in the majors and he is 51 of 233 (.219 avg, .596 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 4 homers and 24 RBIs. He played in 24 games (22 starts) for the Astros last year and he had 2 errors and 2 passed balls. Corporan threw out 5 of 19 (26.3%) base stealers and pitchers had a 4.85 ERA with him behind the plate. 30-year old switch-hitting Jason Jaramillo will be #3 in line for the Astros at catcher in 2013. He played in 86 games in AA+AAA-ball for the A’s and Brewers last year and he was 65 of 292 (.223 avg, .592 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 2 homers, 29 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Jaramillo last played in 2011 with the Pirates. He has played in 119 games in his first three years in the majors and he is 79 of 336 (.235 avg, .621 OPS) with 23 runs scored, 4 homers, 38 RBIs and 2 stolen bases.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CATCHERS IN 2013: C-

The Houston Astros sign Jason Jaramillo

chinmusic — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 20:36:18 +0000

The Astros have signed 30-year old switch-hitting catcher Jason Jaramillo to a minor league deal. He played in 86 games in AA+AAA-ball for the A’s and Brewers last year in which he was 65 of 292 (.223 avg, .592 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 2 homers, 29 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Jaramillo last played in the majors in 2011 with the Pirates. He has played in 119 games in his first three years in the majors and he is 79 of 336 (.235 avg, .621 OPS) with 23 runs scored, 4 homers, 38 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Jaramillo will battle Carlos Corporan for the backup catcher job for the Astros this spring.

Jonathan Singleton of the Houston Astros gets suspended for 50 games

chinmusic — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 15:07:53 +0000

21-year old lefty swinging 1B Jonathan Singleton came into the 2012 season as the Astros’ #1 prospect according to Baseball America. He has been suspended for 50 games due to a violation of minor league baseball’s drug policy. He tested positive for marijuana. Singleton played in 131 games in AA-ball for the Astros last year and he was 131 of 461 (.284 avg, .893 OPS) with 94 runs scored, 21 homers, 79 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. He has now played in 394 games in his first four years in the minors and he is 403 of 1,386 (.291 avg, .864 OPS) with 238 runs scored, 50 homers, 231 RBIs and 20 stolen bases. The Astros hope that this straightens out Singleton a bit, because he is a big part of their future.

The Houston Astros have acquired John Ely from the Dodgers

chinmusic — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 01:31:04 +0000

The Astros have acquired 26-year old righty starting pitcher John Ely from the Los Angeles Dodgers for 23-year old lefty starting pitcher Rob Rasmussen. Ely pitched in 2 games (0 starts) for the Dodgers last year and he was 0-2 with a 20.25 ERA and a 3.75 WHIP. He also pitched in 27 games (all starts) in AAA-ball last year in which he was 14-7 with a 3.20 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP. Ely has pitched in 25 games (19 starts) in his first 3 years in the majors and he is 4-13 with a 5.70 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP. Rasmussen pitched in 27 games (26 starts) in A+AA-ball last year for the Marlins and Astros and he was 8-11 with a 4.25 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. Ely will get a shot to win a spot in the Astros’ rotation next spring.

The Houston Astros sign Jose Veras

chinmusic — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 13:24:53 +0000

The Astros have signed 32-year old righty reliever Jose Veras to a 1-year, $2 million dollar deal with a club option for 2014 valued at $3.5 million bucks. Veras pitched in 72 games (0 starts) for the Brewers last year and he was 5-4 with 1 save, a 3.63 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP. He gave up only 61 hits while whiffing 79 batters in 67 innings last year, but he also walked 40 batters and that got him into trouble at times. Veras has now pitched in 327 games (0 starts) in his first 7 years in the majors and he is 19-17 with 5 saves, a 4.01 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. Veras has a good arm and the contract he got suggests that he will likely go into spring training as the Astros’ new closer.

The Houston Astros sign 1B/DH Carlos Pena

chinmusic — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 19:43:40 +0000

The Astros have signed 34-year old lefty swinging 1B/DH Carlos Pena to a 1-year, $2.9 million dollar deal with another possible $1.4 million bucks in incentives that he can earn. Pena played in 160 games for the Rays last year and he was 98 of 407 (.197 avg, .684 OPS) with 72 runs scored, 19 homers, 61 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. He also walked 87 times, but whiffed an amazingly awful 182 times. Pena has now played in 1,386 games in his first 12 years in the majors and he is 1,080 of 4,610 (.234 avg, .822 OPS) with 703 runs scored, 277 homers, 791 RBIs and 27 stolen bases. Pena is likely a good bet to his 25-30 homers in 2013 as he is splitting his time between 1B and DH.

The Houston Astros selected two players in the Rule 5 Draft today

chinmusic — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 19:00:55 +0000

The Houston Astros selected 27-year old righty reliever Josh Fields (from the Red Sox) in the first round of the 2012 Rule 5 Draft today. They also picked 25-year old righty swinging 1B Nate Freiman (from the Padres) in the second round of the draft. The Astros will have to keep Fields and Freiman on the 25-man roster the whole way in the 2013 season, or they will have to offer them back to the teams they drafted them from for half of what they paid to draft them ($50,000). Fields pitched in 42 games (0 starts) in AA+AAA-ball last year and he was 4-3 with 12 saves, a 2.01 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP. He has now pitched in 132 games (0 starts) in his first four years in the minors and he is 11-8 with 23 saves, a 3.57 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. Fields will have a good shot of winning a job in the bullpen for the Astros in 2013. Nate Freiman played in 137 games in AA-ball for the Padres last year and he was 154 of 516 (.298 avg, .872 OPS) with 80 runs scored, 24 homers and 105 RBIs. Freiman has now played in 483 games in his first four years in the minors and he is 551 of 1,876 (.294 avg, .847 OPS) with 280 runs scored, 71 homers, 368 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. Freiman will get a good shot to win the 1B or DH job for the Astros outright next spring. The Astros did an outstanding job today as Fields and Freiman could both make nice impacts for the Astros’ in 2013.

The Houston Astros deal Wilton Lopez to the Rockies

chinmusic — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 14:35:16 +0000

The Astros have dealt 29-year old righty reliever Wilton Lopez to the Colorado Rockies for 24-year old righty starting pitcher Alex White and 23-year old righty starting pitcher Alex Gillingham. Lopez pitched in 64 games (0 starts) for the Astros last year and he was 6-3 with 10 saves, a 2.17 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. He pitched in 213 games (2 starts) in his four years with the Astros and he was 13-13 with 11 saves, a 3.14 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. Lopez is going to be hard to replace as he was a darn good reliever. The Astros will likely be looking for a cheap veteran to try out as the closer for 2013. Alex White was a big time prospect with the Indians just a couple of years ago. The Astros hope a change of scenery will get White back on the right path. White pitched in 23 games (20 starts) for the Rockies last year and he was 2-9 with a 5.51 ERA and a 1.68 WHIP. He gave up 114 hits and he walked 51 batters while whiffing 64 of them in 98 innings pitched, and those numbers are far from pretty. White has now pitched in 33 games (30 starts) in his first two years in the majors and he is 5-13 with a 6.03 ERA and a 1.69 WHIP. White is going to have a shot to win a rotation spot next spring with the Astros. Alex Gillingham pitched in 19 games (all starts) in A-ball for the Rockies last year and he was 6-8 with a 3.66 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. He has now pitched in 32 games (31 starts) in his first two years in the minors and he is 9-13 with a 4.29 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP.