Gloriously lying at the very bottom of the heap at 9-24, envied by the Lorias, 2 games ahead, and the Cubs, 4 games ahead, the Astros Organization has sent Future Ace Brad Peacock to AAA to suck there while bringing up Jordan Lyles and his 5+ ERA at AAA to start – you see, he has been Tagged For Suck-cess. They sent Erik Bedard and his 8+ ERA (starting) back to the bullpen, haven’t said what they are going to do with Phil Humber and his 9+ ERA – probably a 9 ERA+ if it is even positive, which is doubtful. Rhiner Cruz went to AAA, which, by the way, he skipped because of being a Rule V last year, to re-locate his pitches.

To my surprise, they dumped Fernando EFF Martinez, his limp bat, dead weight legs and crappy glove. To my shock, they DFAd Rick Ankiel, Mr. Veteran Presence and his umpty strikeouts. He had the 4th highest OPS on the entire TEAM, which tells you where that team at. Brandon Laird got sent down, not DFAd, seeing as how he didn’t hit like Barry Lamar 2004 in his 28 at bats. At least he wasn’t released.

Trevor Crowe, who appears to be another AAAA guy, got called up, along with Jimmy Paredes, tearing up AAA pitching and, uh, “weak” on defense, and Julio Daniel Martinez, back off the DL.

You ask me how I know this stuff seeing as how I don’t care no mo. Well, it was on the Inter Nets and MLB, that’s how I know.

Number 2 son, the one who usually thinks things over before he asks and then before he answers (yes he IS male and yes he WAS born that way) has noticed that I watch Pirates games when Wandy is playing, Giants games when Hunter Pence is playing, Braves games when Evan Gattis is playing, Cards games when I’m at Mama’s. He asked me why I don’t watch the Astros no mo and I have told him that they aren’t on (our) TV and they don’t care about me so I don’t care about them.

He’s thought about this for several months now and so yesterday  he asks me – Mami, do you want to go to the ballpark for Mother’s Day – I mean, with us? So I asked him – are you asking me if I personally want to watch the Astros play baseball, let alone at the Box, or are you telling me that YOU want to watch baseball and are asking me to take you to a game. (Because that would be really something, seeing as how he and brothers have expressed disdain for baseball – except the backyard kind with Mami + Dogz + friends/cousins…) He thought about it. Came back and said, I wanna know if YOU want to watch them. I told him that if he and his brothers wanted to go, they could go with their Daddy and that I would do something different with them.

But I informed him that he and brothers had still better think of something to get me for Mothers’ Day. He thinks about this. How bout a Brandon Barnes t-shirt? he sez.

That boy – WHERE does he get this stuff?

OK, I told him – as long as you boyz make it your own selves – draw it on a plain t-shirt so as Crane won’t get a penny from it. You really hate him, dontchu, sez my kid. Nope, no hate, that’s giving him something and he ain’t gettin nothin from me, not even that. Kid is gettin big – give him somethin to think about.

Wonder whose jerseys they are pimping, besides Altuve, seeing as how the remainder of the roster is has beens, never weres and who’s thats. Doubtful that Barnes, unlike Backe, has his Jersey on the racks.

Meanwhile, Jordan Lyles goes 5 innings again – seems as if he’s not going to be allowed to go past the 5th again, in spite of the fact that he’s only thrown 82 pitches, he’s already made it past the #4 hitter for the 3rd time and the Astros bullpen is really bad AND he’s leading 6-3. After all that grousing about how the starters can’t go deep  into games, well, what is with pulling someone managing to not stink getting pulled? 4 hits,, 2 walks and 1 HR (all 3 runs scored)? Meanwhile, CJ Wilson is still pitching in the 7th. Looks really weird to see Uncle with a .231 BA – guess that bad foot is really affecting him. Natcherilly, him being macho n stuff – he can’t go on the DL and let it heal.

Glad to see Brandon Barnes getting some playing times, especially seeing as how he’s leading the team in OPS.

Watching the Cubs/Cards just to listen to Deshaeis, who, sorry to say, is better than Alan Ashby and whoever is broadcasting with him. Also to make sure Mama doesn’t have a stroke from blood pressure when Yadi Molina gets his fool self caught stealing third by Carlos Marmol to end the 8th with men on first and second and Kozma up.

Watching the Braves to see if Kimbrel is gonna blow his 3rd save in 5 games. Yep – 2 outs, 3-2 count, yet another homer, then a walkoff next hitter. Reminds me of Brad Lidge 06. Poor Medlen. It’s so funny – the Braves announcers are all hepped up about how fast Kimbrel throws – well, ML hitters hit straight FB even when they are 97/98. People get all hysterical about velocity. Braves bullpen has not been shut DOWN like it was last year.

Meanwhile, in the Astros minors:
at AAA, Jonathan Villar has a .814 OPS and 7 errors in 29 games – Paredes had 6 errors…
Elmore and Krauss are killing the ball. So, by the way, is Brett Wallace, who has a .996 OPS. Andy Simunic, playing 3B, one of the few Original Astro Minor Leaguers, hitting .340 – no power, but he has half as many walks as hits. The main catchers are Jason Jaramillo and Cody Clark, both over 30, neither hitting his weight. Too bad they gave away Chris Wallace.

As for pitchers, you know they’re doing that weird 75 pitch start thingy, so starters only have a couple of real starts, and expect to go only a few innings – I still don’t get the intelligence of doing that with pitchers in the high minors, but hey, whatevs.

Only starter who is pitching well is Jarred Cosart – 1.10 WHIP/2.63 ERA over 27.2 IP – Wes Musick did well, but he’s been shuffled off to the bullpen. Oberholzer has 18 ER/24 R over 21 IP. Ross Seaton has 22 ER/25 R over 21 IP. Kevin Chapman and Josh Zeid are pitching decently in relief – 1.24 WHIP and 1.35 WHIP respectively. Jose Valdez is closing – yeah, you remember him – he didn’t do that badly last year at the majors, 2.25 ERA/0.93 WHIP over 12 IP. He’s doing fine – 14.2 IP over 12 games, 1.84 WHIP and a 0.90 WHIP – more K than hits + walks.

At Corpus, the starters are pitching well – Tropeano, Foltynowicz (who, for some bizarre reason, was forced to start the year at Lancaster) Bobby Doran, Dave Martinez, Asher Wojciechowski. Ruben Alaniz and Matt Heidenrich.

Alex Sogard and Jason Stoffel are closing – guess they are swapping out on that one too. Sogard and Stoffel have both allowed a run, and Stoffel hasn’t allowed any walks. Actually, I was surprised that Stoffel didn’t get promoted this year, but youneverknow…

Last night, we got the news that the Astros RSN on Comcast is offering a 5 week free broadcast to all the OTHER networks, hoping to get enough eyeballs to try to pressure everyone else into agreeing to buy in at a cost of $3.40/subscriber added to the basic cable bill. RSNs do NOT want all the $$$ that is paid to them to become only part of a “sports package” that is separate from basic cable. You see, all the sports networks that come, or do NOT come with “basic” cable are responsible for a very hefty part of the cable bill seeing as how you don’t get a lower cable bill if you don’t want ANY sports channels.

No other carrier in Houston has taken them up on the “generous” offer, so at this point, I can’t watch em even if I wanted to.

It is gonna be a cold day in youknowwhere before all these RSNs agree to have anyone decide to buy their network independent of the cable bill because they make MUCH more money forcing everyone to pay for something whether or not they do want it. The college networks/conferences have caught on to this, too.

Anyway, I don’t want to watch DH ball when it is on Fox/ESPN, so I’m not gonna watch it if it IS free. Unless they are playing NL ball in a NL stadium.

Bud Selig, by the way, stated that he takes responsibility for destroying our NL franchise because he thinks that everything will be great because there will be this “great rivalry” with the Metroplex. It certainly didn’t develop in the least little bit with that dumbass “Silver Boot” crap, and it is not gonna develop with this silliness. Bud, by the way, is still thinking about a franchise in San Antonio. He is counting residents, not corporations or even people with money – they don’t have the $$$ to pay to build a stadium and the population is too poor to support a ML team. If he thinks people are going to drive down from Austin to watch a baseball game in San Antonio, he’s out of what is left of his mind.

As for the Astros, well, what is good is that there are a lot of guys who, with just one day in the major leagues, will receive health insurance for life. One of the very very few things that the MLBPA has done FOR the players in the past 20 years. Unfortunately, the new guys only receive the ML minimum each day they are on the 25 man roster. Guys like Brett Wallace, who signed a contract before the season began, unless he signed a split contract, receives the ML minimum.

I like this. The less amount of any profit stuffed into Crane’s pockets, the better. It’s not like he’s spending it on the TEAM in any way, you know.

At this point, the Astros are the worst team in the DH league at 7-14 (how did they win THAT many) but are tied with the Cubs and trailing the Padres (6-15) and the Marlins (5-17). That Jeffrey Loria – what a business GEEENYUSS. No one in the stands, no payroll to speak of, all that profit – AND, you notice, even with the lowered payroll, no tickets lower in price. All the people who scream about player salaries being the only cause of high ticket prices never bother to notice this little detail.

Here are the lucky guys who, this month, earned themselves free life insurance by getting called up from AAA: newbies only:
- Paul Clemens: RHP: 4 games, 13.2 IP, 11 H, 3 walk, 4 K, 4 HR, 7 runs
- Brett Oberholzer: RHP: 1 game, 2 IP, 3 H, 2 HR, 2 runs
- Jose Cisnero, RHP: 2 games over 5.2 IP – 3 hits, 1 walk, 3 K, no runs
- Robbie Grossman: CF/OF (who we got for Wandy, who, by the way has thrown 4 games 21.2 IP, 3 BB, 16 K, 4 ER: 1.66 ERA/ 0.78 WHIP. Good thing we got rid of him) who was called up to replace Justin Maxwell, on the DL for a broken hand: 2 games, 2 fer 9, no walks, 2 doubles

Xavier Cedeno got picked up offn waivers by the Nats, who are 11-11. They are supposed to be 22-0, you know. It’s the fault of Stephen Strasburg, who is supposed to pitch perfect games every time out, but has thrown 7, 5.1, 6, 6 and 7 innings and given up 0, 6, 0, 2, 3 ER, 27 H, 3 HR, 8 BB, 28 K over 31.1 IP and has only one W to show for it. Pitcher wins, you see, are not in any way correllated to stuff like run support or the performance of the bullpen. They only measure the manlinesshood of the pitcher.

Only Altuve, Carter and Pena have appeared in all 22 games. The game plan for hitters this year appears NOT to have a good on base, but to have a high slugging percentage and to heck with stuff like walks and Ks. Chris Carter has struck out in 37 of 90 PA, which is 41% by the way, has 18 hits – 1 double, 1 triple, 5 HR and 9 walks. He has a .222 BA and a .444 SLG for a .741 OPS, which is lower than Altuve’s.

Carlos Pena Ks 25% of the time, but the team leader by FAR is Rick Ankiel, who has Kd in 28 of 45 PA, which, is 62% – but of his 9 hits, 2 are doubles and 5 are homerse, which gives him a BA of .205, and a slg of .591 and an OPS of .815. Sort of reminds me of Mo Ensberg 2006, except Mo walked over 100 times that year, allowing himself to be on base to be driven in. Ankiel swings hard at everything – no infield dribblers there. From what I’ve seen, his fielding instincts are most definitely NOT what I remember from his time with the Cards, and he’s already misplayed 3 balls I can count (no errror, just runs) and made 2 errors. At least he’s better than Fernando Martinez, who has the speed of a 9 month pregnant woman and the fielding instincts of a 10 year old kid shagging fly balls in the OF.

Matt Dominguez, so far, is hitting like he did in the minors his whole career: 18 fer 73 with 4 doubles, 9 walks, 9 K, 4 GIDP: .247/.295/.301/.596. Wonder how long it is going to be before he is replaced by Brandon Laird, whose glove is just as outstanding, and who hits better and for more power.
shrug
He’s going to have a much longer chance than Brett Wallace did, that’s fer sher.
Matt is getting out-hit, both average and power, by BOTH shortstops.

Matt’s got chillssssssss
they’re multiplying
cuz the powerrrrrr
Laird’s supplyingggg
It’s ELECTRIFYING!!

So Matt
better shape up
cuz Stros need a guy
who will keep them satisfied
and they’ll admit deep inside
that Laird’s the one that they want
oooh ooooh oooooooooooooh
that one they neeeeeeeeed
oh yes indeeeeeeeeed

(yeah, you know the video that’s been playing around here lately)

Looks to me as if the Astros would do a LOT better if they had Laird at 3rd most of the time and Pena at first with either Fernando Martinez or Chris Carter at DH – does anyone here remember the Mike Lamb as a left fielder experiment? (shudder)

And speaking of shudder, let’s take a look at how the starters are doing:

Ace Bud Norris: 5 GS, 24 IP: 4.13 ERA/1.58 WHIP: 27 H;  2 HR;  11 BB;  16 K;  14 R/11 ER:  R/IP each game:
2/5.2
2 ER, 5 R/5.2
0/7
6/0.2
1/5

Lucas Harrell: 5 GS: 28.2 IP: 4.08 ERA/1.57 WHIP: 30 H;  5 HR;  13 BB;  20 K;  5 R/ER:  runs, IP/G:
1/6
8/4.1
2/5.2
1/5.2
1/7

Brad Peacock: 4 GS: 18 IP: 7.50 ERA/1.57 WHIP: 20 H;  6 HR;  8 BB;  16 K;  15 R/ER:  runw, IP/G
2/4.1
3/5
3/4.1
7/4.1

Phil Humber: 4 GS: 23.2 IP: 799 ERA/1.82 WHIP: 35 H;  3 HR;  8 BB;  14 K;  21 R/ER:  runs, IP/G:
1/5.2
3/6
2/7
8/0.1
7/4.2

Erik Bedard (limited to 75 pitches/appearance): 3 GS, 1 relief:  11.2 IP;  6.17  ERA/  1.54 WHIP: 10 H; 2  HR;  8 BB;  14 K;  R/ER: 8 IP/G:
3.1/0;
4/0;
0.1/6;
2/4

In only FIVE of 22 games, did a starter manage to last at least 6 innings.  Amazing. So the churning in the minors is going to continue – sort of like – the beatings will continue until the morale improves.

I guess the real reason they are doing that stupid tandem stuff in even the high minors is so that all these starters can think of themselves as 3 inning long relievers. Pretty tough to get a starter to think of going 6-7 inning per game when they adjust themselves to 75 pitches/4 innings, whichever comes first. I can’t see how on earth this does not mess with their minds, but
shrug
it’s the Astros problem, not mine…

I can’t remember anything like this before: tonight, Phil Humber got an out, then gave up 8 runs before being pulled. Ol Portie-poo must have gotten that ol deja vu creepies – one nice fly out, then single, single, double to shallow center, then massive double to right bullpen wall after 3 pitches way off the plate – all on balls up and over the plate. Time out. But Humber is all shook up. another 5 pitch walk. And then a hanging slider and POW 3 run homer into the RF bullpen by Mark Reynolds (who holds The Sacred All Time Got Struckt Out Record, who I thought was out of baseball) and it’s 5-0. Lil time out at the mound, Keuchel up and throwing, sumpin gotta be done. More hanging sliders and 3 more batters, still only 1 out and it’s 8-0.

It’s 6:17 and the ballgame is ovah already.

Incredible. But true. And jeezus, this is the third time in a WEEK the starter couldn’t finish the first inning. I am positive this has NEVER happened before in Astros’ history.

I could mention that Dallas Keuchel, who is getting a LOT more work than I would bet he thought he was gonna get, got the next 2 outs right quick, but gave up SIX runs in the second because Matt Dominguez completely botched a 5-4-3 to load the bases, then Ronny Cedeno couldn’t play a grounder and a run scores, a K, a real single, then a walk, then another fielding screwup as Corporan can’t throw the ball to first on what should have been a 1-2-3, then another single, and a double down the LF line (for once, not Carter’s fault) and 6 runs are in, 2 earned, but hey, runs are runs.

It’s not that Kazmir was any good, as he gave up 3 runs in the second (Brandon Laird homer!!!) 2 walks and a singe, and 3 in the third (Brandon Barnes homer!!!!) and got pulled with men on second and third in the 4th, don’t ask me why, because Cleveland was leading 18-6 at the time, seeing as how – I forgot – Travis Blackley, the new lefty (remember Xavier Cedeno got the heave ho) freshly offfn the DL, gave up a walk, a double, then a 3 run homer to Jason Giambi. Remember him? He’s one of the guys who used steroids but nobody cares because he ain’t goin near the Hall – tried to get the job as manager of the Rockies after having played there the past few years, but they didn’t want him, so he kept on playing as just a player and not a player manager.

Which we haven’t see in baseball since the last days of Pete Rose, which I really don’t remember.  But anyway, Rhiner Cruz managed to give up only 1 run in 1 inning and Paul Clemens pitched 3.1 scoreless. Good thing the Astros have 2 long men because looks like they gonna need them.

Sunday afternoon, it’s Erik Bedard, who, last start, couldn’t finish the first inning vs Ubaldo Jiminez, who used to be an ace de la ace for the Rox and suddenly just started being a less than average pitcher, and then Cleveland traded for him, thinking they could fix him, but they didn’t.

There weren’t even 10K people in the stands for Fireworks Friday (I don’t care what fake numbers get posted as official) and there appeared to be fewer tonight. Wonder if there will even be 5K – doubt it, not that they mind. I’m sure that the stands will be packed with Yankee/RedSox fans next week and they’ll be busy selling Yankee/RedSox stuff in The Shed instead of Astros gear, as they did last time those teams were in town.

Stros better step down their game though – they are winning the AL loss record, but unfortunately, the corpse of the Jeff Lorias have the major league lead…

Should I mention that Wandy threw 7 innings of 2 hit no walk ball against the Braves and got pulled after 82 pitches. Or that Mark Melancon seems to be cured of whatever ailed him last year? Or that Chris Johnson got 2 of the Braves 4 hits vs the Pirates today? Yeh, CJ is on FAHR, has kept the BA over .400 – not that I expect him to keep THAT up, but just the same, he’s outhitting and out fielding Matt Dominguez.

Well, Brett basically didn’t make contact with the ball and swung at everything and missed – I mean, seriously, I think your average football player woulda had better luck. and he was on the tightest leash like evah, so he gone. I’m actually surprised he wasn’t released, but youneverknow. It’s the usual – he needs steady ABs – stuff and fact is that Chris Carter is a born DH and Carlos Pena is a decent first baseman, so once AGAIN, Brett couldn’t hit ML pitching.

Yes, I know that 26 AB is small sample size, but it’s not like he hit frozen ropes all ovah the place that Gold Glove catches got made on.

Brandon Laird is a FINE 3rd base glove and Matt Dominguez is hitting like he did in the minors, which is to say, not a lot. Yes, I know, small sample size.

Should I mention that Chris Johnson is hitting .435, has 7 multi hit games, and playing a great 3rd/1st base? For the Braves, that is? Yes, I know, small sample size.

I was SO lookin forward to seeing Michael Bourn again, but he got his finger sliced up yesterday when it got spiked, and he’s on the DL. Rats.

I liked the newsfeed on MLB – the first headline says – Peacock learns from number 1 starter Bud Norris. The next headline – Bud Norris Gets Knocked Out In The First Inning.

It is to laugh.

The team is 4-11, on a nice 5 game losing steak, and is headed toward the top of the suckage heap. They dumped Xavier Cedeno, who, unike Edgar Gonzalez, is almost certainly going to pass throu waivers, and now they are down to one lefty, Wesley Wright. I had praised Bedard’s awesomeness in long relief, so I won’t jinx the 2 guys who are now long relievers.

Lucas Harrell has had 2 very good starts, but no W to show for it, and 1 really bad 8 runs given up start. He faces ex-stro, the Ol WB. Not that there’s gonna be a crowd, even for fireworks night.

I guess I’ve given up on Brett. Not sure if the Organization has, but they can’t get anything for him. He hasn’t put good wood on the ball yet. He didn’t strikeout yesterday against a ground ball pitcher – like, you know, whoaaaaa, but I’m not impressed. Of course, he might could click and go on a tear, but I doubt it.

It’s Chris Wallace, Houston homeboy from U of H, who got dumped for some crappy reliever. He was picked in the 16th round of the 2010 draft – he’ll turn 25 in a few weeks. He spent most of last year at AA, posted a .727 OPS, and ended up at AAA at the end of the year, and had a .708 OPS over 46 AB.

He started this year at AAA, only had 3 AB – maybe he was hurt? They played their latest ML flunkout, Jason Jaramillo (last year was Landon Powell, remember? You don’t? Oh well…) and Cody Clark, who is a 32 year old AAA lifer in the KC system with a .554 OPS over 7 years, signed as a minor league FA – don’t ask me why him and not Wallace, but I guess the Organization had washed their hands of him after Spring Training.

sigh

Here and I thought the Astros were complaining about their lack of minor league catchers. Chris has at least a chance to reach the majors with Cleveland, and with the Astros’ Jason Castro worship, he didn’t have a chance here. Castro, from the little I’ve seen, hasn’t improved his ability to block balls at all.

Anyway, Chris got traded for a 27 year old lefty, picked in the 9th round of the 07 draft – he’s a swingman. Over 127 IP at AAA, he has a 6.08 ERA/1.40 WHIP. That is over 3 years, up and down. Big difference from his AA numbers, where he had high K/9, 4.4 BB/9 and less than 1 HR/9.

I don’t get this at all. It’s not like the guy hasn’t had much time at AAA – he has. And he had a 5.50 ERA there last year over 88 IP.

Why so eager to get rid of someone who COULD be someone for a crappy AA/AAA guy?

whatever

I do want to throw in my 2 cents on Jackie Robinson Day about Bud Selig’s concern about how few American born Black men are playing baseball these days. Ida wanna hear all that stuff about “pace of the game” because football is slowern molasses on a cold day and don’t nobody care. It’s all about the benjamins, Buddy Boy. There are zillions of college full rides for football and basketball. Zero for baseball. There aren’t batting cages, pitching instruction in poor areas, no place for a bunch of kids to play pickup baseball. Nowhere to play, nowhere to practice, no one to teach, no money for all those expensive travel teams, which are so much more important than Little League or High School.

So if Bud is so dammed bothered, he could take all that massive slush fund and his 22 mill salary and put it toward batting cages, teachers, sponsoring kids to travel teams, providing FULL scholarships to college.

nah

Much better to keep it to use to help owners browbeat poor taxpayers into giving billionaire owners more money, right?

And prayers for the wounded and friends and family of those killed. Too awful.

It is beyond weird not watching the Astros. I’m getting used to it I guess, like living in the house where you lived with someone you loved who has died. You turn around, think they’re there and they aren’t. Have to be satisfied with mlb.tv’s free game of the day (unless I just happen to be at my Mama’s and we’re watching the Cards, whose bullpen looks like the Astros…)

But I was checking on the Braves/Nats game today – you know that the Nats were the heavy favorite to win the Pennant this year, and they got their asses handed to them on a platter. They were talkin last year as if missing the playoffs – resting Strasburg – was no biggie because, of course, they’d be in it every year for years. Youneverknow, you know, youneverknow. The Braves were big winners, had great teams from 91 – 2005 and they won exactly one WS and 4 pennants and that was all. Stuff happens – guys get hurt, guys suddenly struggle for no apparent reason, and as Miss Joplin once sang, you gotta get it while you can.

Remember 04? Pettitte went down and McLane wouldn’t spring for
1 – another starter
2 – a GOOD reliever (well, they signed a whole lot of guys who turned out to be good, and tossed em out)
and we thought it would be OK because we’d still have Oswalt, Clemens, Pettitte  - and we had the Unhittable Brad Lidge, Qualls, Springer and
an
well, then Albert Pujols happened and it was wait until 06 when Clemens gets around to coming back and
and then it was The Year Of Nothing Matters But Biggio’s farewell tour, especially not bothering to like, draft any decent players because what are they good for,
and then it was Fast Eddie and that idiot Cecil Cooper and the Psychobilly Cadillac that got junked by Hurricane Ike
and then McLane decided to throw in the towel – riches to rags in 3 short years with him as the defacto GM
and next thing you know, goodbye baseball team.

They’ve been out on the West coast, with those late games, can’t check the scores until the next day. Got shutout 3 of the first 6 games, then inexplicable, bats exploded, they won 3 straight games, and then Albert Pujols happened. And the Stros jumpstarted the slow year of Josh Hamilton and Mike Trout and back to the losing.

Bud Norris, still on the trading block, in spite of the Astros just losing Alex White and John Ely to elbow surgery and Edgar Gonzalez to the waiver wire when they traded for Travis Blackley, brought up Dallas Keuchel and Paul Clemens, set the Astros starting pitching record of the year by throwing 7 innings. Yes, finally a starter managed to go even SIX innings, miracles oh miracles. This afternoon, Lucas Harrell managed to go 7 innings – pretty good performance, too – 2 runs/7 IP and took a tough L.

Jose Veras, not to my surprise at all, blew his first save opportunity. Have yet to see why on earth the Stat Geek Parade ever thought he was closer material. I mean, I saw him when he was with the Pirates, and I wasn’t impressed. The only reliever who has been impressive so far is Erik Bedard – oh
nevermind.

At this point, the Astros finally figured out that Chris Carter has a great glove at DH and as soon as they got him out of the field, he started hitting. It’s not that Julio Daniel is exactly Mr. Gold Glove, but he is compared to Carter. Altuve, Maxwell, Barnes and Marwin Gonzalez are still hitting well, and Dominguez and Castro are keepin it real at about .240 and Ronny Cedeno seems to have been suddenly switched to the backup guy, which is sensible.

And now – what’s their record?
Larry?
4 and 7.
Yes, it’s 4 and 7
It’s a miracle.
It’s a miracle.

Tomorrow night, they’re back in Oakland, where they just got swept. I hate all those west coast games.

Maybe tomorrow, I’ll check up on all the ex-stros around the majors. You know that Chris Johnson is hitting over .400? Guess who has more fielding errors, CJ or Gold Glover Ryan Zimmerman?  CJ has made some awesome plays both at third and first. The boy seems to have found a good home.

Baseball Is Back, Not Gonna Save Its Reputation
Nah naaah, na naaaaaaaaa, my baseball’s back.
Most of Astros fans have took a permanent vacationnn
Cuz they can’t SEE the Astros games…..

Well, sort of baseball – it’s DH ball. Blech. On ESPN, so that everyone can see Nolan Ryan gloating and Bud Selig smirking about how they pulled off their stupid scheme.

I don’t guess I’ll complain about the fact that it is not starting on the first Tuesday in Cincy, seeing as how Buddy Boy has had Opening Day everywhere except Europe, broadcast at a time that I (and pretty much anyone in America) can’t watch it. Tradition menas zero to Bud Selig and the money people and he’s shoving it in our faces by having the Astros, the new AL West whipping boy, getting thrown out as first bait.

Watched the Friday game against the Cubs, which was actually available on mlb.tv – twas a tie game, the Astros end Spring Training at 14-16-4. Things I noticed:

1 – Alex White looked absolutely awful and couldn’t locate anything. Turns out he has a sprained elbow and got put on the 60 day DL. Cmon, just do the ****ing surgery already, hunh?

THIS IS WHY YOU DON’T TRADE BUD NORRIS BECAUSE YOU CAN’T NEVAH HAVE ENOUGH PITCHING!!!!

2 – Jose Veras, the new closer, is the kind of Human Rain Delay that makes the speed of Steve Trachsel pitching look like Mark Buehrle. He’s another example of the stat geek insistence that Any Reliever Can Pitch The 9th.

3 – Kevin Chapman has reasonable, not great stuff, and could use another year in the minors

4 – Wesley Wright is having trouble getting his fastball to find the strike zone, more so than he did last year, and he’s not getting leftys out as he should. We won’t go near rightys.

5 – Rhiner Cruz looked like a genuine major leaguer, threw major league quality fastball and breaker. He looks like a totally different guy from last year.

6 – Josh Fields, again, had great stuff. That curveball is just great. Fastball topped at 91, but its delivery must be deceptive because no one really saw it.

By the 5th inning, everyone who is a major leaguer had left the field and it was like a little league game – not that it wasn’t with all the place switching goin on.

As for hitters:

I hope they are not seriously going to send Carlos Pena up there against leftys routinely because he just can’t see the ball out of their hand or something – you talk about a guy needing to be platooned.

Jason Castro’s hitting has obviously improved from last year, but not his throwing or ability to catch any pitch not thrown exactly to his glove. I’ll reserve judgement on pitch framing until he has major league umpires behind the plate.

And speaking of behind the plate, the ump was calling a lot of pitches off the plate as strikes – the minor leaguers who were waiting for a pitch in the strike zone got called out on strikes too many times and I don’t blame em for not swinging and I hope the FO doesn’t neither.

Don’t know if yesterday’s game was on Comcast, but mlb.tv didn’t have it. Not sure if it was even worth watching, seeing as how the entire starting lineup was comprised of minor leaguers plus Trevor Crowe and Brandon Laird, who must be not understanding why Ronny Cedeno and not him. He’s really an excellent fielding 3rd baseman – bet the Yankees wish they had him back.

Trevor Crowe looks like Travis Buck did last year – will have to see if he keeps it up or sinks as Buck did.

Will post the actual starting lineup and Opening Day 25 man roster later. I always forget to do this, and finding out exactly what it was later on is close to impossible.

In case you’re wondering if I am going, in spite of being offered FREE tickets, the answer is not a chance. I’m not setting foot in the place until Crane is gone AND we’re back to playing real baseball, not that cheating DH stuff – it’s like watching college ball of Little League.

Yes, I’m not kidding.

Husband can’t understand why I refuse to support Jim Crane in any way, yet will watch the Opening Day broadcast on ESPN with the sound off – don’t know who will be broadcasting, but I can tell you that whoever it is is terrible, because they absolutely refuse to have anyone who actually KNOWS baseball announce the game. And of course, we will be forced to suffer some screeching female screech the National Anthem at 1/3 the correct pace. And of course, we will be forced to watch endless shots of Nolan Ryan’s smirking puss and show some blonde interviewer with huge boobs interviewing someone at the same time there is action on the field.

And people wonder why the viewing audience is decreasing…

Now that it is easy to find the names of every player who has been ever invited to Spring Training, as well as who played during the year – at least since MLB started publishing them on the site, I thought it would be kewl to go back to a time fans still cared about the team.

2006 was the year that the Organization just didn’t want Luke Scott to be on the team and didn’t want to trade him for anything good, neither, so signed a very washed up Preston Wilson, and the team didn’t take off until someone in the FO persuaded everyone else to call up Luke Scott, but by then, in spite of all the excitement at the end of the year, it was just too late. We ended up 82-80, losing out to the playoffs because of John EFF Smoltz beating us in the last game of the year while the Cardinals won their last Had To Win game, and went on to win the Series, seriously pissing off every betting service and Old Time fan who thought that only the 2 best teams should play, AND the stat geeks, who didn’t think that Saint Looey had what it took to Go All The Way stat-wise and David (5-6) “The Pest” Eckstein took home the WS MVP trophy seeing as how it sure wasn’t Uncle Albert’s prize. So there is one MVP guaranteed Steroid-Free…

anyway

2007 was The Year Of The Biggio. Biggio by the end of 2006 was a shadow of the really great second baseman he used to be, and really, no longer had any business on any major league team, let alone as a starteer on a major league team actually expected to Compete. But Drayton McLane decided, for the first time I can think of, that winning was not the most important thing with the team, marketing Biggio, getting him the extra 57 hits he needed to reach 3000 and thus secure him a Hall of Fame spot, was what mattered. No idea what Tal Smith, let alone Tim Purpura thought about it, but Pam Gardner, head of business, must have been delighted, because the fans poured in to see the Biggio, not a winning team.

Astros posted a losing record for the first time since 2000, but unlike then, the Astros no longer had either a great young core or any minor leaguers who would be good solid players, let alone STARS!!!!! as Drayton had insisted on not paying prospects (after paying Derik Grigsby 1 mill in 2000 – and he then had mental illness and left baseball, and Chris Burke 2 mill in 01 – and he screamed about paying any young unproven player more than chump change. The Astros minor leagues slid even more quickly into the garbage heap.

Oh yes, and let us not forget – 2007 was the year Drayton forfeited the first and second round picks to sign both Carlos Lee and Woody Williams, this after not offering arb to any departing players who would obviously sign multi-year contracts elsewhere, a policy that was and would continue to prove disastrous for years.

By the way, please note that of all these IF, including those invited to ST, NONE of them were prospects, by any definition of the word. The decay of the farm by this time was advanced.

Catchers:
- Eric Munson – ex Tiger, brought over by Phil Garner, ex-Tiger, the last manager to have any sort of power whatsoever. Had his ups and downs, played 50 games at AAA, 50 games in the majors, was usually used as a lefty PH, which really didn’t suit him, and in 150 PA, managed a .669 OPS. Wasn’t resigned at the end of the year, spent the next year mostly hurt, had a good year at AAA in 09, was called up for one PA, spent the next 2 years in the indy leagues or at AAA, then was OOB. He had been yanked around by his original team after being drafted, because he could hit for power, so he was put at third, at first, before spending 2 years at catcher with the Astros, by which time he was already old. Never got a big ML payday, but that’s OK because he got a 7 mill signing bonus. Those were the days…
- Brad Ausmus – sigh. You talk about a tough guy. Played in at least 100 games/year from 94 – 07. Spent one more year with the Astros, then left to go west, young man, spent 2 years as a backup with the Dodgers, and had to have back surgery his very last year. He’s now in the Padres’ Front Office, when he’s not involved with Israeli baseball. Fun fact about Brad – he killed the ball in Spring Training, hit over .300 every year. Now you’d wonder if he’s one of those guys who would have had a really great career as a second baseman, as he was agile, a very good and smart baserunner, and he wore down behind the plate.
J.R. Towles – he wasn’t at Spring Training.  He was a 20th round pick, expected to be minor league filler, got called up to AA only because someone else got hurt. And he absolutely moided that baseball, earned a Sept callup long after the season had been punted, and he and other young players got a chance, and he not only set the all time Astros record for RBIs in 1 game with 8, but went 15 fer 40 with 5 doubles and a homer and the FO thought they had their Catcher Of The Future.
Humberto Quintero – who had been obtained from the Padres after the 05 season for Tim Redding, one of the guys who, along with Roy Oswalt, Carlos Hernandez and Wade Miller, were supposed to be The 4 Aces for the Astros for a decade.  Didn’t work out that was, did it? Q spent most of the year in the minors, in spite of hitting .283 in ST – he posted a ML line which was essentially his career line: .226/.281/.244/.545. He wasn’t the devensive catcher that Ausmus was, couldn’t run like him, couldn’t even hit as well, but yet the fans never screamed about how his bat was killing the team, as they did with Ausmus. Of course, he wasn’t outrageously handsome and you didn’t see tons of females wearing his jersey, neither.

Just appeared for ST props:

Lou Santangelo – Went 1 fer 10. My GAWD he’s youngern me. Picked in the 4th round of the 04 draft, couldn’t hit for spit at any level. Busted for roids, which obviously did zero for his production (you notice that all the folks who insist that roids turn guys into great hitters never mention guys like Lou). Made it as high as AAA in 09 (man I don’t remember that – tells you what you need to know about the Astros minor leagues over the past 7-8 years) then was demoted to AA, then has been in the indy leagues for the past 2 years. There really are guys who love playing baseball they actually DO play basically for free.
Kevin Davidson – picked in the 27th round of the 02 draft.  No sort of speeper or prospect by anyone’s standards, not even sure why he was at ST, except that they need SOME body to catch all those pitchers. He’d posted a .602 OPS at AA in 06. He was OOB after the year, so I guess he’s always have that ML ST uni to treasure.
Jeffrey Mackor –  who??? Picked in the 15th round of the 02 draft, had posted a .711 OPS at high A in 06, and got exactly one ST AB. Like with Kevin Davidson, he’ll always have that ST uni to treasure. He posted a .640 OPS at AA in 07, then was OOB.

First Base:
Lance Berkman – anyone remember that he came in 6th in the 2000 ROY voting behind Mitch Melusky? Hardly anyone ever heard of the guy because he played in a small market like Houston that The Media didn’t and doesn’t bother to mention, but he’s one of the best switch hitters of all time. 2007 was a very down year for him, as he only posted a 130 OPS+ and most important to Astro fans, hit only .286 – Astros fans weren’t into saber anything, they wanted to see high batting averages and really didn’t respect much of anything else. He now has a lifetime OPS+ of 146, really has a HOF quality career. He FINALLY got that Ring after signing with Saint Looey in 2011, after finding out that, to his surprise, the Astros didn’t want him back after he generously agreed to be traded to the Yankees For The Good Of The Ballclub in 2010 (the Mark Melancon/Jimmy Paredes trade). After all his anti-DH talk, he signed with the Rangers to be their – wait for it – DH.

Mike Lamb – his last good year. Had the lead-est of gloves at third, was acceptable at first. But was also a lefty like Lance, so he didn’t get that much time at first, except when Phil put Lance in the OF. He posted his usual good .820 OPS, but by September, it was obvious that the team was going to get rid of him – they didn’t TRADE him, oh no, they might could have gotten something in return. Instead, they let him walk at the end of the year. And although he had more ML ABs from 08 – 2010, he never hit. Not sure what the FO saw, but for once, they were right.
And just in ST:

Neil Sellers – yeah, I know, who??? Got 2 PA, didn’t hit. Drafted in the 32nd round of the 04 draft. He wasn’t exactly a prospect, had posted a .732 OPS at high A Salem, no idea why he got a ST invite. He posted a .738 OPS at AA in 07, ended up in the Phils Organization in 08, so just might could have been a throw in in one of Fast Eddie’s many giveaways to the Phils. Played in the minors until last year.

Second Base -
Biggio – who could only hit at all vs leftys and at home, and had nothing left resembling legs or gloves, only Da Grit. But played full time even after getting That Magic 3000 because he was the Boss and what he wanted, he got. Like Lola. Team player my ass. He should be in the Hall of Fame, but for reasons I do not get, except maybe because he was friends with Ken Caminiti before he left for San Diego in 03, he has gotten hit with steroids!!!!! accusations (how else could he hit 20 el-cheapo homers into the Crawford Boxes in 04 after changing his stance and pulling every single ball?) and has so far been kept out of the Hall, which he won’t sniff with all The Designated Clean!!! guys coming up.

Just curious – why is Biggio being blasted with steroids accusations because he knew Caminiti and lasted forever without injuries except in 2000, but Brad Ausmus, who lasted forever as a catcher without injuries until he was like 41, is not? Neither has big muscles or changed size, so why is one a dirty guy and the other isn’t?

I guess that The Media has decided they have the Devine Right to accuse without proof, seeing as how it isn’t court, after all, and who needs proof when you got a right to suspect and publish it without the slightest fear of reprisal? I don’t know why I bother to even think about it, it’s not like it’s worth worrying about as The Media has all the powah and I have none.

Other players will all be listed under Utility. Because they were.

Third Base
- Mo Ensberg. Kept in the minors way too long. Was a guy the Organization didn’t like, never knew why, was always looking for an excuse to bench or platoon him, but wouldn’t trade him even when he was valuable and get something for a guy they didn’t want or like. This was a policy that the post Hunsicker Astros stuck to like a drowning person to a life raft, and I still do not get. Anyway, he had hurt his shoulder in May of 06, came back way too soon, and never ever found his swing again. Had a lot of value anyway because he got on base a lot, and when he did hit, he hit for power, good enough for a 120 OPS+ but in 07, he was simply lost. He hit decently in ST, went 16 fer 57 with 2 doubles, 4 homers and 6 walks, but he wasn’t right. He got traded for nothing at the deadline, and basically was OOB within a short time. At least he got paid.
- Ty Wigginton – at age 29, was a much traded guy who had been signed by the Mets in the 17th round of the 98 draft and had already been with the Mets, Pirates and Devil Rays. He was obtained for Dan Wheeler, mired in a lousy season after the firing of Jim Hickey (what a STUPID decision on Drayton’s part). Ensberg was benched and Wiggy posted a 106 OPS+ over 50 games. He didn’t have a very good glove, but the Astros fans already hated Mo, so because Wiggy hit over .280, the fans didn’t have any problem with the glove.
And just for a ST tip of the hat:

- Danny Klassen – second rounder in the Brewers’ 93 draft, had come to the Astros in 04 after being in the Tigers’ minors. I would guess that he was one of Phil Garner’s Tiger Boyz, but Phil didn’t start until July, so I think he must have been a minor league FA. He was already 31 at ST, hadn’t sniffed the majors in a few years, not that he was any good, so it must have been a bone to a minor league soldier. He ended up spending a total of 10 years at AAA, with 2 more at Round Rock, mostly as a SS, to my surprise, I always thought of him as a first/3rd baseman, had a .752 career AAA OPS over 10 years. Another guy who was gonna play until either he broke down or couldn’t get a job. Six year AAA vets are well paid, compared to the rest of minor leaguers, and unless a guy had some kind of degree/skills that would land him a good job, he wouldn’t be much better paid In The Real World.

Shortstop
- Adam Everett - the best glove, next to Ozzie, that I have EVER seen. Brendan Ryan coming in second. Didn’t nevah get no respect from Houston fans because they didn’t give a damm about glove and wanted him to hit like A-roid and Miggy Te-roider. We had lost the 04 playoffs because Adam had a broken arm, and we had Jose Vizcaino “playing” short and he couldn’t hit OR field. His hitting had suffered because of injuries in 04 and 06, but his career really ended for reals when he had a horrific collision in short left with Carlos Lee, who was lumbering in to catch a popup – really, REALLY stupid seeing as how Adam was 10 times the runner and fielder. He was out the rest of the year and we suffered with Mark Loretta’s terrible glove, but fans didn’t care because Mark could REALLY hit. Anyway, in case you’re curious, Adam didn’t hit in ST, was 7 fer 49.
 - Mark Loretta – by FAR the best of the utility guys. Was actually a second baseman, although he ended up playing mostly at SS, where he didn’t belong. Really lousy glove, but no fans cared because he hit better than Adam Everett. His hitting had suffered because of injuries in 04 and 06, but his career really ended for reals when he had a horrific collision in short left with Carlos Lee, who was lumbering in to catch a popup – really, REALLY stupid seeing as how Adam was 10 times the runner and fielder. He was out the rest of the year and we suffered with Mark Loretta’s terrible glove, but fans didn’t care because Mark could REALLY hit. He hit .321 in ST and  .287 with a .724 OPS the rest of the year.

UTILITY INFIELDERS: (you will note that there wasn’t a single prospect in the bunch)

- Cody Ransom: just looking at this name makes me mad. Picked in the 9th round of the 98 draft by the Giants, had a .660 OPS over 4 years, 117 PA with them, disappeared into the minors. Signed by the Astros in 06 as a minor league FA, he was second on the AAA team to SupahStah Supah Joe McEwing, who won team MVP honors with a .7 something OPS. Really. Cody hit .247/.349/.479/.824 at age 30, was kept instead of promoting anyone from AA like, say, jonny Ash, who  might could have had a future. He hit .300 with a .817 OPS in ST, but never had any chance of making the ML team even if he had gone 30 fer 30. Got called up for a couple of ABs mid year, went 8 fer 35 with 2 doubles, a homer and 9 walks. Released at the end of the year, he went to the Yankees, where he filled in for ARod in 08, posting Arod like numbers over 51 glorious PA. Got a Ring with them in 09. Has appeared with SOME ML team every year since and had a career high 168 PA last year with the Crew. You talk about veterans blocking promising youngsters in the majors – well, Ransom did that in our minors for 2 years.
- Eric Bruntlett – drafted by the Astros in the 9th round of the 09 draft. A  true utility guy who had a really good glove everywhere, including center field. Hit .250 in ST with 2 doubles and 2 homers, but started on the AAA team after a good year in 06. I was surprised and I’ll bet he was even more surprised. But he ended up playing 80 ML games with a .629 OPS over 15 PA. Got traded to the Phils after the season in the Brad Lidge/Michael Bourn trade and won a Ring – had a really important hit, or was it play, in the deciding game – reminded me of that fabulous DP to win the Astros 04, or was it 05 NLDS. This stuff fades over time and I’m too damn lazy to search my archives. He did the bounce between majors and minrs thing in 09, played strictly in the minors in 2010, then retired.

And just a ST invite:
First, guys who eventually made it to the majors, just not with the 07 Astros:

- Brooks Conrad: picked in the 8th round of the 01 draft, a switch hitting second baseman. Astros never had any interest in the guy, don’t know why. They exposed him to RuleV after he had a .840 OPS at AA and no one else was interested neither. He continued to post high .800 OPS at AAA for 3 years, yet the Astros wouldn’t promote him and they wouldn’t trade him. Yeah, another one of those guys. You sign Mark Loretta, you KNOW you aren’t gonna use Conrad, but make zero effort to get anything for him. Same old Astros. Oakland picked him up as a 6 year minor league FA at the end of the season and he got a couple of ML Abs at age 28. He went to Atlanta in 09, spent 2 full years in the majors as a utility player, got famous for hitting a bunch of homers at the end of the 2010 Braves season, as well as making unbelieveably TERRIBLE plays – like 4 of em, in 1 game that cost the Braves the game. And really, the playoffs. Got 106 PA last year between Tampa and Milwaukee and I think he’s finally done at age 33. 481 major league PA over 5 years with an 82 OPS+ starting at age 28. And just think, the Astros didn’t think he was worth anything.
- Edwin Maysonet: yet ANOTHER wasted minor leaguer. I hear tell he was – well, whatever the Latin word for “uppity” is. Picked in the 19th round of the 03 draft as filler. Was a excellent glove second baseman,he didn’t stand the ghost of  a chance, seeing as how Chris Burke was in front of him and a 10 foot thick steel wall with endless rows of barb wire named Biggio was in front of him. Edwin wasn’t a prospect or shooting star, and in 06, had repeated high A, and posted a .254 BA/.705 OPS, which earned him a promotion to AA, where he posted a .271 BA/.675 OPS. He got for 7 AB in 08. He had been promoted to AAA, was hitting  .273 BA/.721 OPS and he got called up in 09 when Glass Matsui had one of his predictable injuries. He hit .291, over 79 PA, played flawless second base, but Cecil Cooper didn’t like him and didn’t want to play him and benched him for 0fer 32 Jason Smith and Matt Suckage Kata, while Maysonet sat on his butt. Ridiculous. Of course, Fast Idiot Eddie had given Kaz a stupid stupid 3 year contract and they weren’t gonna trade him because no one else was that stupid. But they didn’t even TRY to trade Maysonet, get something, just sent him back down and let him rot. He got hurt in 2010, didn’t play much even at AAA, and was released at the end of the year. He was signed by the Brewers as a minor league FA and FINALLY got back to the majors last year for 66 PA – hit .250 with a .643 OPS (did better than Brooks Conrad) and this year, signed as a minor league FA with the C*bs. They have Darwin Barney at second, but you alwys need utility guys. Hope he makes it big at age 31. youneverknow.
- Drew Sutton: drafted in the 15th round of the 04 draft. At the end of 06, he has posted a .789 OPS at high A Salem, and the Astros farm was so terrible, that I had actually heard his name. He spent 07 at AA, repeated in 08 and tore it UP with a .908 OPS. That’s incredible for a second baseman – and they didn’t promote him to AAA during the year because that’s the Astros for you. He was traded at the beginning of the 09 season to the Reds for Jeff Keppinger, and yes, this was one of Fast Eddie’s few GOOD moves not involving a reliever. He’s had plate appearances with at least one major league team every year since 09 and has a total of 308 PA and a .708 OPs (93 OPS+) which ain’t bad. Interestingly enough, his best season was the infamous Beer And Chicken season with the 2011 Red Sox and had a .807 OPS over 60 PA. He didn’t play with them after July and I’ll bet it’s why the team collapsed. Spent last year with the Pirates (beat us with a walk off homer, I remember THAT – of course, beating the Astros happened a lot, but hey, a walk off is a walk off) and Rays and is now back with the Bosox.

And guys who just got a uni and 1-2 ABs:

- Jonny Ash – signed 11th round of the 04 draft from the CWS winning team. Was a “character guy” who fielded well, hit for high average and no power. He hit .314 with a .778 OPS at Corpus in 06, but for some reason, was not promoted. Well, the reason was that the Astros chose to play Cody Ransom, one of those AAA monster hitters instead, to enhance the chances of the team winning. So there went any chance for Jonny. When that happens to you and the Organization won’t trade you, that’s the end. And Jonny played a few more yers at AA, then hung em up.
- Wade Robinson: 13th round of the 03 Astros draft. Had a cumulative .561 OPS at AA, although he had killed the ball at AAA in 87 PA at the end of the season. Was released from the Astros at the end of ST (they really gave him a chance with his one AB), caught on briefly with the Nats for a few months, played in the indys for a few years
- Osvaldo Fernando – signed out of the DR in 02. Hadn’t hit at any level, and been promoted to AA at the end of 06 for some reason. Split the season between high A and AA, hit .250 in both with no power, was promoted to AAA for a few games, then was OOB.

- Edwin D Maldonado – I left him for last because he’s really the epitome of the emptiness of the Astros Organization by 07. He was drafted in the 9th round by the Giants in 2000, crapped out at A ball 2 years later, had played in the indys for FOUR years, had a .911 OPS for Laredo in 06, and they gave him exactly 1 AB to see what he could do vs ML pitching. Yeah, that really told em plenty. Opportunity my ass.

Which is basically true all the time. The Organizations might could say something about no posotions guaranteed/the job is open for anyone to win, blahblahblah, but it’s all a pack of lies. With very few exceptions, they have their minds long since made up by the time that players report to ST.

You notice there is no Chris Burke. Because he’s getting his own entire blog post, that’s why.