Archives for the ‘houston astros’ Category

Astros send Towles back to Round Rock

By john • May 12th, 2009 • Category: houston astros, humberto quintero, j.r. towles, minor leagues

J.R. Towles is again headed to Triple-A Round Rock. Today the Astros announced that the 25 year old catcher would be sent to Triple-A to make room for the returning Humberto Quintero.
The Astros have been waiting for Towles to make the step to the clubs catcher following his strong 2007 minor league campaign that saw [...]



Non Roster Invitee: John Gall - Astros

By john • Mar 18th, 2009 • Category: houston astros, john gall, minor leagues, non roster invitee, reggie abercrombie

Considering the team has Geoff Blum starting at third base and no real catcher (pending the Ivan Rodriguez signing) I find it pretty damn amazing that this is the best group of players the Astros could get their hands on.
Let’s be honest this is one of the weakest groups of other pieces crap I have [...]



Danny Graves is still alive and in Houston?

By john • Jan 14th, 2009 • Category: danny graves, houston astros, minor leagues

Houston must be some type of farewell land for slumping big leaguers. It seems that every season a new round of guys go there hoping for one last shot of glory and then fade away.
Add Danny Graves to the list. Graves once was a successful closer for the Cincinnati Reds saving 30 games four times [...]



Astros add Russ Ortiz, talking with Lo Duca

By john • Jan 13th, 2009 • Category: houston astros, minor leagues, paul lo duca, russ ortiz

The Houston Astros announced today that they signed pitcher Russ Ortiz to a minor league deal. Ortiz recorded a career high 21 victories with the Atlanta Braves in 2003 but has had only one productive season since.
Ortiz pitched 200 or more innings five times between 1999-2004 and picked up 14 or more wins in each [...]



Astors sign utility man Matt Kata

By john • Dec 6th, 2008 • Category: houston astros, matt kata, minor leagues

The Houston Astros have signed utility player Matt Kata to a minor league contract with an invite to spring training. If Kata fails to make the Astros out of spring training his drive to work will be a short drive as Kata and his wife make their home in Round Rock, Texas home of the [...]



Astros pick up left handed Lumsden

By john • Nov 24th, 2008 • Category: houston astros, minor leagues, top story, tyler lumsden

Tyler Lumsden has been picked up by the Houston Astros for a player to be named or cash. The left hander formerly of the Royals was designated for assignment earlier this week following a tough year in Triple-A.
Lumsden, who was once a member of the Chicago White Sox farm system, arrived in Kansas City as [...]



Burger King set to reopen

By john • May 29th, 2008 • Category: houston astros, major leagues, ray king

Those of you who thought the days of Burger King and major league baseball together were over are wrong.
Today the Houston Astros announced that they have added yet another veteran to their bullpen at Triple-A Round Rock. Days after signing Jorge Sosa and announcing that completely useless Dave Borkowski would be headed to Round Rock [...]



Zito avoids 0-8 start, actually has quality start

By john • May 12th, 2008 • Category: barry zito, houston astros, mike martoh, san fransisco giants

I suppose all good things must come to an end some time and that includes the insanity surrounding Barry Zito and his 0-7 start this season. Tonight Zito took a 3-0 lead into the sixth before singles and eventually a Lancer Berkman home run tied up the game.
Zito who signed an 7 year $126 million [...]



A reason to like each team

By john • Mar 23rd, 2008 • Category: arizona diamondbacks, atlanta braves, baltimore orioles, boston red sox, chicago cubs, chicago white sox, cincinatti reds, cleveland indians, colorado rockies, detroit tigers, florida marlins, houston astros, kansas city royals, los angeles angels, los angeles dodgers, milwaukee brewers, minnesota twins, new york mets, new york yankees, oakland a's, philadelphia phillies, pittsburgh pirates, san diego padres, san fransisco giants, seattle mariners, st. louis cardinals, tampa bay rays, texas rangers, toronto blue jays, washington nationals

This is one tough task but I’ve decided to try and fine a reason to like each of the 30 teams in major league baseball. Now some were easier to find then others and while some will disagree for the reasoning I’ve done my best I think.
I hope to continue this series by creating a [...]



What’s worse? Nationals or Astros rotation

By john • Mar 20th, 2008 • Category: houston astros, washington nationals

With the recent announcements today from both the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros I found myself wondering what was worse. Were the Nationals worse off with a bunch of guys who had no big league experience or the Astros who have an ace but a rag tag group of injury prone or other wise long [...]



Non Roster Invitees: David Newhan - Astros

By john • Feb 18th, 2008 • Category: david newhan, houston astros, non roster invitee

With pitchers and catchers already in camp the aroma of peanuts, a drench of cold beer and hours of television watching will no doubt begin in the coming weeks.
Spring Training is upon us and it’s magical time where the games don’t count that teams start to place together their roster for the coming season. Stars [...]



Orioles say goodbye to 2004

By john • Dec 12th, 2007 • Category: baltimore orioles, dennis sarfate, houston astros, javy lopez, luke scott, matt albers, miguel tejada, mike costanzo, rafael palmerio, troy patton

The Baltimore Orioles have traded away the last member of a trio of players they signed prior to the 2004 season. After off seasons of trade rumors involving him, Miguel Tejada has taken flight to Houston.
Before the 2004 season the Orioles brought in Tejada along with Javy Lopez and a returning Rafael Palmerio. The three [...]



Analyzing the Phillies and Astros trade

By john • Nov 8th, 2007 • Category: brad lidge, brett myers, chad qualls, ed wade, eric bruntlett, geoff geary, houston astros, josh anderson, luke scott, michael bourn, mike costanzo, philadelphia phillies

The irony of writing a snipit about Mike Costanzo yesterday is that he was traded to the Houston Astros today in a five player deal that also saw the end of Brad Lidge’s days in Houston.
In the trade the Houston Astros acquired Mike Costanzo, Michael Bourn and Geoff Geary from Philadelphia for Brad Lidge and utility infielder Eric [...]



Making the Case: Luke Scott / Josh Anderson

By john • Oct 31st, 2007 • Category: brad ausmus, houston astros, hunter pence, josh anderson, luke scott

The Houston Astros struggled to a 72-90 record last season. A record that resulted in manager Phil Garner and GM Tim Purpura losing their jobs. Replacements Cecil Cooper and Ed Wade will search for a way to right a team that had made the playoffs six times in the last 11 seasons but now finds itself missing [...]



Astros bringing back Ausmus as mentor

By john • Oct 5th, 2007 • Category: brad ausmus, houston astros, j.r. towles

Reports out of Houston are that the Astros are close to signing 15 year vet Brad Ausmus to a one year extension. Ausmus has spent the last 7 seasons with the Astros and has played 1178 games as a member of the team.
Ausmus played a pivitol role in the Astros playoff run in 2005 including [...]