They will dip their toe in the water and promptly withdraw in regards to Tanaka.

Astros sign Tarrik Brock to coach first. Listach will move to 3rd.

Correa lands #3 overall SS prospect

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3. Carlos Correa, Astros: The No. 1 overall pick of the 2012 First-Year Player Draft led the Midwest League with an .872 OPS as an 18-year old in 2013. Correa proved he is the kind of all-around talent worthy of being the top pick. Big and physical, he is an all-around hitter. While some scouts think he will outgrow shortstop, Correa has all the tools necessary to be a quality defender.

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http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/hou/xander-bogaerts-heads-list-of-mlbcoms-top-10-shortstop-prospects?ymd=20140113&content_id=66482416&vkey=news_hou

Hooray

Correa and Appel get invites to big league camp.

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Seven of the Astros' top 10 prospects, as ranked by MLB.com will be in attendance at Major League Spring Training, including Correa (No. 1), first baseman Jon Singleton (No. 2), Springer (No. 3), Appel (No. 4), Foltynewicz (No. 6), DeShields (No. 7) and outfielder Domingo Santana (No. 9).

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http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/hou/carlos-correa-mark-appel-receive-invites-to-houston-astros-big-league-camp?ymd=20140114&content_id=66642384&vkey=news_hou

The future is near and I'm excited!!

**Disclaimer - This in no way means I think either one makes the club at the start of the season. I am just saying that I'm excited to see these guys play with the big boys.

[This message has been edited by Ag_07 (edited 1/15/2014 8:31a).]

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Ryan said the signs would be lowered to a spot below the railroad tracks and above the left wall and left-center field walls. The signs will be moved by Opening Day.

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I'm happy those things are coming down however I wish they would just get rid of them. Ask those companies to donate directly to those programs if you truly are as noble as you claim to be. We all know the youth baseball thing is just an incentive to get companies to pay for the advertising. The biggest portion is going to the Astros, not youth baseball.

I'd like to see Appel, Folty and Tropeano all start the year together in AAA. Let those guys work together day in and day out and start bringing them up as the year goes on.

Jonathan Singleton was named MLB's top first base prospect.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/mlb/mlbcoms-prospect-watch-top-10-first-basemen?ymd=20140117&content_id=66778782&vkey=news_mlb

Curious to see how Singleton bounces back after his mediocre, suspension-shortened season last year. I'm honestly shocked that he was able to maintain the top 1st base prospect, but I would definitely like for him to prove why he received that ranking this season

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They will dip their toe in the water and promptly withdraw in regards to Tanaka.

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Seems like that's exactly what's happening. Crain says they're interested but mctaggart is reporting he doesn't think we've actually made a formal offer

Would love to have Nolan back in the mix, but does anybody else feel like he keeps whoring himself out to the Rangers and Astros?

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Would love to have Nolan back in the mix, but does anybody else feel like he keeps whoring himself out to the Rangers and Astros?

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Welcome to 1989.

I would like to have him back as well but I don't see where he would fit or what role he would play.

Lunhow is running the show from a GM standpoint and seems to be doing a good job of doing things his way. Seems like kind of a New School vs Old School and just don't see a place he and Lunhow can coexist.

Reid is running the business side and I'm not sure that's Nolan's cup of tea. Just don't see it here either.

I don't think that Nolan has a place with the Astros for the same reason that he no longer had a place with the Rangers. The Astros have a good GM and are headed in the right direction (hopefully). Nolan would just get in the middle and muck things up.

Nolan said Astros and him seem to be on the same page after meeting today.

it's time for Nolan to retire

To his credit Nolan did a pretty good job of bringing the Rangers back.

I think he has some really good thoughts, methods, etc on pitching. I could see him working as a pitching game coordinator for the 'Stros. He would oversee the development of our pitching prospects as well as being consulted on their MLB projections and what not.

Only issue with that situation is Brocail who is right now something like pitching advisor or something like that.

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To his credit Jon Daniels did a pretty good job of bringing the Rangers back.

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FIFY

JD had already turned the ship around before Nolan was brought into the organization.

Big Puma just retired.

You think he brings anything to the coaching table?

Let's be honest. Puma made his money off of his pure athletic ability and talent.

I don't think he has much of a work ethic and that doesn't translate too well in coaching.

***FWIW...I by no means know or have met Lance Berkman and am basing this purely on what I've read and heard from various media outlets.***

Think I read somewhere that he was more interested in coaching at Rice...

My favorite Lance Berkman story:

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Coach Graham had given us this mandate between my sophomore and junior year. He said, "When y'all come back from summer break, you better be prepared to run Memorial Park," which is three miles, in 21 minutes or less.

My other roommates were all stressed out about it. They had been running and training for it. My attitude was: 'When as a baseball player do you ever have to run three miles, consecutively? It is kind of silly.' I should back up and say that Coach Graham threatened and meant it that if we didn't make it the first time, we would have to continue running it every day until you could get in shape and make it.

My attitude was that I didn't think I was going to make it. Then when he would make me run the second time, I was going to make one of my buddies who had made it, pick me up in a truck and drive me around. I had this whole scheme in mind to beat the system.

The morning of the race, my roommates were up at 5 a.m. . I think I woke up at 6:45 and was ridiculously late. I drove up right as the race was starting. As a joke, I wore a royal blue shirt, royal blue shorts, shoes with no socks and I had a royal blue bandana. I called myself the "Blue Dart" and told them that I was going to win the race.

Coach Graham said 'go' and I took off pretty close to full speed. Everybody else was pacing themselves. In my mind, I was thinking that I was going to run around he corner, stop and walk. I knew I just wasn't going to make it. I was just going to mess with some of the guys.

I rounded the corner and I decided to see how long I could maintain the pace before I got tired. Before I knew it, I had run a mile. I ran the first mile in like 5:30. I thought, my goodness, I have already run a mile, let's just keep going. I had already run half the race and I was way in front of everybody. .At about the two-mile marker, reality crashed in on me and a gorilla jumped on my back and I started feeling terrible. But I was two-thirds of the way done with it, so I gutted out that last mile. A pitcher caught up to me and we tied for the victory, and as we crossed the finish line, coach Graham started yelling at me, 'You cheated, Berkman! You cheated!' As soon as I crossed the finish line, I just got on all fours and barfed up all my breakfast.

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http://www.ricethresher.org/mobile/sports/berkman-takes-time-to-reflect-on-years-at-rice-1.901654

Favorite Berkman memory:

http://wapc.mlb.com/cutfour/2014/01/30/67279854/farewell-to-lance-berkman-author-of-this-unreal-catch-atop-tals-hill

Awesome

That's amazing

Great memory. Even he couldn't believe he made that play

Sounds like a cluster **** in the making:

Astros owner Jim Crane is hopeful that Nolan Ryan will join the organization, but says the decision now rests with the Hall of Famer, according to Richard Dean of MLB.com. Envisioning what role he might play, Crane suggested Ryan would likely "advise in all aspects of the business" and confirm some of the decisions of GM Jeff Luhnow.

Yeah... As long as Ryan doesn't end up making Luhnow want to leave, I don't care if he gets some "input." But the decision needs to ultimately lie with Luhnow. The man's plan seems to be a great one that is slowly but surely starting to come to fruition.


19 days til pitchers and catchers report.

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/44022/ranking-the-teams-30-through-25

So ESPN has the Astros losing 100+ games this year. I don't think the Astros will be good by any means, but I don't think they lose 100+ games this year. If the starting rotation can pick up where they left off, this will be a tough team to beat. Especially if the bullpen upgrades work out. The bullpen was the weakest link on the team by far last year and blew like 30+ leads/saves. The lineup will be very streaky again where they will either put up 10 runs or be shutout. Should be improved from last year with Fowler and Springer, but I don't think it'll be very good yet. All in all, I think this team shows vast improvements, but it won't be a .500 club this season. I don't believe this team will lose 100+ games. I think it'll be in the 85-90ish range. It's been tough for us Astros fans, but I really think they are close to turning a corner (maybe in 2015). I'm excited about the season starting.

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If the starting rotation can pick up where they left off, this will be a tough team to beat

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I find it hard to believe that this team will ever be a tough team to beat anytime soon.

Our rotation is a borderline joke...

Feldman
Cosart
Oberholtzer
Keuchel
Peacock

With a couple sleepers like Wojo, Harrell, Folty, Appel