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3 years, 48 million.... That's why

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Just getting us off the 666th post.

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If you get the Kazmir who's ERA was a little above two, that's worth every penny... If you get the Kazmir at the end of the year, you look dumb.

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• An Astros trade for Freddie Freeman is "simply not going to happen," a source tells ESPN's Jim Bowden (subscription-only column). The Astros andBraves had discussions about the first baseman earlier this winter, though those talks "went nowhere" and Atlanta GM John Coppolella has since flatly denied the possibility of Freeman playing elsewhere in 2016. While Freeman would check a lot of boxes for Houston, it would clearly take a major trade package to pry him away from the Braves, and the Astros may have already expended a lot of their available prospect capital in their trade for Ken Giles.

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Pretty quiet around here lately.

Saw this interesting tidbit from mlbtraderumors

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• An Astros trade for Freddie Freeman is "simply not going to happen," a source tells ESPN's Jim Bowden (subscription-only column). The Astros andBraves had discussions about the first baseman earlier this winter, though those talks "went nowhere" and Atlanta GM John Coppolella has since flatly denied the possibility of Freeman playing elsewhere in 2016. While Freeman would check a lot of boxes for Houston, it would clearly take a major trade package to pry him away from the Braves, and the Astros may have already expended a lot of their available prospect capital in their trade for Ken Giles.

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With analytics and defensive shifts such a huge part of baseball, and the Astros especially, Ensberg's job will be to make sure the players understand why the organization is asking them to do what they're being asked to do. Some players might be dealing with the infield shift for the first time, and Ensberg will calm their fears about playing out of position, as well as generally help them deal with success and struggles.

"We have to understand, we're asking players to do something that they've never done before at a level they've never played at before with players that are way better across the board than they've faced before," he said. "It's just hard. And so, players want to go back to what's comfortable, but I guess I'm there to help kind of guide them to continue on a certain path that's going to help them be successful at the Major League level and that they shouldn't worry about short-term success, that we're preparing them to be great players in the big leagues. Not average players. "

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90 days til Opening Day (and TOFA opportunities)

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• One of those free agents appears to be Yovani Gallardo, as SB Nation's Chris Cotillo tweets that the the Orioles, Astros and Royals remain the primary suitors for the right-hander. All three of those teams, of course, have been prominently linked to Gallardo in the past, so this isn't necessarily a new development in his market. However, it's been awhile since we've heard much on the Gallardo front, and the news that all three remain interested is still noteworthy. Any of the three clubs would have to part with a draft pick to sign Gallardo, which might make Kansas City the best fit, as their current pick, No. 24, is the worst of the three teams said to have interest. Additionally, the Royals will gain a draft pick if Alex Gordon signs elsewhere, as many expect, thus softening the blow of parting with the 24th overall selection. The O's could conceivably land two picks in the event that Davis and Wei-Yin Chen sign with new clubs, but parting with the No. 14 pick would still sting, even if they could recoup much of that slot value via the potential comp picks.

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More bad news.... jk

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Voting should be left to former players and coaches. Media should have no more than 25% of the say.

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Voting should be left to former players and coaches. Media should have no more than 25% of the say.

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Griffey was left off of 3 peoples ballots... Those voters should lose their voting privileges.

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Griffey was left off of 3 peoples ballots... Those voters should lose their voting privileges.

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What if those three voters voted for guys they thought would fall off of the ballot this year? They knew Griffey was already in and wanted to keep another guy's name still on the ballot.

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Griffey was left off of 3 peoples ballots... Those voters should lose their voting privileges.

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What if those three voters voted for guys they thought would fall off of the ballot this year? They knew Griffey was already in and wanted to keep another guy's name still on the ballot.

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Just something to get you guys chubbed up a bit

https://instagr.am/p/BAQ0wF-nyJf

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Just something to get you guys chubbed up a bit

https://instagr.am/p/BAQ0wF-nyJf

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Former Cardinals scouting director Chris Correa, who was dismissed by the organization earlier this year for his role in the Cardinals' unauthorized accessing of the Astros' proprietary computer network, is scheduled to plead guilty to criminal charges today, report Brian Costa and Devlin Barrett of the Wall Street Journal. Per the report, Correa has tentatively agreed to plead guilty to five of 12 charges against him. It's unclear at this time if further St. Louis employees will be implicated or if any further legal repercussions will stem from Correa's plea.
For those unfamiliar with the situation, the Cardinals were reported to be the subject of a federal investigation in connection with an unauthorized entry into Houston's proprietary network, named Ground Control, back in June. Roughly a year prior to the report, a large amount of Astros' trade notes and discussions were leaked and became public knowledge, bringing considerable scrutiny on the Astros organization. Then-and-current Houston GM Jeff Luhnow previously worked for the Cardinals, and it later emerged that one or more members of the St. Louis organization had been involved in the database breach.
Correa, at the time of his firing, denied any illegal activity via a statement from his lawyer. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported at the time that Correa claimed to access the database only to verify that Luhnow did not take any proprietary information with him when leaving the Cardinals organization. Of course, it's not clear that such a defense would hold much water from a legal perspective. And Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle reported shortly after the Cardinals' involvement first came to light that the team's employees had accessed Ground Control on multiple occasions, with separate instances reportedly occurring in 2012, 2013 and again in 2014.

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Solution? Meet the newest Houston Astros pitcher, Michael Wacha

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