Honestly, though, I'm impressed that he got out of the way of the first one, and came even close to looking "on time" on the sliders. Who was the batter...some scrub? Bet a true MLB guy could get on those

redline248 said:

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Honestly, though, I'm impressed that he got out of the way of the first one, and came even close to looking "on time" on the sliders. Who was the batter...some scrub? Bet a true MLB guy could get on those

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He's just a baseball youtuber that seems to know how to handle a bat. Looking through his feed he is a catcher by trade.

Pahdz said:

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Most struggle with 100 what makes you think they could get on 130, or 105 with more movement then anything they've ever seen?

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Because you can time up a serve a lot better than a pitcher's motion. And there's no danger of a 70 mph change up fooling you. And because even a tennis ball at 130 hurts a lot less than a baseball at 100.

Hell, this guy was slightly early on one.

Anybody planning on going to the college classic? I always go when A&M plays, but might check it out for the Texas LSU match up

Fair enough

Would love to see the dude stand in on a jai alai player

Happy Valentine's. pic.twitter.com/Uqqvsx2ctr

— Michael Schwab (@michaelschwab13) February 14, 2022

Pitchers and catchers were supposed to report this week.

When the CBA is finally agreed to there will be a flurry of players getting signed over a short period. I've been thinking about how the Astros would spend remaining money. I assume the Competitive Balance Tax Cap (CBT) will be a little higher than last year, say $212MM and that the Astros will continue the determination not to go over it. So that gives us about $25MM of room for 2022. I think saving $5MM for deadline moves would be prudent too.

I see potential needs at SS, CF and possibly in the bullpen. We might find a taker for Odorizzi because his contract was a bit front loaded so then we might want some more starter depth. But I'm fine with our 6-7 starters for now. Trading Odorizzi could open up almost $8MM depending on what we take back.

- One option is to spend big on a shortstop like Story. MLB trade rumors says it will take 6 years and $21MM/per year. He will have the same question marks that comes with any player that makes his living at Coors. Big, long commitment too.

- We could also sign a guy like Simmons (would be cheap) or Villar (around 2 yrs/$14MM) to guide Pena as he makes the jump up. Villar would also serve as another utility guy if Diaz has to play first or OF.

- Sign Jansen for 2/$26MM and deal with a probably unhappy Pressley in a closer/set up tandem. I'm open to this as you never seem to have too many arms come playoff time.

- The Rays are looking to dump CF Kevin Kiermaier's salary of $12MM plus a $2.5MM buyout for 2023 and would probably do so cheap. Myers is out for a while but will he/McCormick/Siri be able to fill that role better this year? Kiermaier has always had a problem with health so comes with some risk.

Any thoughts on those or other ideas given that Correa, realistically is not happening IMO? I think it is more likely that they just spend on another marginal bullpen arm and go status quo then do any of this but I would like to see some of the above.

T said:

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- One option is to spend big on a shortstop like Story. MLB trade rumors says it will take 6 years and $21MM/per year. He will have the same question marks that comes with any player that makes his living at Coors. Big, long commitment too.

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I think we already know the answers to the questions.

players from Coors never put up the same numbers elsewhere...and definitely not for 5 years.

the Yankees would dump LeMahieu's contract in a heartbeat if they could

W said:

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T said:

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- One option is to spend big on a shortstop like Story. MLB trade rumors says it will take 6 years and $21MM/per year. He will have the same question marks that comes with any player that makes his living at Coors. Big, long commitment too.

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I think we already know the answers to the questions.

players from Coors never put up the same numbers elsewhere...and definitely not for 5 years.

the Yankees would dump LeMahieu's contract in a heartbeat if they could

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He's been better in NY than in COL. He's just older now. They gave him a long contract for a guy past 30.

Major League Baseball asked for the ability to eliminate hundreds of minor league playing jobs in its latest labor proposal, sources told ESPN. The league would not be allowed to implement the plan until after 2022.

Details, free and unlocked, at ESPN: https://t.co/ZkKNE7LhsG

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 15, 2022

While the MLBPA represents only major leaguers, it does bargain for a number of amateur/minor league issues. Among those: the draft. The union in July proposed a 20-round draft, something that the league accepted, one of the few points on which they've agreed during negotiations.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 15, 2022

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CZ-tvfqADid/?utm_medium=copy_link

The Bregman's are preggers

ESPN+ has an article by their baseball "guru" on the top 100 prospects for 2022. Take these lists with a grain of salt, but it's something to discuss.

Pena is 48th, and the 14th shortstop listed.
Brown is 88th.
15 catchers are ranked, but Lee is not one of them.

Not so surprised by the small quantity of Astros listed, but where they are in position rankings did surprise me a bit.

Lee is just an ok prospect. Not very nimble behind the plate and ok but not great power. He's a low end starter or solid backup.

As for Peña, one advantage he has is he's a clear SS defensively. Some of the guys ahead of him are bat first guys that likely move to 3B or 2B.

I will be interested if Brown can stick as a starter. Major command issues but could likely be a high leverage RP as soon as this year.

These Astros Spring Training trucker hats are nice pic.twitter.com/ERCRLQEQJC

— Michael Schwab (@michaelschwab13) February 15, 2022

Spring Training hats are good this year

bearkatag15 said:

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These Astros Spring Training trucker hats are nice pic.twitter.com/ERCRLQEQJC

— Michael Schwab (@michaelschwab13) February 15, 2022

Spring Training hats are good this year

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If only we got to have a spring training this year.

I hope is just the pictures quality and they're not actually black.

It's blue on my phone

Today was supposed to be the official first day of spring training for all 30 teams. Instead we are headed into the 77th day of the MLB lockout. Spring training is officially delayed.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) February 16, 2022

The Rangers have a roster full of terrible players.

Beat40 said:

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AggieLit said:

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My kid started little league baseball in Austin last night, 9 and 10 year olds. The coach asked every kid who was their favorite baseball player. The responses, as best I can remember, were:

Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
Jackie Robinson
Mike Trout
Fernando Tatis, Jr.
Jose Altuve
Jose Altuve
Carlos Correa
Yuli Gurriel

I thought this was not bad in a city that was solidly Rangers country for the longest time, and still has only the Rangers on the radio.

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The four Babe Ruth answers are surprising to me to be honest.

Outside of the home runs and knowing he was a pitcher too, how many of those kids have seen video of him play?

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I also was surprised. I think Babe Ruth is now in the same category as Davy Crockett. No one has seen video of Davy Crockett.

Yeah, I'm 35 and am pretty sure that many kids wouldn't have said Babe Ruth when I was that age.

Only 1 kid saying Trout is the surprise to me. Other than the local players, Trout has been the LL hero for years now. Of course, when is the last time anybody saw him at bat.

I'm going to ask my son tonight and see what he says. Past answers have been Altuve, Baez, and Trout (he decided to be 27 last season)

I've tried but never gotten him to latch onto Bregman

BMX Bandit said:

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the "Babe Ruth" answers are from the kids that don't watch baseball

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In my experience, most 9 and 10 year olds don't watch baseball, except for brief intervals. Attention span isn't there.

3B Paul 97 said:

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BMX Bandit said:

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the "Babe Ruth" answers are from the kids that don't watch baseball

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First one threw it out and next 3 followed as they don't know anyone

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I should have mentioned this wasn't the order they were given in. Babe Ruth answers were scattered as I recall. But yeah, I would imagine those kids aren't real up on current players.

My son knows about so many players from playing MLB The Show. He's 7, on my PS4 he's allowed to play baseball, and Madden game, and Star Wars battlefront