59 Days until spring training.

Tomorrow in Astros history:

1994 - In one of the biggest player swaps in baseball history, the Astros send infielders Ken Caminiti, Andujar Cedeno and Roberto Petagine, outfielder Steve Finley and pitchers Brian Williams and Sean Fesh to San Diego for infielders Craig Shipley and Ricky Gutierrez, outfielders Derek Bell and Phil Plantier and pitchers Doug Brocail and Pedro Martinez. It's a thinly-disguised salary dump and, were it not for Bell's success, would have been regarded as one of the worst trades in club history. Caminiti and Finley blossom into All-Stars who lead the Padres to the N.L. title in 1998. Bell and Gutierrez are the only salvagable parts for the Astros and they are both gone after the 1999 season.

Caminiti, who I'm assuming went straight to the 'roids once he got there, hit 26 HR with 94 RBI and a .302 average in 1995 then was the NL MVP in 1996 with 40 HR, 130 RBi, and a .326 average. And 10 sacrifice flies (shout out to King Donkey). He had 121 HR in 4 years for the Padres. He had 103 HR in 10 seasons with the Astros. And tragically died of drug-induced cardiac arrest in 2004. About as bitter an end as you're going to see in sports, getting arrested repeatedly and spending time in jail for drug possession.

Finley, who went roiding as well, hit 10 HR in 1995, then 30 the next year, and finished with 304 career home runs. His career high with the Astros was 11.

Cedeno, the most unlikely guy to ever hit for the cycle, couldn't hit in SD and was traded the next year to the Tigers, and then back to the Astros in September 96. He died in a car accident in 2000 in the DR, leaving three children and his wife behind.

Petagine was a power-hitting fisrt baseman who killed it in the minors if I recall correctly. He went from the Padres to the Mets to the Reds to the Red Sox to the Mariners and finished with 12 career HR. He played in Japan from 1999-2004, and was Mr. Baseball, with seasons of 44, 36, 39, 41, 34 and 29 HR.

Williams, who I think was a really good athlete and occasional pinch runner for the Astros, went 3-10 for the Padres, 3-10 the next year for the Tigers, and was out of the league by 2000.

Bell, as the top part says, salvaged the trade for the Astros because otherwise it would have been god awful. He hit .334 in 112 games in 1995, then had 17 HR and 113 RBI and 29 steals in 1996. In 1998, our best team before the recent run, he had 111 runrs, 198 hits, 41 doubles, 22 HR, 108 RBI and hit .314 with an .855 OPS. The next year he was bad and blamed it on not hitting between Bags and Bidge anymore. Astros traded him to the Mets with MIke Hampton for Roger Cedeno, Octavio Dotel, and former A&M point guard Kyle Kessel. Yes that's what I said. Bell played a full season with the Mets with mixed results, half a season with the Pirates, then launched "Operation Shutdown" the following spring.

Brocail had a decent '95 with the Astros, 6-4 with a save, then got traded in 1996 in our first of two mega trades with the Tigers.

Gutierrez spent 5 years with the Atros and played 469 games, hitting .266. He hit .300 against the Padres in the 1998 NLDS.

Martinez, who unfortunately was not THAT Pedro Martinez, pitched in 25 games out of the bullpen for the Astros and had a 7.40 ERA. He was traded back to the Padres for some other guy near the end of 1995.

Plantier, who according to reports was up there in the D-bag rankings with Phil Nevin and Mitch Meluskey, played in 22 whole games for the Astros and hit .250, then got traded back to the Padres for the dream team of Rich Loiselle and Jeff Tabaka at mid-season. The Padres then cut him at the end of the year. He had 34 HR in 1993, and finished his career with 91.

Shipley played 92 games for the Astros in 1995 and hit .263, and then got released and signed back with the Padres.

Farmer1906 said:

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Since everyone was chill and not upset at all about old posts, I decided to find some more for the good of the thread. I think I've found the single coldest take from 2022.

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Hey! We all have our Paul finebaum moments. Atleast I am owning up to mine!

El Reptil in the Bronx:

12.1 IP
18 K
1 H
0 ER#JavierDay pic.twitter.com/xZTKIr2rli

— Houston Astros (@astros) December 27, 2022

This seems good

The Padres are turning into the dog that stands in the front yard and chases after every car.

Farmer1906 said:

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Goodbye Kate. Hello Mrs Valdez.

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6 hours. This bad boy is done.

So much for keeping you busy for an extended period of time

Train not to scale
2/10
Would not build

Marvin said:

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Dallas sports fans are closet sips.

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Mathguy64 said:

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6 hours. This bad boy is done.

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What is that? A stadium for ants?

Farmer1906 said:

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Mathguy64 said:

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6 hours. This bad boy is done.

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What is that? A stadium for ants?

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Left-hander Rich Hill and the Pittsburgh Pirates are in agreement on a one-year, $8 million contract, pending physical, sources tell ESPN. Hill, who turns 43 in March, is entering his 19th big league season after making 26 starts and throwing 124.1 innings for Boston this year.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 27, 2022

The legend of Dick Mountain continues

This is a joke right?

Ag_07 said:

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This is a joke right?

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Bradford Doolittle

Not sure who that is, but his name seems reason enough to not take him seriously

Doolittle must be one of the haters

93 wins would be the Astros lowest total since 2016 (excluding COVID)

Ag_07 said:

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This is a joke right?

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My BIL is currently @ Caesar's & they have the Astros O/U at 92.5…

But also have us as the favorites to win the WS.