TRADER JEFFS - A HOUSTON ASTROS BLOG by Jared Sarabia > WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE ASTROS

The Astros Latest Moves

 

By Jared Sarabia Twitter: @Jared Sarabia on Aug 21 2013, 2:45p

Copyright 2013 - Houston 5A Baseball

 

Astros promote Max Stassi and David Martinez

 

The day after the Astros were embarrassed by the Texas Rangers losing 16-5, they made a couple of roster moves. Tuesday, the Astros placed backup catcher Carlos Corporan on the 7-Day DL with a concussion and purchased the contract of catcher Max Stassi from Double-A Corpus Christi. They also have designated left handed pitcher Wade LeBlanc for assignment and purchased the contract of right handed pitcher David Martinez from Triple-A Oklahoma City.

 

Stassi was included in the package that was acquired from the A’s back in February for shortstop Jed Lowrie. Stassi, age 22, was hitting .277/.333/.529 (batting average, on base percentage, and slugging) with 17 home runs, 60 RBI, and 20 doubles in 289 at-bats for Double-A Corpus Christi. He is a former 4th round pick back in 2009 by the Athletics signing for $1,500,000. Injuries have slowed his progression in years past, but when healthy, he is considered to be one of the better catching prospects in the minor leagues. He is considered to be above average behind the plate and his bat coming along with some power, which has been outstanding thus far this season. He is one of the many prospects the Astros are giving a chance this year to show what they have to offer.

 

Astros Manager, Bo Porter plugged Stassi in right away inserting him into Tuesday night's lineup as the team’s designated hitter batting in the 7 hole. Stassi went 2-for-3 with a couple of singles. With All-Star catcher Jason Castro behind the plate, Stassi should serve as the team’s DH for now and will give Jason Castro a couple days off a week behind the plate.

 

New Astros RHP David Martinez went 14-3 with a 2.20 ERA and 96 K’s in 139.1 innings pitched between AA and AAA. Martinez turned 26 back on August 5th and is now the longest tenured Astros currently on the roster dating back to 2005. He is considered to be an organizational arm when it comes to prospect status, but the Astros are hoping they have something in Martinez. Martinez doesn’t throw hard and sits in the low 90’s, but he throws strikes and only has allowed 29 walks in his 139.1 innings pitched. He will serve as the team’s long relief pitcher coming out of the bullpen.

 

 

What to expect in September?

 

On September 1st, the major league clubs will be able to expand their rosters beyond the allotted 25. For teams like the Astros, this will give them a chance to take a look at a couple more of their prospects in preparation for next year. With the 6 man starting rotation the Astros already have in place, they are able to limit the innings of their young pitchers. 

 

The one question all Astros fans have been asking is, “when will George Springer be called up?” Astros General Manager Jeff Luhnow said last week that he sees Springer staying with Triple-A Oklahoma City throughout their playoff run. Springer is the Astros #3 prospect, according to MLB.com, and has been on a tear all year posting a terrific .302/.410/.611 slash line with 36 home runs and 102 RBI in 453 at-bats between AA and AAA. He has struck out 151 times which is the reason why some of the experts have kept him out of the top prospect conversation, but he is definitively having a monster season at the plate and is in the running for MiLB player of the year. Springer currently has 39 steals to go with his 36 home runs as he is chasing that magical 40 home run and 40 stolen base season.

 

Along with Springer at Triple-A, there is Jonathan Singleton, the Astros 2nd best prospect according to MLB.com. The first basemen was suspended the first 50 games of this season for failing MLB’s drug policy, which I believe is the cause to Singleton’s slow start to Triple-A pitching. Yet, I will not be surprised to see Singleton up in September along with Springer to gain major league experience in preparation for next year. Jeff Luhnow may have Singleton wait and just come into Spring Training next year with a fresh start and a chance to compete for the Astros Opening Day 1st base position. Though, it will be great to see Springer and Singleton up in September gaining valuable experience along with other Astros rookies in Grossman, Villar, and Hoes.

 

The Astros currently have 4 rookies getting regular at bats right now and could be up to 7 with the addition of Stassi and maybe Springer, and Singleton in September. This will give management and the coaching staff an opportunity to see what they have in these young players and what spots they need to fill in the offseason via trades or free agency.

 

With David Martinez’s recent promotion, the Astros may want to take a look at a couple of other pitchers in September. One name that comes to mind is Asher Wojciechowski. He was acquired last season from the Blue Jays in a deal for J.A. Happ, David Carpenter, and Brandon Lyon. Wojciechowski was one of the 7 players the Astros acquired in that deal and he is currently the Astros 14th best prospect according to MLB.com. He currently has a 3.27 ERA in between AA and AAA, but has pitched in 122.2 of his total 148.2 innings at the Triple-A level. He has 121 K’s with 41 BB’s to go with his low .218 batting average against him. The 6’4” RHP can top out in the mid 90’s but will sit in the low 90’s with some sink to his fastball and has been considered to be a work horse and someone who competes with the best of them.

 

With the Astros bullpen struggling so bad this season, Wojciechowski may see some valuable major league experience in the bullpen in September. Along with Wojciechowski, we may see Paul Clemens and Jose Cisnero up again after their stint back with Triple-A Oklahoma City. Other pitchers that may see some time in the Astros bullpen in September include organizational players like Jake Buchanan and Jason Stoffel.

ASTROS DETERMINED TO FOLLOW GRAND PLAN DESPITE CRITICS

The Houston Astros Front Office made the decision to terminate Mgr Brad Mills and two coaches over a week ago according to General Manager Jeff Luhnow. "We wanted to do it before next road trip and it seemed like an appropriate time"

This painful process has placed Crane, Luhnow, and the Astros in a no win situation in the here and now having to completely rebuild a franchise virtually destroyed by the previous ownership. An ownership guilty of; (a) not signing draft picks, (b) very poor scouting (c) terrible, or questionable at best, baseball hiring practices (d) bad player development.

The Crane Group must somehow try to convince their fan base that they are doing what is necessary to realize success of their grand plan all the while keeping the butts in the seats. They already are the most flexible, fan friendly ownership group in the history of the franchize changing and bending long standing rules designed to do nothing more than line the pockets of ownership. Instead the Crane group has sacrificed those profits as a true gesture of goodwill to their fan base.

Considering the instant gratification world we all live in now it should come as no surprise that criticism of the new Astros regime is a plenty from the pinheads of the national media to local grinders. Everyone from Buster Olney (ESPN) all the way down to Matt Jackson (KBME-790) could be read taking shots at the Astros.

But all the while Crane and Luhnow are sticking to the plan. The plan that will surely pay dividends at its maturity right? Well, maybe. People must understand, this is baseball! There has never been any such thing as instant gratification in this game. Success comes from a well run program from the owner, GM, all the way down to the bird dogs. Everything must click and fire on all cylinders for years, not just weeks and months.

Crane and Luhnow have a plan and if you understand the game of Major League Baseball in your market you will quickly come to the realization that the plan will take at least three years to bare fruit and likely five years to mature at its earliest.

With no offense to Hunsicker and the 1998 Astros Front Office, Jim Crane and Jeff Luhnow have put in place the best "Baseball" personnel the club has ever realized in their Front Office and Player Development and they are still tweaking it to their plan as to continuously improve. It will continue to be fluid and setbacks will happen, but how the current administration handles those setbacks will define their tenure.

My guess is they will handle them with their own personality and certainly will not let local or national media derail their massive task at hand. Hang in there Houston, you will be proud of this organization and if you were to study all the actions of the new regime and their massive undertaking, you really should be proud now! It will only get better.

SITTON JOINS "500" CLUB

In 1984 David Sitton was named Head Baseball Coach of the Humble Wildcats and 28 years later on Feb 23, 2012 he joined the elite of the Coaching ranks with his 500th career victory.

In only his 3rd year as Head Coach of the Wildcats, Sitton ended a 10 year play-off drought guiding Humble to the Play-Offs in 1987. That would be followed by many play-off appearances cementing the Wildcats as a perennial 5A power.

Times have changed and new schools have opened thinning out the talent pool and dropping Humble to Class 4A but Sitton has remained true to the humble Program. The Coach has had multiple opportunities to leave the program for others and has always steadfastly said; “I bleed purple”, his favorite quote when talking about Wildcats Baseball.

Sitton joins legendary (active) coaches; Rocky Manuel-Bellaire, Tom McPherson-Katy, Mike McGilvray-Lamar, Woody Champagne-Cy Fair, Jim Long-Brenham, and Mike Rogers-Alvin, with 500 or more wins.

ROCKY MANUEL CLAIMS YET ANOTHER LEGENDARY MILESTONE

BY RANDY BYERS – COPYRIGHT H5AB.COM     

On Saturday, March 24, 2012 Bellaire’s Legendary Head Coach, Rocky Manuel claimed yet another milestone when his Cardinals notched his 800^th HISD victory with a 5-4 win over Westside.

The 800^th win at Bellaire now gives Manuel the most wins in a sport in HISD Athletic History. In March of 2011, Manuel notched his 599^th Cardinals win at Bellaire surpassing the Legendary Ray Knoblauch and now stands alone in all of HISD Athletics history.

Now in his 22^nd season at the helm of the Cardinals, Manuel has accumulated over 900 career wins, 800 with HISD, and over 600 with Bellaire Baseball. These totals make him the most winning active Coach in Texas High School Baseball and again cement his name and accomplishments as Legendary in Texas High School Baseball.

MCGILVRAY JOINS 600 CLUB

BY RANDY BYERS - H5AB.COM

On Friday, March 23, 2012 Lamar Head Coach Mike McGilvray recorded his 600^th career win with an 8-2 victory over Milby.

McGilvray (601-229) who recorded his 500^th win in April of 2008 is a 28 year veteran Head Coach who started at Waco, moved on to Grand Prairie, then to The Woodlands where he guided the Highlanders to their 1^st ever Baseball State Championship in 2000. McGilvray eventually landed at HISD Lamar where he has experienced successful programs nearly every year at the helm of the Redskins.

McGilvray, known as a modest guy in the profession, reluctantly commented “The peak was the state championship in 2000 at the Woodlands”. “It just goes to show if you do it long enough and have talented players it makes you look pretty good”. Reluctant or not, the Coach is a proud man “. I am not a guy who sheds the spotlight on himself as I think you know, but I am proud of the milestone.” And rightfully so as the Houston area, Texas High School Baseball Coaching Icon, joins only two other active Coaches, Rocky Manuel, Bellaire, Tom McPherson, Katy, with a career 600 or more wins.

ROGERS GETS #500

Lost in all the hustle of the new season was a milestone more than worthy of talking about. On Feb 24th at the Pearland First pitch tournament, Alvin high school defeated Cy Falls. The win gave Alvin Head Coach Mike Rogers his 500th win. Rogers a veteran coach of 31 years is in his 10th year at Alvin.

Rogers joins several other area greats in the Coaching Ranks who have reached at least 500 wins (Manuel-Bellaire, McGilvray-Lamar, Champagne-Cy Fair, McPherson-Katy, Long-Brenham) and are still active after reaching their milestones.

Davidson’s Blast in the bottom of the seventh propels Memorial

BY JOE BRADEN - © COPYRIGHT 2012 H5AB.COM

Long time rival Stratford helped fellow Spring Branch ISD member Memorial christen their new ballpark Monday night in a non district game. Georgia Tech signee Hayden Barnett pitched six strong innings giving up three earned runs and five hits. Mustang Coach Jeremy York spaced 4 pitchers, starting Senior Jack Cordova who worked the first two innings.

The Spartans loaded the bases in the first inning with no outs and looked to have a big inning but a double play held Stratford to one run. Memorial answered with two runs in the bottom of the first thanks to two hit by pitch and two walks. Barnett settled down after the shaky start to strike out 8 and not allow an extra base hit.

Stratford took a 3-2 lead in the 4th with a leadoff home run by left fielder Evan Hayes and a sacrifice fly by shortstop Colton Candelario. The lead changed hands again in the 5th as Memorial bunched three singles and a Spartan error to score two and go ahead 4-2.

Both teams went three up three down in the sixth inning to set up a dramatic 7th. Kacy Clemens relieved lefty Sean Duffy and gave up a walk and two singles and a one run lead turned into a one run deficit.

Leadoff hitter Walker Pennington opened the 7th with a walk and moved to second on designated hitter Ben Carl’s third sacrifice of the game. Catcher Boomer White (2-3) hit a sharp single to left field. Coach York sent Pennington home and beat the throw. Next up was first baseman Brock Davidson who was trying to get the winning run home from third base with one out. Stratford pulled the outfield and infield in and Coach Willis elected to have hard throwing Jeremiah Briscoe pitch to Davidson who had struck out the previous two times to the plate. Davidson then hit the game ending home run over the right center field fence to close out the 8-5 win.

Memorial collevted its fifth win of the year to go with one loss and Stratford’s record goes to 2-3. Next up for the Spartans is the Ewell Jackson tournament beginning Thursday and the Mustangs will also play Thursday in the Klein tournament.