i figured this would be bigger news for you tbh

Houston Astros (1988–2007)
7× All-Star (1991, 1992 as catcher, 1994–1998 as second baseman)
4× Gold Glove Award (1994–1997)
5× Silver Slugger Award (1989, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998)
Roberto Clemente Award (2007)
Houston Astros #7 retired

Career .281 hitter and .363 on-base percentage: 3,060 hits, 668 doubles, 1,160 walks, 274 hit by pitches.
291 home runs, 1,175 RBIs, 414 stolen bases and 1,844 runs scored. He played in one World Series (2005).
During the 1998 season he never grounded into a double play despite having 646 at-bats that year. Hard to do that.

Craig Biggio is finally among the baseball immortals, earning a spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame on his third time on the ballot. The seven-time All-Star will become the first player enshrined in an Astros cap when the induction ceremony is held on July 26 in Cooperstown, N.Y. Biggio received 82.7 percent of the votes (549 ballots cast).

6/28/07: Craig Biggio goes 5-for-6 on the night he joins a prestigious few in MLB history with 3,000 hits

Jeff Bagwell didn't make it though. 62.8 % votes. He needed 75 %. I was hoping the two would make it in together. I can't even believe Craig Biggio only received 82.7 %. I thought he'd be a slam dunk 90%+ for his third straight year on the ballot. Especially when he was two votes shy last year.

The Astros haven't even made the playoffs since 2005 when Biggio and Bagwell were last on the team together. They were the third most winningest team (percentage wise) in all of baseball from 1991 to 2005, behind only the Braves and Yankees, partly because of Biggio and Bagwell. I guess not winning a World Series might have hurt but they still played in one.

Looking back the Astros made plenty of mistakes when the Biggio and Bagwell era first started otherwise they might have won multiple World Series: Trading Curt Schilling and Kenny Lofton after the 1991 season and not drafting Derek Jeter number one overall in the 1992 draft. Just that alone turned out to be extremely costly, but Biggio and Bagwell were good enough to have the Astros in position to have the third best record in all of baseball from 1991 to 2005.

Even if I wasn't an Astros fan I'd still be calling Craig Biggio one of the best middle infielders in the history of the game. He made a case for the MVP award in 1998. Received a few votes. He also moved to center field and left field late in his career, showing his unselfishness, to make room for Jeff Kent and Carlos Beltran. When the Astros lost Kent and Beltran to free agency after the 2004 season he moved back to second base and the Astros made it to the World Series in 2005 despite starting that season 15-30 and losing two all-stars. They never gave up despite a lot of adversity.

When I think of Craig Biggio I think of his dirty worn down helmet and jersey. A guy who played numerous positions and did so at a high level. A guy who rarely missed games because of injury. He lifted the entire franchise and led off most of the time. He also hit number two in the lineup. He was extremely reliable and the type of player you can build a team around.

This post was edited by Madmartigan on Jan 6 2015 02:00pm

That guy on ESPN Sportscenter, Kenny Mayne, referred to Craig Biggio as a small market Derek Jeter without the rings. The funny thing is Houston isn't really a small market despite the bad reputation of having low payrolls, and Jeter should have been a teammate of his for a long time. Our general managers at the time just made some bad decisions is all. It's no wonder the Astros had three different general managers in such a short time frame early in Biggio's career.

Like I mentioned earlier they had an opportunity to build a sensational young cast of players that could have probably won multiple World Series, including Craig Biggio, Jeff Bagwell, Curt Schilling, Kenny Lofton and Derek Jeter. To go along with the likes of Ken Caminiti, Luis Gonzalez and some of the other good pitchers they had at the time. I'm not sure for how long though. They might have struggled to re-sign most of them by the mid-to-late '90s. It was tough enough re-signing Biggio in 1996 and Bagwell in 2000. They were unable to re-sign Randy Johnson after 1998 aka half year rental. In fact, the St. Louis Cardinals offered Craig Biggio more money as a free agent but he elected to stay with the Astros for less money.

The Astros did have a top five payroll in 2004. If only they had re-signed Jeff Kent and Carlos Beltran after the 2004 season who knows what could have been in 2005. The 2004 season was the last time the Astros had a top five payroll and a highly ranked offensive ball club.

They had one of the worst offenses in baseball in 2005. They were shut out numerous times that year. They started the season with a dismal 15-30 record and still rallied to make a World Series run. They had ended that season with the best record, from June on up, of any team since World War II (magical run). They had a great starting rotation fueled by Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte and Roy Oswalt. Another all-star caliber hitter or two, like Kent and Beltran were at the time, could have made the difference in the 2005 World Series when they were swept by the White Sox. They lost every game of that World Series by one or two runs. One of them in 14 innings and another by a score of 1-0 (Game 4) which was fitting. That summed up their offense that year.

Looking back at Craig Biggio's hall of fame career, the Astros front office was always a day late and a dollar short. He wouldn't have gone ringless if they had spent more money on their payroll and made better decisions in the draft, free agent market and trade wise. I'll go to my grave appreciating those years (1991 to 2005) regardless. Only two teams won more regular-season games during that time.

As far as the Astros right now, I think Jose Altuve has a chance to compile 3,000 career hits and break a lot of Biggio's records. He already broke Biggio's franchise record of most hits in a season in 2014 (225). In some ways he reminds me of Craig Biggio but a lot smaller of a player at 5'5 and 175 pounds. His strike zone is tough to pitch to. He's a career .300-plus hitter already. He hit .341 in 2014. He also stole 56 bases and hit 47 doubles last season. The only thing Altuve will not have a realistic chance to surpass Biggio in is home runs and RBIs. He doesn't have that type of power.

You needed to watch Craig Biggio play every day like I did to appreciate his Hall of Fame career. It's naive to call him a small market Derek Jeter without the rings like Kenny Mayne just did. Winning a ring takes a financial commitment from the front office - the owner giving the green light to spend big money - along with a good general manager.

4/10/03: Craig Biggio hits his 31st career leadoff home run, setting a National League record

Braves trade Evan Gattis to Astros

ESPN.com: The Houston Astros acquired slugger Evan Gattis in a trade with the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday night.

The rebuilding Braves received three minor league prospects -- right-hander Mike Foltynewicz, third baseman Rio Ruiz and right-hander Andrew Thurman -- in the trade, which also sent right-handed minor leaguer James Hoyt to Houston.

Gattis passed a physical Wednesday to complete the deal, which the Braves announced in a news release later in the evening.

Gattis, 28, has 43 home runs in just 213 career games with the Braves. He burst onto the scene as a relative unknown in 2013 and became one of the most popular players among Atlanta's fan base. He hit .263 with 22 homers and 52 RBIs for the Braves last season.

The right-handed Gattis played catcher, first base and left field for Atlanta. On offense, Gattis will join an emerging Astros lineup that already features All-Star second baseman Jose Altuve, promising outfielder George Springer and slugger Chris Carter, who tied for second in the majors with 37 homers last season.

8/19/14: Evan Gattis belts a solo home run off the walkway over the stands in left field, his 19th homer of the season



This guy will love playing half his games at Minute Maid Park. Only .315 to left field with the 10-foot scoreboard.
If he plays left field in Houston there isn't much ground to cover so that will mask some defensive deficiencies.
we already have four catchers, so he'll probably play left field or third base. Matt Dominguez struggled in 2014.

In a perfect world, Evan Gattis will hit 30-plus bombs in 2015 playing left field primarily. Matty-D will be good again at third base in 2015, Jonathan Singleton will become a legitimate slugger at first base and Chris Carter can simply DH and hit close to 40 home runs again. And then our lineup will look a lot more stacked with excellent power. George Springer will take that next step and become an all-star player in 2015.

We may also call up former first overall pick, Carlos Correa, at some point in 2015. He can hit and has more potential than any shortstop the Astros have ever had in their entire franchise history because Correa is a promising offensive player at the position who can also field pretty well. Jonathan Villar is just a stopgap at shortstop for now. Good defense but no offense.

The Astros were fourth in all of baseball in home runs hit as a team in 2014: Behind only the Orioles, Rockies and Blue Jays. We already had good power but we were lacking some guys who can hit for average and get on base at a good clip (besides Altuve). The Astros will score a lot more runs per game in 2015 if Dexter Fowler stays healthy and gets on base a lot along with Altuve hitting second (best two-hitter in baseball).

9/8/13: Evan Gattis cranks a solo homer, one of the longest of the season, to put the Braves on the board in the second inning



This guy hits some moonshots just like Chris Carter. Except he hits over .260 and not under .230. LOL

Although Chris Carter hit .252 with a .338 on-base percentage after the all-star break last year (234 at-bats): He hit a dismal .205 with a .281 on-base percentage before the all-star break (273 at-bats). His OPS was also much higher in the second half. There was reason to believe that he made some major strides at the end of last year after adjusting his approach to the plate. He started to take less of a swing which led to a better batting average and he hit practically the same number of home runs as he did in the first half of the season in nearly 40 less at-bats (18 and 19).

We should be alright in the middle of the lineup. So long as the guys at the top set the table and get on base (Fowler and Altuve).

I'm projecting this to be the Astros 2015 opening day lineup on April 6 against the Indians

Center Field - Dexter Fowler
Second Base - Jose Altuve
Right Field - George Springer
Left Field - Evan Gattis
Designated Hitter - Chris Carter
Catcher - Jason Castro
First Base - Jon Singleton
Third Base - Matt Dominguez
Shortstop - Jonathan Villar

And then at some point during the season I expect Carlos Correa to take over for Jonathan Villar.
I keep forgetting to call Jonathan Singleton Jon. He mentioned last year he shortened his name.

Jon Singleton has to develop into a good-hitting first baseman. Hitting .168 with 13 HRs in 310 at-bats as a rookie in 2014 isn't going to get the job done. But I think the Astros will give Jon Singleton every opportunity to win the first base job going into this season. The Astros could always play Chris Carter at first base and DH anybody on any given day.

The Astros drafted and signed this big guy named A.J. Reed with major power out of Kentucky. The kid can rake and loves to hit. He also posted some decent pitching numbers at Kentucky. He was named the SEC male athlete of the year as a junior and senior which says a lot given the fact the SEC is known for football and basketball more than baseball. He'll eventually become a first base/DH type of player at the major league level once he's called up. The Astros plan for A.J. Reed to only play first base in the minor leagues this year.

We'll see how things play out. A. J. Hinch is the new manager. He's a young guy. This team has to turn the corner and become a winner at some point. My guess was always in 2016 or 2017 at the earliest. Sports Illustrated deemed them the 2017 World Series champions which was crazy. They won't be that good in two years. If they can play anywhere close to .500 baseball in 2015 I'd be happy with that steady progression.

Winning baseball still comes down to pitching. The Astros improved their bullpen this off-season by signing Pat Neshek and Luke Gregerson. That should hopefully help nail down some of those one or two-run leads late in the game. But how good they are in 2015 is going to come down to gold glove winner Dallas Keuchel (12-9, 2.93 ERA) and Collin McHugh (11-9, 2.73 ERA) being able to duplicate last season's success. Their records will be better this year if they produce similar ERAs because they'll receive more run support and the bullpen won't blow as many of their quality starts like last year. Scott Feldman also posted a decent 3.74 ERA but was only 8-12.

But like I said, if the Astros can win anywhere close to 81 games (.500 baseball) in 2015 I'd call it a success moving forward.

It's also possible the Astros could start 23-year-old Jake Marisnick in left field and Evan Gattis at third base. So many options really. If that's the plan then just take Matt Dominguez out of any of my projected lineups and put both Marisnick (LF) and Gattis (3B) in there.

We did give up starting pitcher Jarred Cosart for this young outfielder last year. We also acquired a highly touted third base prospect named Colin Moran, which in turn probably gave the Astros some wiggle room to include Rio Ruiz in the trade for Evan Gattis yesterday.

9/21/14: Jake Marisnick blasts a three-run homer to left field, giving the Astros a 7-3 lead in the 7th
The Astros were able to start him in right field the final few months last year because Springer was on the DL.
I don't know how he completely slipped my mind earlier. He's just another young guy with some potential.



I think new manager A.J. Hinch will probably just test out different lineups early in the season and then settle down on one he likes versus lefties and righties. We still have pinch-hitter Jesus Guzman who has a little pop. Was mostly injured last year. He could play left field, first base or DH when needed. But mostly a pinch-hitter.

We also have outfielders like Robbie Grossman, L.J. Hoes and Domingo Santana (looked over-matched at the plate in 17 at-bats in 2014), which can play any of the outfield positions, but I don't think any of them can consistently produce like I believe Jake Marisnick, Dexter Fowler and George Springer can. Those three guys can produce offensively and defensively which give them the edge to start.

I don't particularly see Evan Gattis playing much catcher with the Astros unless they trade Jason Castro sometime soon. They already have Hank Conger, Carlos Corporan and Max Stassi all on the 40-man roster. Five catchers is a but much to hold on to.

Evan Gattis will most definitely play mostly left field or third base is what I'm thinking. First base or DH is an option.
I'd probably lean towards third base if Matt Dominguez continues to greatly struggle (hit .215 last year).

I really have no clue who will be starting where any given game but I'm glad there is more healthy competition for some of these starting positions now. The Astros have to keep weeding out the weakest players and adding more talent to the Major League level. They've been doing that slowly but surely over the past few years.

I'm just not ready to give up on a 23-year-old young guy like Jon Singleton moving forward. I still believe he's our first baseman of the future despite his struggles as a rookie in 2014 (hit .168 with 13 home runs in 310 at-bats). Matt Dominguez is on a shorter leash going into 2015 because he's already been in the Major Leagues for four seasons, the last two years with over 540 at-bats in each season.

Astros have a lot of power in that lineup now and I really like that pen

Maybe a dark horse wild card if their rotation holds up somehow

I forgot we also signed Jed Lowrie. He's a huge upgrade at shortstop over Jonathan Villar. It gives Carlos Correa plenty of time to be ready for the big leagues. I'd have to re-do the projected starting lineup to this most likely.

Center Field - Dexter Fowler
Second Base - Jose Altuve
Right Field - George Springer
Third Base - Evan Gattis
Designated Hitter - Chris Carter
First Base - Jon Singleton
Left Field - Jake Marisnick
Catcher - Jason Castro
Shortstop - Jed Lowrie

Something like that on opening day is more likely. Maybe switch a few guys around in the lineup. I was just trying to guess what it will be. They have to see what works when the regular-season starts. Mix and match based on the righty and lefty matchups. You can't really tell a whole lot from spring training.

The starting rotation would look pretty good if they're able to successfully sign Max Scherzer.
If not, the top three would be Dallas Keuchel, Collin McHugh and Scott Feldman.
Brett Oberholtzer and Brad Peacock the back-end starters. Only one as a 5th starter if they signed Scherzer.

I feel much better about the Astros bullpen going into this season than I have since 2008 (last time they had a good bullpen). Signing Luke Gregerson and Pat Neshek will help shut it down late. I just hope they stay healthy.

This post was edited by Madmartigan on Jan 16 2015 03:55am