do the astros have anyone left to trade to the NL east next year?

oswalt, pence, bourne, carlos lee, etc

Not really. They cleared out all of the veterans and slashed payroll. The only guy who fits that description is Jed Lowrie at shortstop but he had signed a one year contract last winter with Houston, avoiding arbitration. I'm not sure if he'll leave in free agency or somehow stay in Houston another year. It's more than likely he's going to leave.

The Astros will enter free agency this winter with the lowest payroll in baseball. Around $6 million of committed salary for 2013. They'll be in perfect shape to call up all of their best prospects this spring training - Jonathan Singleton and George Springer should make the 25-man roster, along with Jarred Cosart.

Carlos Correa and Ariel Ovando both are five-tool players with superstar potential but both are still teenagers. Not likely to be up until 2014 at the earliest.

We have to draft Mark Appel number one in next June's draft. He'll be Major League ready by the second half of 2013.

Delaying that 100th loss as long as possible

Very nice win today. I'm excited for next season. It's going to be tougher to play some good AL ball but we'll get used to it.

The Astros finally reach 100 losses on the season (48-100) despite playing some decent baseball lately -- a 9-7 winning record in the month of September after tonight's 4-1 loss to the Cardinals. It was Kyle Lohse shutting them down tonight with 7 shutout innings and only 4 hits allowed. He's now 15-3 on the season with a 2.71 ERA.

I'm surprised the Cardinals scored 4 runs tonight when you consider Matt Holliday and Allen Craig went a combined 0-for-7. And Carlos Beltran went 1-3 with three strikeouts. I thought those three sluggers would step up but surprisingly they couldn't do much off Fernando Abad. It was Daniel Descalso producing an RBI single in the 2nd inning, Jon Jay picking up two RBIs total, including back-to-back RBI doubles by Lohse and Jay in the 5th inning.

Kind of surprised the Cardinals were 3:1 odd favorites considering their struggles lately but of course I'm glad they won since I went all in on them. I was definitely nervous throughout the game. If you had told me Berkman was out for the year and Holliday, Craig and Beltran would go a combined 1-for-10 in this game. I'd have assumed a loss. LOL

This post was edited by Madmartigan on Sep 18 2012 09:55pm

Very soon the Astros will be an exciting American League team to watch. They're loaded in the minors as seen by their team's success and we have the 1st overall pick in next June's draft again. I bolded five of the players I'm most excited about - Jonathan Singleton, Delino DeShields Jr. Carlos Correa, George Springer and Domingo Santana. They didn't even mention Ariel Ovando, who's another five-tool player and a teenager right now.

Singleton and DeShields Jr. were recognized as two of the best position players in the Minors. Out of every team, they made two of the eight spots.

Dramatic turnaround for Astros Minor League system in 2012

http://houston.astros.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120917&contentid=38576270&vkey=prhou&cid=hou

Several players in the Astros system had outstanding seasons in 2012 and are viewed as among the top prospects at their positions in all of minor league baseball. Corpus Christi (AA) first baseman Jonathan Singleton and Lancaster (A) second basemanDelino DeShields were recently named to the Baseball America 2012 Minor League All-Star team. They were two of just eight position players named to the squad out of every club. Additionally, MLB.com’s Prospect Watch lists Singleton at No. 1 among first basemen, DeShields at No. 2 among second basemen and Astros 2012 first-round draft pick Carlos Correa at No. 10 among shortstops. Correa, who will turn 18 on Saturday, was the first overall pick in the draft.

OF George Springer, the Astros No. 1 draft pick in 2011, had an outstanding first full season in professional baseball, hitting .318 with 10 triples, 22 HR, 82 RBI and 28 SB with a .955 OPS in just 106 games at Lancaster before being promoted to Corpus Christi. 19-year-old OF Domingo Santana (6-5, 228 lbs) also had a fine season in Lancaster, hitting .302 with 23 HR, 26 doubles, six triples, 97 RBI and a .921 OPS. Lexington (A) RHP Mike Foltynewicz, another first-round pick from the 2010 Draft, was named the South Atlantic League’s Most Outstanding Pitcher after posting a 14-4 record with a 3.14 ERA in 27 starts. Lexington IF Zach Johnson led the SAL in RBI with a club-record 108.

Tri-City C Tyler Heineman (8th pick, 2012 Draft) won the NY-Penn League batting title with a .358 avg. while ranking 2nd in on-base-pct. (.452). Tri-City starters RHP Aaron West (6-2, 2.04 ERA), LHP Brian Holmes (7-2, 2.57 ERA), RHP Brady Rogers (7-2, 2.89) and RHP Lance Day (6-1, 2.73), all drafted or signed in 2012, played a major role in the ValleyCats playoff run.

Since taking control of the organization in November of 2011, Astros Owner and Chairman Jim Crane has emphasized the importance of building a strong farm system that will result in sustained success at the Major League level.

The 2012 success of the minor league system culminated with Lancaster winning the first league championship in the club’s 17-year history. The JetHawks went 8-2 in the playoffs, winning their last five games en route to the title. Tri-City (A), who won a club-record 51 games during the regular season in 2012, fell one win shy of winning the NY-Penn League championship.

This post was edited by Madmartigan on Sep 18 2012 10:12pm

100 loss team checking in

Our top two starting pitchers for the next 10 years: Jarred Cosart and Mark Appel -- I'm assuming he'll be our first overall pick in next year's draft. You need two great arms at the top of any rotation. It's easier to fill out 3-5 with free agent signings. I think we can be good with Lucas Harrell and Bud Norris at 3 and 4 for the next few years though. Perhaps somebody like Paul Clemens can win a spot in the rotation this spring.

The future lineup will feature a talented and deep team that can hit, field and run... We have to move DeShields Jr. to third base with Altuve an all-star second baseman.

Jose Altuve 2B
Carlos Correa SS
Jonathan Singleton 1B
Domingo Santana RF
Ariel Ovando LF
George Springer CF
Delino DeShields Jr. 3B
Jason Castro C
Pitcher

I would pay for season tickets to watch that team. We just have to wait a little longer until they're all called up.

This is going to be a great team for several years. I think we'll win the AL West by 2016. Our payroll this winter is the lowest in baseball - only $10 million of committed salary. The Astros are in great shape to build a really strong team if they play their cards right.

That is one hell of a solid team, but the sad thing is, have to wait a few years before we really get into playoff contention!

Looks like ill keep some sig makers busy before next year, want a Singleton one, a Correa one and Appel one (Granted we draft him like we should)

This post was edited by SBS on Sep 19 2012 12:30am

19-year-old OF Domingo Santana (6-5, 228 lbs) also had a fine season in Lancaster, hitting .302 with 23 HR, 26 doubles, six triples, 97 RBI and a .921 OPS

The kid keeps getting bigger. Holy shit man. He's coming on strong. Can't wait to see where he's at in another year or two.



LOL, just realized that four of these guys are absolute monsters. Singleton, Correa, Santana and Ovando. They'll all need NBA like uniforms. We're going to go from the worst lineup in baseball to one of the best. Our 1 to 9 in the lineup is looking stacked for the future.

Ah sweet. Just realized we get to use the DH also. No more pitcher in my projected lineup. Put Brett Wallace at DH.

It would look more like this then...

Jose Altuve 2B
Carlos Correa SS
Jonathan Singleton 1B
Domingo Santana RF
Ariel Ovando LF
Brett Wallace DH
George Springer CF
Delino DeShields Jr. 3B
Jason Castro C

I'm literally jizzing already! LOL

This post was edited by Madmartigan on Sep 19 2012 06:30am