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Astros Link-Fest: Fresh off the Hot Stove

First up, Alyson Footer and Jonathan Mayo tweeted that Jason Castro will be in the AFL Rising Stars Game at 7 p.m. Saturday on the MLB Network. You'll also get to see other guys, like Stephen Strasberg, Dustin Ackerley and Drew Storen. But the cool part is Castro, if you're an Astros fan.

  • Remember this when we talk about free agent pitchers...was this really a hunting accident? Or did Frank McCourt do this to drive down Padilla's price on the market?
  • Speaking of my favorite divorcing owner, a judge recently ruled his wife couldn't get her job back. Isn't that nice? For more coverage of this crazy, crazy case (including a very interesting post on how the McCourts purchased and financed the team), there's a blog devoted specifically to the case: Dodger Divorce: How the McCourts came to own the Dodgers.
  • Why is it so hard for me to hate the best player on the team I despise the most? Because he's a really, really good guy...
  • McTaggart has a nice post on the Astros filing for free agency. Interesting speculation about Jon Garland. What say ye?
  • I don't know if you've stumbled across this yet, but some of the eggheads over at Harvard got together and created a blog on sports. It's (obviously) pretty smart and on sports other than baseball, but here's a thought-provoking piece on parity in baseball. It's much more thought-provoking than Justice's latest blog post on the subject, simply because it doesn't bring years of bias into the equation.
  • Just a quick note that one possible Astros target, Akinori Iwamura, was traded to the Pirates. Some interesting articles popped up all across the web here and here. I'm formulating a longer post based on these articles about the general state of the GMs in the National League Central, but it probably won't be up until Monday. Hold your breath until then....
  • Speaking of Justice, here's his plan for the 2009 offseason. Personally, I prefer DQ's plan...
  • In the department of making me feel hopelessly inadequate, this 27-year old just got the GM job of a minor league team. What have I done? Not taken over a baseball team, that's for sure...

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According to the update, Padilla didn’t shoot himself, but rather his bodyguard accidently shot him. (Supposedly the injury is minor.) Is this the bodyguard who can’t shoot straight? A bodyguard who accidently shoots the person he is supposed to protect—I think he needs a new line of work.

John Garland—-I don’t know if I can bring myself to suggest him, but, yes, there may be worse ideas. Garland has always been the target of sabermetric writers who look at his “pitch to contact” style and think he is overrated. After a down season with the Angels in 08, sabermetric writers piled on Garland, last off-season, and labeled any GM who wanted Galand to be a moron. But the “morons” in Arizona and LA used Garland last season, and he pitched well….and like always he was an “innings eater,” with 204 IP. He consistently K’s less than 5 per game, but his K/BB ratio isn’t bad because he holds BBs down. So, if he is reasonably cheap, he may not be a bad idea. His GB rate isn’t quite as high as I would like to see for a pitch to contact guy. I would prefer a pitcher with a bigger GB rate, like Piniero.

by clack on Nov 5, 2009 6:08 PM CST reply actions  

I haven’t seen the arguments against Jon Garland, but try this thought exercise out: imagine if we had Garland slotted in the 2009 rotation instead of Ortiz or Hampton. His 200 innings, and his relative consistency across those innings, would have a bit of a domino effect in terms of bullpen usage.

by AstroAndy on Nov 5, 2009 6:45 PM CST up reply actions  

From the linked Padilla article:

“A hospital spokeswoman … told reporters that the Nicaraguan pitcher in 32 years, this year also played with the Texas Rangers, was hospitalized for 40 minutes and already left the medical center, without gravity.”

He left… without gravity?? What does that do to your pitching motion?

by Xan on Nov 6, 2009 12:17 PM CST reply actions  

Ain't that the truth

I guess they were going for something like “without weightiness”, as in not serious. Didn’t work!

by Xan on Nov 6, 2009 4:22 PM CST up reply actions  

I hate the Cards (obviously) and want to feel the same towards Pujols

but this man might be the man I respect most in the game and it might not even be close. He might just be a better man and person than baseball player. He reminds me some of Biggio and Biggio’s work with the Sunshine Kids. Thank you Albert for being such a class act. MLB could use more people like you!

by Astrosws20 on Nov 6, 2009 1:30 PM CST reply actions  

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