As of today, going by fangraphs WAR, the Astros have the top second baseman and the third best shortstop in all of baseball. It is still early and both Altuve and Lowrie will have some regression over the course of the season, but I do expect both of them to remain near the top in their respective positional leader boards. Ed Wade always talked about building up the middle of the diamond first, and now the Astros might have the best middle infield in baseball. Thank you, Ed...wait...Tim Purpura and Jeff Luhnow. But to give Ed some credit, Jordan Schafer is the 15th ranked CF in terms of WAR and probably one of the better defensive CFs, and Jason Castro has been looking better. It's not out of the realm of possibility that the four up the middle positions could combine to contribute around 11 to 12 WAR by the end of the season.

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This article by Baseball America discusses the ways that some MLB teams may try to evade the bonus pool limits on signing international free agent. Teams will be limited to annual total bonus amount of $2.9 million for international signings after July 7. Most of the efforts at evading the new CBA rules are best described as "cheating." Some might be described as finding "loopholes." I wouldn't want the Astros to cheat, but cheating by other clubs will have a negative effect on the honest teams' ability to sign the international players that they target. The Rangers already have made some signings that might be interpreted as looking for a loophole.

A couple of the exceptions to the rules are legal and may place a premium on certain players who meet those exceptions. For instance, a prospect who is cut by another team is eligible to be re-signed with another team for a bonus that will not count against the bonus pool. MLB says they will not interpret this exception as applying to players whose contracts were cancelled by MLB due to drug suspensions or age discrepancies. Mexican born prospects who play for a Mexican League team will not have the full bonus count toward the bonus pool, because typically 75% of the bonus is channeled to the Mexican League team. (I recall that, shortly after he took the GM job, Luhnow said that he wanted the Astros to become more active in the Mexico prospect market.)

Some of the mentioned evasions are very shady, and reminds me of economists' observations that attempting to prevent markets from clearing supply and demand will create unintended consequences. This can take the effect of non-monetary compensation, like giving the prospect or his family a new luxury automobile (reminds me of college recruiter cheating) or channeling money or perks to friends and family. of the prospect. Another form of cheating is bribing the agent or "trainer" for the 16 year old since that individual may control the prospect's signing decision.

Anyway, the article raises some interesting questions....and also raises the question as to how much effort MLB will put into enforcement against teams cheating.

I had the good fortune to interview 2011 draftee LHP Mitchell Lambson, recently. Very enthusiastic young man, loves the game. I very much appreciated speaking to him, even if it was just by email and FB.

http://grandoldgame.blogspot.com/2012/05/player-interview-mitchell-lambson-lhp.html

Also, a few thoughts in a guest spot on what it's been like to be part of a host family for our Lexington Legends, this year.

http://legendsmom.blogspot.com/2012/05/what-being-part-of-host-family-really.html

And dealing with some hard demotions from the fan's point of view.

http://grandoldgame.blogspot.com/2012/05/transactions-hallock-bushue-king-sent.html

As the title says, Jarred Cosart has been promoted to AAA Oklahoma City, or so he says on his twitter account. From the looks of it, it's not just for a spot start. There is no confirmation that it is a permanent promotion, but it sure seems like it, especially since there's about to be a SP called up from OKC.

I, for one, am not thrilled with the move. He's been good so far this year with a decent strikeout rate and a high number of groundballs, but his command has been very spotty. I watched Paul Clemens pitch last night, and his command was waaay off. As a result, he got shelled. Granted, Cosart has much better stuff than Clemens, but I don't think it would make a significant difference.

Again, there is no confirmation that this is a permanent promotion, but it sounds like it will be. He could just be filling in the open spot in OKC's rotation until Weiland comes back. I think it's still unknown when Weiland comes back, so Cosart could be at OKC for awhile.

We're a month into the season, so I thought I'd start some discussion about which players have been the most pleasant surprises and which players have been the biggest disappointments.

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I wanted to reopen discussions about our first choice in the draft mainly because it seems to change each week. So if anyone has any updates on the top candidates such as Appel, Gausman, Zimmer, Giolito, Zumino and Buxton.

I keep hearing that they are looking more college arm, which is something I agree with except for if Giolito gets back on the mound and shows us he is healed and dominant. I believe he is supposed to start throwing again soon.

My pick is Appel still, feel like he has the most potential to be a #1.

Just wanted to continue the great discussion threads that Astro Freak and kyuss94 started.

First fanpost so sorry if I butchered it..

Line-up 1. L Jordan Schafer CF 2. R Jose Altuve 2B 3. L Jonathan Singleton 1B 4. R J.D. Martinez LF 5. S Jed Lowrie SS 6. L J.B. Shuck RF 7. R Justin Maxwell DH 8. S Jimmy Paredes 3B 9. L Jason Castro C Bench Jonathan Villar IF Justin Ruggiano OF Jiovanni Mier IF Jchris Snyder C Rotation Jbud Norris RHP Jarred Cozart RHP Jordan Lyles RHP J.A. Happ LHP Jpaul Clemens RHP Bullpen Josh Zeid RHP Juan Abreu RHP Jaston Stoffel RHP Jose Valdez RHP Jkevin Chapman LHP Jwilton Lopez RHP Jdavid Carpenter RHP

I was looking to do a deep Fantasy Baseball league free of charge to all you guys who are interested. The league will have no more than 16 teams and will have a deep bench which will put an emphasis on prospects. I'm just looking to have some fun and start a dynasty league just to see who has the best overall managerial mind. If you are interested send me an email and I will give you a spot. Not sure about the draft time or format yet, but I will have a poll in the league about it. You can leave your email down below and I will shoot you the invite. If you so not participate you will be replaced though. Really hoping you guys join my league as I would like it to be all Astros fans. Thanks hope you sign up.

The Astros may have a losing record, but they have been outscoring their opponents. I feel confident that if they continue to do so they will see their win loss record improve. They may even have a number of wins lumped together to catapult them up near the top of the division for a short period of time. I don't expect them to maintain a lofty standing, but I can see them having a good run at some point. What should the Astros do around July 31st if they are 3 or 4 games out of first place?

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I keep hearing that their is a rebrand or at least new colors/logo. I was wondering if it is likely this info will leak before the season is over. I can't wait to see it. I just hope it includes navy and orange somehow. Anyone know of anyone who knows anything?

Also what would you prefer for the rebrand to look like given the option in the poll I think I attached? Orange and Blue old school astros, red brick and sand new school astros, classic yankees like, wild marlins like?

Poll

Prefer new logo to...

74%

Be similar to old H and Star hats with orange and blue

139 votes

8%

Be similar to current red brick and sand colors

15 votes

9%

Be classic laid back like yankees/redsox

18 votes

8%

Be wild like new Marlins

15 votes

187 votes | Poll has closed