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With all that has happened in the week leading up to the 2013 Winter Meetings, it's tough to believe the next few days will be extremely exciting. But when the Astros have the front office that they do, you never know what you may see. Here's what went down with the Astros on Monday in Orlando:
The first piece of news came from Astros MLB.com beat writer Brian McTaggart who tweeted that Tom Koch-Wiser had been hired in the scouting department.
#Astros have hired Tom Koch-Weser as coordinator of advance information. He'll do advance scouting, with emphasis on video.
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) December 9, 2013
General manager Jeff Luhnow did not arrive in Orlando until later in the day. When he did he spoke with McTaggart and the Houston Chronicle's Evan Drellich who passed along some of Luhnow's comments from the day on what Houston's plans are for the rest of the offseason.
Drellich's most interesting gathering came from Luhnow's comments about the Astros' situation at first base. Luhnow mentioned possibly adding a free agent for the position, but also hoping that prospect Jonathan Singleton can impress during spring training after putting together a solid winter league performance.
"It’s a positive," Luhnow said of Singleton’s winter performance. "It’s not going to make our decision. Our decisions are going to be made off what we see in spring training and sort of the whole sum of last year. But it’s certainly a very positive sign when a young player goes to one of these winter leagues and is able to put up numbers like he’s able to. That gets me excited about the fact that he can come to our camp and do the same thing and force his way on the roster. I’d love to see that. There’s nothing that would make me happier than basically having him win our first-base job opening day."
As for rumors, pitcher Lucas Harrell had his named mentioned by Ken Rosenthal.
Teams see #Astros as realistic trade partner after Fowler deal. RHP Lucas Harrell drawing interest.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 9, 2013
After a surprising 2012 where he posted a 2.6 WAR, Harrell was miserable in 2013 when he finished with a 5.86 ERA while spending time in the rotation and bullpen. Certainly teams will be buying low on the 28-year old in hopes he can regain his 2012 form.
As for the Astros plan of attack regarding acquisitions, Luhnow didn't surprise anyone.
#Astros GM Jeff Luhnow just addressed media, says reliever and another bat are goals. Didn't give indication anything was close.
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) December 9, 2013
Stay tuned to TCB all week for up to date coverage of the Astros in Orlando.
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