Wednesday's Three Astros Things

Some things to talk about while Marwin does his best Dikembe impression...

1) Mike & Mike on the almost-perfecto

Thanks to CRPerry for pointing this out earlier this morning, but apparently Mike & Mike this morning discussed whether Astros fans should have been pulling for Darvish to finish the perfecto. Here was Chris' response:

Mike & Mike was asking this morning: If you're an Astros fan and down 7-0 and have a perfect game going against you, are you rooting for the perfect game?

I say, HELL NO. Marwin is my new hero. I don't want a PG against the Astros, especially by the damn Rangers.

P.S. After embarrassing the Rangers on opening day, then getting embarrassed in game two, I'm thinking the rivalry might not take too long to get going full-tilt.

I know that I cheered really, really loudly at home when Marwin broke it up. Twitter seemed full of the same sentiments at the time, so there's less than a consensus here. I'd like to throw it to the group: were you pulling for the perfect game or were you hoping someone would break it up? Anyone at the game last night and feel differently than us who watched it on TV?

2) Luhnow at the top of the scouting director heap

Baseball America has a post up breaking down how many major league players all the scouting directors produced. Obviously, with Jeff Luhnow heading the list, these guys aren't necessarily scouting directors any more, but it makes a nice base for comparisons. Here's what they said about Luhnow's league-leading 21 players:

Jeff Luhnow (21)

Colby Rasmus, Jaime Garcia, Mitchell Boggs, Adam Ottavino, Allen Craig, Chris Perez, Jon Jay, Luke Gregerson, Shane Robinson, Clayton Mortensen, Daniel Descalso, Pete Kozma, Tony Cruz, Brett Wallace, Lance Lynn, Joe Kelly, Matt Adams, Matt Carpenter, Ryan Jackson, Shelby Miller and Trevor Rosenthal.

Luhnow was scouting director for the Cardinals from 2005-11, and was responsible for drafting many of the players on the team’s 2011 World Series team. He is now the general manager for the Astros.

Current Nationals GM Mike Rizzo brings up the bottom of the list with 10 players from his tenure with the D'Backs, so there's a gap between the top and the bottom, but it's not huge. 93 different scouting directors drafted players on Opening Day rosters this year.

Bobby Heck, Houston's former scouting director, did not make the cut of having at least 10 players in the league.

3) Marwin's new nickname

It seems we have a spicy little debate to kick around today. Should we call Marwin Gonzalez "Game Breaker" now or should we go with "Darvish Killer?"

Personally, I like Game Breaker, because it works without context. You don't have to constantly be reminded of that big moment and it can work if he hits a home run or makes a killer error in the field. In short, it covers more territory (like the 5 hole).

I'm open to any ideas, though. If you like Darvish Killer better, sell me on it. If you have a better one, let's hear it. You know that we'll pick up on one soon and start using it for the rest of the season. Get in now and yours may be the lucky nickname Bill Brown drops into a game broadcast by August.