Thursday's Three Astros Things

Some things to talk about while I'm glad MMP isn't named after a toilet...

1) New ST home closer to reality

Late news, but the Astros are still negotiating to get that Spring Training home set up in Palm Beach. Those negotiations reached another level on Monday, according to Mark Berman.

West Palm Beach Mayor announces potential land swap with Palm Beach County that's a big step 4future Astros & Nationals spring training site

— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) January 5, 2015

For those who haven't followed this story, the Astros have been exploring a new spring training home for quite some time. Why?

Well, no one has out-and-out said this, but Astros owner Jim Crane owns a golf course in Palm Beach. His course, the Floridian, is considered in Palm Beach, but is actually closer to Port St. Lucie, which is 45 min away from West Palm Beach.

Kissimmee, on the other hand, is about an hour further north from the golf course. I don't know if richie rich types like Jim Crane "commute," but moving the ST complex to West Palm Beach could conceivably reduce his commute quite a bit.

Combining facilities with another team will also reduce the overhead costs for running a ST home, not just for splitting costs, but also for generating revenue. Two teams means more home games means more butts in the seats.

So, there's a lot of good reasons why Jim Crane wants this thing to go through. Monday's news was a big step in that direction, as it reversed the position of the West Palm Beach city council, to some extent. Houston and Washington will now be moving forward on getting this thing done.

Astros atty Giles Kibbe on progress for ST site in West Palm Beach: "We look forward to working with Mayor Muoio & Commissioner Taylor(more)

— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) January 5, 2015

More Astros Giles Kibbe on ST site in West Palm Beach: "to finalize this project.The Haverhill location would b great4the teams,city&county"

— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) January 5, 2015

2) Teenage prospects, ranked

Project Prospect had an article up ranking various teenage prospects by their production in 2014. Not surprisingly, Carlos Correa did very well, coming in No. 2 behind Dodgers phenom Julio Urias.

Don't know if that means much yet. But, competing against older dudes and excelling is a great way to stand out in a crowded prospect landscape. There's a reason Correa is so highly regarded. It's partly for his physical tools and its partly for the success he's had already, at such a young age.

3) 2014 TCB Leaderboard

We're still less than 10 days into 2015, so forgive me one last look back at the year that was. This time, I'm looking at you, dear readers.

Here are some stats from 2014 on our best commenters, posters and FanShotters. Congrats to everyone who made the list. For the rest of you...work harder at being spectacular!

(Also, thanks again to everyone who reads and comments. You make this site so awesome.)

Most FanPosts

reillocity 21

DougCorbett 8

SDsportsjunkie 7

Snake Diggity 6

Exile in St. Louis 5

AstrosFuture 5

Tallahastros 4

Jake Sumeraj 3

Stingstros 3

Dr Rick 3

Most FanShots

Timothy De Block 19

LoftimusPrime 10

Ryan Dunsmore 6

mattbrown006 2

Brian Stevenson 2

reillocity 2

tangotiger 1

MikeCav19 1

henryrowengartner 1

clack 1

Most Comments

Joe in Birmingham 7187

CRPerry13 3788

rambo2 3572

Snake Diggity 3091

PunkRocket 2908

Anthony Boyer 2515

Juan Grande 2197

Trips 2193

clack 2086

MadMartygan 1991