Astros finalize Opening Day roster, put three on DL and send four to minors

On April Fool's Day, the Astros made a few pretty surprising moves to finalize their Opening Day roster. Brian McTaggart reported this morning that Houston will place pitchers Josh Fields, Brett Oberholtzer and Brad Peacock on the disabled list to start the year.

The team also is sending Kevin Chapman, L.J. Hoes and Jon Singleton to Triple-A while designating Alex Presley for assignment.

#Astros moves: Fields, Obie and Peacock to start year on DL. Chapman, Hoes, Singleton to Fresno. Presley DFA

— Brian McTaggart ⚾️ (@brianmctaggart) April 1, 2015

Grossman, Harris, Marisnick, Villar and Wojo made the club

— Brian McTaggart ⚾️ (@brianmctaggart) April 1, 2015

The two most shocking of these are Singleton's demotion and Presley being designated for assignment. The latter immediately opens up a roster spot for Roberto Hernandez or Joe Thatcher, but doesn't prohibit the Astros from working out a trade for him.

We saw earlier this winter when the Astros DFAed Carlos Corporan and still swung a trade with the Rangers. Something similar could happen here.

As for Singleton, it appears the Astros aren't beholden to his extension after all. The young first baseman has struggled this spring after being awful last year in the majors. Maybe the team has some tangible things they want him to work on in Fresno.

What this also means is that Chris Carter is your starting first baseman and Evan Gattis will likely see plenty of time at designated hitter, with Colby Rasmus in left field.

Also, Asher Wojciechowski makes the team as the fifth starter while Will Harris remains in the bullpen while Fields is on the DL.

What do you think? Are there any of these moves you're surprised about? Judging by the comments to this point, none of you will shed many tears over Presley leaving or Singleton heading to Triple-A.