Astros Crawfish Boil: August 5, 2015

Houston Astros News

Astros mixing and matching in hopes of increasing production from first base
Just in case there’s any doubt, the starting job at first base has become somewhat of a revolving door with the Astros.

Lance McCullers not expected to see game action while regrouping with Class AA Corpus Christi

The Astros want to use the stint in Corpus to help McCullers, 21, refresh. The rookie righthander had never thrown more than 104 innings a season as a pro until this year. He has thrown 1052⁄3 innings this season between Corpus and the Astros.

MLB News:

Mets trade for lefty reliever Eric O'Flaherty
Suddenly in legitimate playoff contention, the Mets are attempting to patch every last hole on their roster. To that end, they traded for a lefty relief specialist late Tuesday night, acquiring Eric O'Flaherty and cash from the A's for a player to be named or cash. O'Flaherty, 30, had a 5.91 ERA in 25 games for the A's, but he was holding left-handed batters to a .186 average and a .495 OPS.

Dodgers starter Alex Wood had some trouble throwing a pitch
In his first start with the Dodgers, Alex Wood was involved in one of the more unusual plays you will see this year. Go take a look for yourself...

Blue Jays Aaron Sanchez gets 3-game suspension
Blue Jays pitcher Aaron Sanchez and manager John Gibbons received suspensions from Major League Baseball on Tuesday for their roles in a benches-clearning incident during Sunday's 5-2 win over the Royals.

New Tigers GM, Al Avila, has tough road ahead
Now that Dave Dombrowski is gone, Avila has been thrust into the spotlight. Avila is inheriting a team that has won four consecutive division titles, and been to the World Series twice since 2006, but it's not going to be smooth sailing ahead.

New MLB and NHL partnership:

NHL partners with MLB on digital media deal valued at $1.2B

The NHL has signed on with Major League Baseball on a new partnership valued at $1.2 billion. MLB Advanced Media will be taking over the NHL's digital operations.

MLB’s Tech Unit Wins NHL Streaming Business
Major League Baseball’s technology arm has struck a deal to pay $600 million to the NHL for digital and television rights to its out-of-market games, setting up MLB’s digital unit to become a bigger player in online video.

MLB Advanced Media office tour
MLB Advanced Media, also known as MLBAM, is Major League Baseball's technology division. It was started in 2005 to run the websites of MLB teams, but it's since morphed into a huge provider of digital services for many other companies.