Astros Crawfish Boil: January 27, 2016

Astros News

Hall of Famers, Astros stars hit it out of park with $1.3 million gala - CultureMap Houston
While the baseball VIPs strolled into Minute Maid Park's Diamond Club for pre-gala cocktails, the TV news teams swarmed in the lobby hoping to get a word

Upcoming spring training looms large for Astros’ Max Stassi - Ultimate Astros
Jose Altuve, Jason Castro and Collin McHugh chuckled and shrugged their shoulders Saturday when a fan asked them which Astros player would replace Hank Conger’s famous robot dance moves. It’s unclear if Max Stassi can duplicate the beloved backup catcher’s robot, but he realizes this upcoming spring training will be crucial.

Astrodome floor needs to be raised to ground level to be...
On Tuesday commissioners voted to have a county engineer study the space below the Astrodome.

Evan Gattis loses weight to be more versatile | astros.com
HOUSTON -- Astros designated hitter Evan Gattis worked with a personal trainer this offseason in an effort to lose weight while keeping his strength, and he subsequently dropped 18 pounds. It had nothing to do with him wanting to hit more triples, either. Gattis, who had 11 triples last year, was urged by the club to become more versatile, and he took it upon himself to hire a personal trainer for the first time to get in better shape. The goal for Gattis is to be able to play the field more and shed the label as a player who can only swing the bat.

Houston female professional baseball player Marie Mahoney passes away - Houston Chronicle
Marie "Red" Mahoney, the only Houstonian to play in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League that was made famous in the movie "A League of Their Own," passed away on Saturday. She was 91.

Astros to host Houston Winter Invitational | astros.com
HOUSTON -- Several of the nation's top Division II baseball teams will be on hand at Minute Maid Park from Feb. 5-7 for the fourth annual Houston Winter Invitational tournament. The tournament will feature six teams playing nine games over three days. The list of teams participating includes Texas schools St. Mary's (San Antonio) and Tarleton State, as well as the University of Central Missouri, which will serve as co-host of the tournament with the Astros.

MLB News

What are the Padres even doing this winter? - SBNation.com
Wednesday's Say Hey, Baseball includes the Padres' confusing winter, dancing Ruben Amaro, and the very homegrown Giants.

Let's assign the best remaining free agents to new homes - SBNation.com
If the offseason ends soon, the regular season will start sooner. That's just science. So let's finish this offseason.

How Ian Kennedy's backloaded contract affects the Royals budget - Royals Review
We now have contract specifics.

MLB asks USADA to assist in Al Jazeera PED investigation - SBNation.com
Ryan Zimmerman and Ryan Howard denied they received PEDs, but MLB wants to make sure.

MLB risks long-term underexposure due to cord cutting - Viva El Birdos
Cable revenues have made Major League Baseball as rich as it has ever been, but with cable subscriptions decreasing, MLB must assure that it is still able to grow new fans.