Astros Crawfish Boil

Astros Crawfish Boil: February 18th, 2020

Start your morning with some of the best Astros links around

By CKuno Feb 18, 2020, 8:40am CST

If you buy something from an SB Nation link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

MLB: Spring Training-Houston Astros at Boston Red Sox

Check out the rest of the Crawfish Boxes here and listen to the latest version of Locked on Astros, our partnered podcast, here.

Astros News

Even if Manfred had not promised immunity for Astros players, it would have been an uphill climb to punish them (The Athletic, $$$)
And that is partially because of how strong the player’s union is when it comes to situations like this (ESPN)
Joel Sherman thinks that Manfred should renege immunity and lay down a number of incredibly harsh and unprecedented punishments because, and here’s the kicker, bowing to online anger is somehow a sign of strong leadership (NY Post)
The furor surrounding the buzzers is a perfect example of how the presumption of guilt can poison the discourse (Medium)
Mike Trout was asked how he felt about sign stealing and, surprise, he was mad (MLB.com)
Meanwhile, J.D. Martinez feels like maybe it’s all getting to be a bit much (ESPN)
Sportsbook has raised the over/under on the Astros getting plunked this season on account of all the expected retaliation (ABC Sports)
A season ticket holder has decided to sue the Astros for $1 million over the cheating (ABC 13)
Francis Martes has been suspended a full season after testing positive for PED’s for the second time (CBS News)
Aledmys Diaz and the Astros will head to arbitration (FOX Sports)
The Astros picked up some possible bullpen help in the form of Jared Hughes (MLB Trade Rumors)
Full squad workouts have begun for the Astros, minus Zack Greinke of course (Astros.com)
Springer talked a little about his pending free agency, but was ultimately noncommittal (Sports Radio 610)

Around the League

In some actual good news, MLB will raise player salaries in 2021 (Houston Chronicle)
Maybe MLB can tweak the All Star format to make it all just a little more fun (Sporting News)
But what it should really tweak is the proposed playoff overhaul (FanGraphs)
Here’s a candidate for Most Ridiculous Ejection by an umpire (MSN.com)
Aubrey Huff will not be invited to the 10-year anniversary for the 2010 WS champion Giants due to his more salacious tweets (SF Gate)
Brock Holt will head to the Brewers for the 2020 season (MLB Trade Rumors)