Colt 45s Blog

Let’s just get this out of the way, but Jeff Bagwell got the shaft last year.  He should make some gains but the fact that he may have used PEDs because he played during those times is a little ridiculous.  Bagwell finished with a career .948 OPS, 449 home runs, 1,529 RBIs, 1,517 runs, and 1,401 walks.

He also had the MVP and his 1994 season was obscene.  He had an OPS of 1.201 and 300 total bases in the strike shortened season.  Tony Gwynn cost him the batting title and Bagwell finished with a 79.9 WAR.  Five times he had an OPS over one and if you take away his final season, he had fourteen straight seasons of an OPS+ over 115.  That’s some consistency.

Astros closer Mark Melancon was dealt to the Red Sox today for shortstop Jed Lowrie and pitcher Kyle Weiland.  Melancon had 20 of the Astros 25 saves in 2011 and he also went 8-4 with a 2.78 ERA and 66 strikeouts in 74 1/3 innings.  It’s safe to say the Astros don’t need a really good closer as they enter 2012 as one of the worst teams in baseball so it looks like this was a case of selling Melancon while his stock was still high.

Injuries have been a concern for Jed Lowrie and hopefully this is a way for him to get a fresh start.  He’s a former first round pick and while he’s shown signs of life the last couple of years, injuries have also been a concern.  He played in 88 games last year (a career high) and in 2010, he had his best season at the plate when he hit nine home runs in 171 at bats.  One nice thing is, Lowrie can play every where on the infield.

Weiland was a rookie last year and he got shelled in his short time with the team.  His minor league career has been solid though and he has 426 strikeouts and 171 walks in 449 1/3 innings.  He’s also one of those rarer pitchers who’s moved up the ladder one year at a time.  He just turned 25 so he could fill out the back end of the Astros rotation or be a swing man/sixth starter.  He also has options so my bet is, he starts the season at Triple-A and is used as needed.

Left handed started J.A. Happ was tendered a contract so he’ll be one of the guys the Astros have to talk to or end up going to the arbitration table with.  Happ had a rough year with a 6-15 record and a 5.35 ERA.  Part of the Roy Oswalt trade, Happ’s last solid season was 2009 when he went 12-4 for the Phillies with a 2.93 ERA.

He did show some improvement last in the season.  The Astros gave him a spell at Triple-A and when he came back, he went 2-1 with a 2.43 ERA in six starts.  He’s still a lock for the rotation, but he also has to show us some stuff this year if the Astros are going to make him a long term option.

The Astros signed catcher Carlos Corporan to a minor league deal and he’ll get a chance to test his wares at spring training in 2012.  Carlos was part of the Brewers organization before the Astros brought him on as a backup in 2011.  The bat was really never there and he just .188 hence the minor league deal.

The Astros have been busy with the non-roster invitees.  Now that Crane finally has the team, it’ll be interesting to see what approach he takes.  My guess is the Astros are quiet this year and start building from the bottom up. but it would be nice if they made some moves and we had some more big league talent on this team.  It’s also going to be hard signing someone if the team isn’t good and they’re going to have to pay a premium like the Nationals did with Jayson Werth.

It looks like the Astros farm system is getting some early coverage as John Sickels put out his top 20 Houston Astros prospect list.  Topping his list is Jonathan Singleton as well.  He gives him a B+ rating but he also talks about how he could have been an A-.  George Springer, the outfielder, also got a B+ and he was second.

After that, it thins out pretty quick.  Jarred Cosart (RHP), Jonathan Villar (SS) and Paul Clemens (RHP) round out the top five and all three of those guys were given B- ratings.

The Astros made some last minute roster moves ahead of the Rule 5 draft deadline.  One of their top prospects, Paul Clemens was added to the 40 man roster.  He was one of the guys who came over from the Braves system in the  Michael Bourn trade.  He was a Southern League All Star and he put up decent numbers splitting time between Double-A and Triple-A.

The Astros also signed Lance Pendleton to a minor league deal and he’s going to get a spring training invite.  Pendleton had a rough season in the big leagues and he split time between the Astros and the Yankees.  Pendleton was a Rule 5 draft by the Astros but he got returned to the Yankees and then in September, the Astros picked him up off of waivers so he kind of bounced back and forth.

Baseball America put out its top ten Astros prospect list.  Here are the guys.

1)  Jonathan Singleton  1b/OF
2)  Jarred Cosart  RHP
3)  George Springer  OF
4)  Jonathan Villar  SS
5)  Paul Clemens  RHP
6)  Domingo Santana  OF
7)  Brett Oberholtzer  LHP
8)  Delino DeShields, Jr.  2b
9)  Mike Foltynewicz  RHP
10)  Telvin Nash  1b/OF

You’d think a team that had traded away all of their stars would have some blue chip prospects but you wouldn’t know it from Kevin Goldstein’s top eleven Astros prospect list.  They do have three four star prospects but no five star guys.  Too bad.

Topping the list is Jarred Cosart.  He came over in the Hunter Pence deal and the right handed pitcher split time between High A and Double A.  This power arm also gives up his share of walks and he’ll start the season in Double-A.  He’s at least another year away.

Number two is George Springer, the Astros first round pick in 2011.  The outfielder got into eight games at Low-A and this guy is a potential stud.  He could start at Low-A but could be High-A and while he’s a couple of years away, this could be the team’s center fielder of the future.

Jonathan Singleton (1b), Brett Oberholtzer (LHP) and Jonathan Villar (SS) round out the top five.  Oberholtzer is the only guy who’s close to major league ready with the rest more like two or three years out.

The Astros disaster of a 2011 season is finally over with and now it’s time to look forward.  The problem is, with the ownership issues still being an issue, the Astros could be hamstrung.  I didn’t see them making any major moves anyway but this is a team with some deep problems.  They were near the bottom in just about every offensive category and this is despite a park that proved to be more of a hitter park in 2011.

Carlos Lee was the best hitter and he led the team with just 18 home runs.  Hunter Pence ranked near the top in a lot of offensive categories and that was despite not playing for the Astros for the final two months of the season.  Same goes for Bourn.  Of the top three hitters in OPS+, two are already gone and the only reason Carlos Lee is with the team is because of his salary.

And then you had the guys like Humbero Quintero who had an OPS of .575.    What makes it all worse is the Astros have made all of these trades and they have yet to see much for their troubles.  You’d figure they’d at least be talked about like the Royals but this team has been driven into the ground.

2011 couldn’t get into the books any faster for Astros fans and they went out with a whimper and actually had a hand in the Wild Card craziness on the final day of the season. Chris Carpenter held them to two hits in and with the Cardinals win, they went on into the playoffs instead of the Braves.

Two hits and one walk were all the Astros could muster.  Bret Myers was lit up and he finished the season 7-14.  He gave up seven runs on ten hits and one walk with three strikeouts.

The Astros finished with 106 losses.  Their team has been dismantled and I’m not sure they have all that much to show for it.  Next up is the whole ownership issue so we’ll see if that gets resolved before the Hot Stove season kicks in.