Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Astros in the World Baseball Classic

The 2017 World Baseball Classic begins on March 6 and will continue through March 22, and the full schedule can be found here. The 16 teams in the tournament had to submit their rosters by Monday, and tonight, the official rosters have been released.

Eight Astros will represent their country in the 2017 World Baseball Classic:

RHP Luke Gregerson (Team USA)
3B Alex Bregman (USA)
LHP Kevin Chapman (Canada); Chapman qualifies for Team Canada because his father was born in Toronto.
SS Carlos Correa (Puerto Rico)
OF/DH Carlos Beltrán (Puerto Rico)
RHP Dayan Diaz (Colombia)
2B José Altuve (Venezuela)
OF Nori Aoki (Japan)

It's not every day that you receive an opportunity to represent your country in your sport on a world stage. Bring pride to your nation, perform well, and please don't get hurt.

Monday, February 6, 2017

Astros Farm Report: 2-6

Congratulations everyone, we've successfully survived football season. We are now officially on the road to baseball season.

WISHING A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO

2-6: RHP David Paulino (23)
2-6: RHP Josué Uribe (22)
2-8: LHP Alex Winkelman (23)
2-11: C Kevin Martir (23)

David Paulino - April 2016
Photo by Jayne Hansen

ROSTER MOVES/TRANSACTIONS

A signing from December just appeared on the transactions page on the Astros' website: On December 20, the Astros signed Carlos Quintero, a right-handed pitcher from Venezuela. He turned 17 on January 11.

All of the transactions made in the Astros' system this offseason can be found here.

ASTROS FALL/WINTER LEAGUE UPDATES

Connor MacDonald was reassigned to the Australian Baseball League minor leagues, but the Brisbane Bandits will face the Melbourne Aces in the ABL championship series this upcoming weekend.

WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC

The 2017 World Baseball Classic begins on March 6 and will continue through March 22, and the full schedule can be found here. Monday was the deadline for the 16 teams in the field to submit official rosters, which will be released Wednesday.

These are the Astros players who have announced their intention to participate if selected to their national teams:

RHP Luke Gregerson (Team USA)
3B Alex Bregman (USA)
SS Carlos Correa (Puerto Rico)
OF/DH Carlos Beltrán (Puerto Rico)
2B José Altuve (Venezuela)
OF Nori Aoki (Japan)

NEWS AND LINKS

- The 2017 Baseball America Prospect Handbook is out! The #1 prospect in the Astros system, according to BA, is RHP Francis Martes.

- In case you missed it, the Astros announced their minor league coaching staff for the 2017 season.

- In case you missed this as well... Astros County weighed in on the punishment imposed on the St. Louis Cardinals for breaching the Astros' Ground Control system.

- RHP Jandel Gustave has "a legitimate chance to make the Astros' opening day bullpen," according to the Chronicle's Jake Kaplan (Baseball America subscription required).

The Astros Spring Training non-roster invitees list has been updated with the most recent signing, that of Dayan Diaz.

IF Reid Brignac
C Juan Centeno
3B J.D. Davis
RHP Dayan Diaz
OF Derek Fisher
RHP Edison Frias
OF Alejandro Garcia
C Tyler Heineman
LHP Brian Holmes
RHP Jordan Jankowski
OF Jon Kemmer
OF Ramon Laureano
RHP Francis Martes
RHP Tyson Perez
LHP C.J. Riefenhauser
1B Jon Singleton
RHP Cy Sneed
C Garrett Stubbs
RHP Aaron West