Jeff Luhnow is Trying to Ruin Your Life: A Satire

As you may or may not know, I have been privy to some Astros insider info from time to time. I generally keep that information to myself because I've found that the front office is more likely to help me out with interview requests and the like if I'm somewhat circumspect in my use of information obtained from my vast network of spies contacts. But I've come across a bombshell of epic proportions that I feel I must share with you, so share I will.

You see, I have found out that Jeff Luhnow, the General Manager of the Houston Astros, wants to ruin your life. Yes, you. Personally. He's been listening to you bitch and moan and second-guess him for years now and he's fed up with it. So he decided to take it out on you. Yes, you. Personally. And he decided to do it in the year that Sports Illustrated predicted that the Astros would be World Series bound.

His plan was diabolical. He built a team of super stars, rising stars and upcoming stars and let them loose on the baseball world. He planned for the team to get to 50 wins at the fastest pace in franchise history, just to let you get your hopes up. Then he decided to pull the rug out from under you!!! Yes, you. Personally.

His first nefarious plan was to pick up a couple extra voodoo dolls. (He'd already tried one out on one of his pitchers before the season started, but the team was still winning.) So he pulled out another one and stuck a pin in the neck of the doll, but it didn't significantly slow down the team. So then he went with a pin to the back of the third one. OK, that slowed things down a bit, but not enough. So he demanded that all players slide head first into home plate. That took care of one star. And then he conspired with the grounds keeping crew to help trip up another star. Diabolical fiend!!! And all so that he can make your life a living hell. Yes, you. Personally.

But he was concerned that the team was still a little bit too hot. So he pulled out the big guns. At the trade deadline, he let everyone think that he was nearing a deal for the Orioles Zach Britton, but the deal fell apart at the last minute. The truth is that Luhnow NEVER had a deal in place; he just wanted to torment you. Yes, you. Personally. He wanted you to get your hopes up, only to dash them. He's good ... at being evil.

The bonus for Luhnow in not picking up another top of the rotation pitcher is that some of his players are a little on the dis- side of gruntled which has him clapping his hands in glee .... that demon, that spawn of darkness!!! Plus those players who aren't among the walking wounded are starting to put extra stress on themselves to pick up the weight. And Luhnow absolutely loves seeing the Astros "fans" turn on their own players when they struggle. Keep them demoralized, he thinks.

But in the back of his mind, Luhnow is still worried. He compiled too much talent. Yeah, there are injuries, but not season-ending ones so those players are already starting to work their way back. And a couple wins in a row can lift the players spirits. Before you know it, they may all be back to peak performance and enjoying baseball and, gasp, winning. I don't know what he'll do then. But rest assured, he will be pulling out all the stops to thwart them because JEFF LUHNOW WANTS TO RUIN YOUR LIFE!!! YES, YOU. PERSONALLY.

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To those of my readers who are not on social media, the above is in response to Astros fans on Twitter who are FREAKING OUT about a team that still has the second best record in baseball because they aren't playing their best right this minute. Well, odds are that they will still manage to make the playoffs. They may go all the way. They may not. And if they don't have a good postseason run, I will be disappointed. But I will shrug my shoulders and say, "Next year." Because this system is poised to be making postseason runs for the next few years.

Revisiting the December 2011 Mark Melancon Trade

This is the first in a series looking back at the trades made by Jeff Luhnow since he became the General Manager of the Astros in December 2011.

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On December 14, 2011, brand new General Manager Jeff Luhnow traded RHP Mark Melancon to the Red Sox in exchange for SS Jed Lowrie and RHP Kyle Weiland.

Melancon spent one season for the Red Sox in 2012, putting up a 6.20 ERA, a 1.267 WHIP and a negative WAR of -0.5 in 45 appearances over 41 innings at the major league level. In the minors that season, Melancon had a 0.83 ERA and a 0.831 WHIP in 21 appearances over 21.2 innings.

Melancon was then traded by the Red Sox to the Pirates in December 2012. He flourished with the Pirates in 2013 (1.39 ERA and 0.958 WHIP in 72 appearances; 2.1 WAR; All-Star appearance) and in 2014 (1.90 ERA and 0.873 WHIP in 72 appearances; 2.0 WAR).

Jed Lowrie played in 97 games for the Astros in 2012, hitting .244/.331/.438 with 18 doubles, 16 home runs, 42 RBI, 43 walks and 65 strikeouts. He had a 2.2 WAR (2.4 oWar and 0.2 dWar). Lowrie was then traded to Oakland, along with RHP Fernando Rodriguez, for 1B Chris Carter, RHP Brad Peacock and C Max Stassi. (I'll look at this trade in-depth in due course.)

Kyle Weiland, on the other hand, only pitched in 3 games for Houston at the major league level before heading to the DL. In 17.2 innings, he had a 6.62 ERA, a 1.755 WHIP and a negative WAR of -0.2. Weiland did not make another official appearance until the summer of 2014, pitching in 14 minor league games between June and August. Weiland recently retired.

Although it would have been nice to have had the 2013 and 2014 version of Mark Melancon in the Houston bullpen to offset some of the struggles from those two years, and despite the disappointment of never having a completely healthy Weiland, there is really no way to see this trade as anything but a win for Luhnow after considering Lowrie's 2012 contributions and the return received after trading him.

Happy Birthday - 6/8

Happy Birthday to ~

C Roberto Pena (22)
Pena was drafted by Houston in the seventh round in 2010 out of Puerto Rico. Consistently named as the best defensive catcher in the Astros system, Pena started his 2014 season with the High A Lancaster team. He is hitting .248/.306/.378 for the season, but those numbers are impacted by his slow start to the season. He's shown consistent improvement at the plate and is hitting .270/.326/.459 over his last 10 games (through the 6th). In his first 43 games he has a 58% caught stealing percentage.

GM Jeff Luhnow (48)
Jeff Luhnow became the 12th General Manager in franchise history on December 7, 2011 (a day which will not live in infamy) after spending nine seasons in the Cardinals organization. Luhnow has Bachelor degrees in Economics and Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Northwestern. He was born and raised in Mexico City. His parents, U.S. Citizens, relocated from New York to Mexico to run a publishing business. Luhnow attended an American school, holds a dual nationality and is naturally fluent in Spanish.

Two former Astros mark the day as well ~

LHP George Brunet (Died October 25, 1991 at 56)
Brunet came to Houston in a trade with the Milwaukee Braves. In 22 games for the Colt .45's in 1962 and 1963, he was 2-7 with a 5.00 ERA and a 1.695 WHIP. He spent six seasons with the California Angels where he was 54-69 with a 3.13 ERA and a 1.202 WHIP. After his major league career was over, he played in the Mexican League for 13 years, finally retiring at 50.

RHP Dave Mlicki (46)

A 17th round pick by Cleveland in 1990, Mlicki came to Houston in June of 2001 in a trade with the Tigers for Jose Lima. He spent the final two years of his career pitching in 41 games in Houston, going 11-13 with a 5.21 ERA and a 1.465 WHIP.

Blogger Night at Minute Maid Park - Part 1

The Astros were kind enough (and brave enough) to host another Blogger Night this past Friday night. We were able to talk with Bo Porter and a few players on the field prior to the game and I'll be posting something on that probably tomorrow. First I want to tell you about the very generous 35 minutes and 34 seconds (according to my tape recorder) that we were given with General Manager Jeff Luhnow and Assistant Director of Player Development Allen Rowin. They spoke with us right up until first pitch!

Jeff Luhnow - May 2014

Photo by Jayne Hansen

The ever gracious Luhnow started by telling the assembled group, "I do appreciate the passion and the enthusiasm and obviously the desire for good Astros baseball." He went on to say that the blogging community represents the pulse of Astros fandom and assured us that the front office does pay attention to what we have to say.

Luhnow is always affable and calm and even-keeled. None of that has changed, but there was a distinct edge to him that I hadn't seen before. And one word crept into his conversation with us several times ... frustration.

He is not so much frustrated by the Astros slow start to the season as he is by people overreacting to small sample sizes from various players. He is, however, somewhat frustrated by the unforeseen bullpen injuries, but knows that he can only control what he can control. His addition of bullpen pitchers Tony Sipp and Kyle Farnsworth show that he is not content with the status quo and is doing his best to buy some time until Jesse Crain and Matt Albers are once again healthy and ready to contribute.

But his main source of frustration is the lack of journalistic ethics by some of the traditional media, those who in the desire to be first often report as fact things that are incorrect. He mocked the whole "a source close to" meme, saying exasperatedly, "These unnamed sources know everything!"

Luhnow went on to say, "When I see comments like 'They don't care,' that's probably the most hard to deal with. We watch every pitch. How could we not care? Nobody likes to lose. We do care a lot. It's frustrating because no matter how much you plan, they're going to play the game on the field and things are going to happen and you can never control the outcome.

"Would I prefer to get out of the gate fast and have everything clicking? Yeah, I would. I think this team is much better than their record has been so far."

The discussion then ranged from injuries to the status of Mark Appel to Tommy John theories to interesting prospects. I asked him about the injury that sent Vincent Velasquez to Extended Spring Training. Luhnow indicated that it was a hip injury and that he had an MRI on Friday. He hoped that a short rehab would get Velasquez back on the mound, but wanted to play it conservatively since a problem with a pitcher's lower body can result in an arm injury by throwing off his mechanics and delivery. He also told us that Asher Wojciechowski is very close to being assigned to Oklahoma City.

Of Mark Appel, Luhnow told us that he had pitched Thursday ... 40 pitches up to 98 and averaging 95. He anticipated one more outing for Appel before assigning him to a club, likely back to Lancaster. Luhnow re-emphasized that Appel had never been hurt but that he just needed to adjust to the tandem routine and indicated that Appel was very positive about the adjustment.

There was a long and very interesting discussion about the seeming rash of Tommy John surgeries and how all of the clubs are desperately trying to figure out a way to address and prevent those injuries. There appears to be a definite connection to how high school pitchers are currently being used and Luhnow thinks that eventually parents and coaches will force a change in how young pitchers are handled. In the meantime, Luhnow and Company have been conducting studies and meeting with medical experts, including the famed Dr. Andrews, in an effort to create a model that they hope will preclude some of these injuries.

Finally, Allen Rowin answered questions about some of the prospects in the system, focusing on Quad Cities C Brian Holberton (who just happened to hit for the cycle yesterday), Domingo Santana, Tony Kemp, Roberto Pena (major-league ready defensively), and possible future relievers.

Rowin specifically mentioned Corpus Christi reliever Travis Ballew with his plus/plus slider, saying that fine-tuning his fastball command is his current task at hand. And he also mentioned that current Quad Cities starter Jandel Gustave could be a future reliever. Tyler Brunnemann's name also came up in the discussion for the great season he's had thus far (and for his total remake over the off-season).

For more immediate bullpen help coming from the farm system, Luhnow indicated that Jake Buchanan and Nick Tropeano would be possibilities for call-ups later this season; if so, they would be called up for relief roles.

It was an interesting night. There might not have been any ground-breaking news involved, but one thing was clear. Jeff Luhnow wants to win, he expects to win and he does not suffer gladly the fools who believe otherwise.

Astros 2014 Fan Fest - Hearing from Jeff Luhnow

Yesterday, I brought you a pretty full meal for "Fan Feast" -- a heaping platter of Reid Ryan and Bo Porter goodness. Buca and De also weighed in with their take on Saturday's Fan Fest activities. Now it's time for dessert!

Jeff Luhnow - Fan Fest 2014

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Unsurprisingly, for those who know Astros General Manager Jeff Luhnow, the first thing he did in addressing the gathered bloggers was to have everyone introduce themselves. He wanted to make sure that he knew everyone in the room because he uses the blogs as just one more arrow in his quiver of analytic weapons.

In conjunction with this, Luhnow said, "I appreciate all the support that you all have provided and continue to provide in getting the Astros message out there and participating in not just giving us praise, but also criticizing when you think it's appropriate, and just at least having a dialogue. The dialogue is certainly constructive. I read what you guys write all the time. So do a lot of the people in the front office and I'm not going to tell you which ones, but there have been times when your input has actually moved the needle on our desire to do a transaction or something like that."

In his opening remarks, Luhnow noted that, although the major league team fell short of their goals, the farm system exceeded theirs in terms of development, and that 2014 would be the year that Astros fans start to see the fruits of those labors. "This is the year that we're really going to turn the dial," said Luhnow. He was not shy in crediting Ed Wade for his part in the turnaround, citing Wade's drafting of George Springer and the 2011 trades that brought the team Jon Singleton and others. Luhnow is not about to rest on his laurels, though, and is committed to maintaining a healthy minor league pipeline.

Luhnow went on to discuss his off-season acquisition strategy, acquiring free agents that would serve to complement the core of young players coming up and to give those more inexperienced players a strong foundation beneath them, allowing them to grow and mature as players without having the entire weight of the teams' success or failure on their shoulders.

Jesse Crain, Matt Albers and Chad Qualls were all high on a list of targeted relievers that was compiled before the season had even ended. And Luhnow sees Peter Moylan, Raul Valdes and Anthony Bass providing a "healthy amount of insurance" for the pitching staff. Scott Feldman was high on the team's list for an experienced arm to anchor the rotation. And with strikeouts an issue, Dexter Fowler should provide some stability at the top of the order.

After an excellent winter in Venezuela, Luhnow sees Jesus Guzman as a sleeper candidate who could really help the team. Cesar Izturis and Gregorio Petit (who Jose Altuve called the best defensive short stop he's ever seen) provide some insurance at short while Jonathan Villar tries to establish himself at the major league level.

Luhnow went on to discuss the team's approach in trying to sign Cuban player Jose Abreu and Japanese phenom Masahiro Tanaka. The Astros have their own method of valuing players. They had reached the maximum (in accordance with internal valuations) in their negotiations and did not want to damage their core strategy by bidding any higher [my emphasis]. But they learned a great deal from the process and Luhnow feels that Houston is now on the radar as a legitimate contender for players of this ilk. Furthermore, the Astros are now committed to scouting much more aggressively in the Cuban and Japanese markets. Luhnow will be traveling to Japan in May, along with Director of Pro Scouting Kevin Goldstein, in order to work on the business model for scouting there.

Luhnow also talked about the quirks of using the Mexican League as a prospect pipeline, giving those assembled a bit of a primer on how the process works in that league. Because of the way that player rights are purchased from the clubs rather than signing the players directly, the Mexican League won't ever replace the Dominican Republic or Venezuela as a source. Instead, it is part of his leave-no-stone-unturned strategy in finding and developing good prospects.

When asked about under the radar prospects, Luhnow mentioned RHP Michael Feliz as someone he thought was flying low until Baseball America recently included Feliz in their Top 10 Astros prospects. He also mentioned Nolan Fontana (who I would argue isn't really under the radar) and Andrew Aplin (who happens to be one of my personal favorites). He also noted that LHP Luis Cruz wasn't flying under the radar with the scouting community, leading to his inclusion on the 40-man roster prior to the Rule 5 draft.

In discussing winter league success stories, he pointed to lefties Rudy Owens and Raul Valdes, going so far as calling Valdes a sleeper to make the big league club as a starter, reliever or swing man. I also asked him about rumors that Gonzalo Sanudo would be moved to the rotation and Luhnow confirmed that was definitely under consideration.

Luhnow briefly discussed the success of the tandem rotation in keeping young arms healthy by carefully managing their innings early in the season and cited Jake Buchanan's fine 2013 campaign as one of the true success stories of using the tandem.

As always, Luhnow was open and honest and didn't shy away from answering any of our questions. He is encouraged by the progress that is being made. All in all, Jeff Luhnow is confident that the fans will see a vastly improved product on the field in 2014. Mmmmmmm. Dessert!

Fan Fest Recap

Reid Ryan said Saturday that for fans their connection to the players and the organization begins at the ballpark. Fan Fest was an excellent demonstration of that for the Astros. Ryan, Jeff Luhnow and Bo Porter were out talking and mingling with Houston fans and even spent a little time chatting with we lowly bloggers.

            Across the board, the Astros are presenting a unified front and that front is centered on building Houston not only into a championship team but into an organization that grows as large and renowned as the city itself.

The always amiable Ryan admitted that for a team with over fifty years of history in the city and MLB, the Astros have a surprisingly little footprint. Bringing not only winning teams, but former stars back into the fold is one of Ryan’s solutions to revitalizing the Houston franchise. He would like to have an “alumni association” of former players, such as J.R. Richard, to be able to interact with fans. This association would also double as a way for the Astros to give back to former players, allowing them to make additional income. It isn’t a leap either to make the connection that once the team starts honoring its former players, the fans will become more connected to them too.

Ryan also acknowledged having an Astros Hall of Fame and museum, located at Minute Maid Park, on his mind.

Ryan is working on getting the concessions streamlined with even better food and shorter lines.  He doesn’t think fans should miss a whole inning waiting in line for a hotdog….or sushi?  They are currently in talks with Aramark and other vendors to find a solution that works well for both the park and fans alike.

            Bo Porter sounded focused and sure-footed going into his second season at the helm. Porter recognized the experience and opportunities to evaluate his players during his first season was invaluable.

He added that he strongly believes the biggest mistake any organization can make is to “misevaluate its own players.”

When asked about his role in making sure that these young players become not only good baseball players, but good men who make smart life decisions, Porter said that his job is to be a mentor.  He wants his players to come to him with anything that might be on their minds. His goal is to help guide them to become good husbands, fathers and citizens. 

            Jeff Luhnow reiterated that even with as many ranked prospects and winning minor league clubs as the Houston system currently holds, that the Astros would stay aggressive on building the farm system. The Astros actively pursued pitchers throughout the off season and Luhnow is very pleased with the re-additions of Qualls and Albers. In fact, not one person all day forgot to mention their excitement over those two pitchers’ returns. Dexter Fowler drew much enthusiastic conversation from everyone as well.

Fan Fest this year ran like a well-oiled machine.  Player autograph sessions were organized and seemed to move pretty fast.  The always-interesting fan forums were moved into the Diamond Club dining room instead of being held in the stands where the sound system left much to be desired. Batting practice, bullpen sessions and running the bases drew throngs of eager fans.

If the success of Fan Fest is indicative of the care and attention that the Astros front office is putting into the “fan experience” and the non-stop work that Luhnow and company are putting into bulking up the rosters, then we can’t wait to see what 2014 has in store! Something special has indeed begun at Minute Maid Park.

~ Buca Morris and DeAnna Williamson ~

'Twas the Night Before Christmas - Astros Minor League Style

'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS - ASTROS MINOR LEAGUE STYLE

'Twas the night before Christmas, when out on the field

Not a creature was stirring, all the entries were sealed.

The stockings were hung in the clubhouse with care,

In hopes that St. Luhnow soon would be there.

St. Luhnow

Original photo courtesy of Andy as updated by Ryan

The players were nestled all snug in their beds,

Dreams of major league call-ups danced in their heads.

As Rodney and Tony D. called it a night,

Bodie and Omar turned out the lights.

When out in the park there arose such a clatter,

The clubby arose to see what was the matter.

Away to the windows the Managers sped,

And looked out to find what had roused them from bed.

The moon hit the crest of the newly raked mound,

Amid glittering dewdrops which shone all around.

When, what to their wondering eyes should appear,

But a rocket-ship sleigh, and eight strapping reindeer.

Once spying this wondrous carriage on high,

They knew in a moment St. Jeff was nearby.

More rapid than fastballs his coursers they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

"Now Springer! now, Vincent! McCullers and Rio!

On, Aplin! On, Carlos! On Folty and Lino!

Over the top deck and over the eye!

All my young rookies are learning to fly!"

Just as quickly as Singleton hits the ball out,

When a fastball meanders along the wrong route,

So up to the nose-bleeds the coursers they flew,

With a sleigh full of Prospects, and St. Luhnow too.

Then I heard high above o'er the upper deck seats

The clicking and clacking of copious cleats.

The Managers stood in awe and dismay

As St. Luhnow slowly arose from his sleigh.

He wore orange and blue and a bright shining star,

And his clothing was smudged with field dirt and pine tar.

Myriad scouting reports bulged from his pack,

With advanced analytics, stack after stack.

His eyes-how they twinkled! his smile pearly white!

An affable nod told you all would be right!

His hair was all peppered with silver and gray.

An impression of confidence, he did convey.

A multi-function calculator held tight in his grip,

And a smart phone holstered alongside his hip.

He had a nice face and was fit as a fiddle,

After time in the gym (I'd say more than a little). 

He was calm and collected, in total control,

And all were encouraged, inspired by his goal! 

In the blink of an eye, to the clubhouse he sprang.

He drew towards the lockers where stockings did hang.

Stuffing them quickly with promise and dreams,

Success in the future and victorious teams.

St. Luhnow then suddenly bade us goodbye

As the home run spectacular flashed 'cross the sky.

He leapt in his sleigh, "Oye¡ Vamos! Let's go!"

And away they did fly o'er the field far below. 

But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,

"Eight weeks 'til Spring Training! Oh, what a delight!"

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A Happy Holiday Season,
a Very Merry Christmas, and a 

Healthy, Happy and Prosperous New Year to All!!!

A Conversation with Astros General Manager Jeff Luhnow, Part 2

In Part 1 of my conversation with Jeff Luhnow, we discussed the state of the Astros farm system, some Rule 5 considerations, the "piggyback" rotation and the makeup of the Astros bullpen. Today, we continue by talking about the Astros Venezuelan presence, a few minor league standouts, one pitcher who appears to have escaped from "Weiland Island" and more.

Jeff Luhnow - Fan Fest 2013

Photo by Jayne Hansen

JH: In making your rounds of the minor league ballparks during the past season, were there any players that stood out? Maybe someone who wasn’t on your radar previously?

JL: As a General Manager, you spend a lot more time with the big league team than you do with the minor leagues. I read the reports every day, but [it’s helpful] when you get a chance to go out there and see these players in person. You have to take into account that they might have played really well for you while you were there, and who knows if that’s the true player -- the coaches know them a lot better, but I’d say a couple of guys, for me, were standouts at least when I was out watching them. [CF Andrew] Aplin. I liked him the year before, but I think this year watching him in the games that I watched him … defensively, I tried to get my mind around the fact that some of the plays he made were the plays that Gold Glove centerfielders make. That’s the caliber of defense that I saw. It was a limited look, but I was pretty excited about that. [RHP Brady] Rodgers. The fact that he was in that league all year and performed as well as he was able to perform was pretty exciting and I think he will get a chance to prove himself next year in AA.

I also have to say just having come back from Venezuela, [RHP Jamaine] Cotton, I saw him a couple of times this year, but watching him just recently last week in Venezuela … if you look at the numbers he put up at the very end of the season last year, combine that with the stuff right now in Venezuela, I think he’s moved himself pretty far up the list.

The catcher at Quad Cities, [Roberto] Peña could be our best defensive catcher of all. Outstanding looking young man. That team was loaded obviously but I think Peña is sort of an unsung hero on that team because a lot of attention went to the third baseman [Rio Ruiz] and shortstop [Carlos Correa] and centerfielder [Teoscar Hernandez] and so forth.

Tri-City … the pitching in Tri-City. Everybody is going to be talking about [RHP Michael] Feliz. Feliz had a great year and deserves whatever accolades are coming his way. He’s a pretty exciting player, but [RHP Kyle] Westwood is a guy that hasn’t received a lot of attention, but did a really nice job when I was there. Lot of confidence. Looks like he’ll be able to succeed at the higher levels. I really like [CF James] Ramsay out of the draft. He played well. These guys really did a heck of a job. There were a lot of good players from this year’s draft that were exciting.

JH: I know that you and [Director of International] Oz Ocampo have been working to increase the Astros’ presence in Venezuela. How is that going?

JL: It’s something that we’re going to continually evaluate. Oz has done a terrific job of spending a lot of time in Venezuela and that’s the first step, just going down there. Everybody has scouts down there, but when I went down there last year, we met with a lot of the trainers, agents that work down there and what they said is, “Everybody scouts down here, but first of all, you’re the first General Manager to come down here in quite some time, and second of all, a lot of the international directors don’t spend a ton of time down here and when they do come down, they come down for a few days and they won’t travel around the country. So, certain areas of the country, we have to bring the players to you and they may have really long travel schedules and be exhausted by the time they get here and you don’t always see them in the best light.”

So we’ve done a concerted effort to get down there more and both Oz and Mark Russo have spent a significant amount of time in Venezuela in the past year and I think that’s a big step. The Astros had terrific results in Venezuela, but we feel like we haven’t been as good as we have in the past and so part of it is having Oz and Mark spend more time down there, both my visits the last two years and working together with whatever partners we have down there. We just established a partnership with one of the minor league teams to be able to do more than [just have them play] there because during the winter, like right now, having a little more control over how our players are getting developed is an important element for succeeding. So we set up a team with La Guaira in the Paralela League and we’re going to continue to explore opportunities from both the player evaluation standpoint as well as the player development standpoint.

JH: I should probably know this, but I don’t. Who is Mark Russo?

JL: He’s our international crosschecker. He’s probably one of the most important people in our organization and no one’s ever heard of him. He’s terrific though. He travels 250 days a year, internationally, and he spends a lot of time evaluating players and [looking at] 15 and 16 year old players in the Dominican and Venezuela and all over Central America, Asia, etc.

JH: Whose idea was it to send American players to the Dominican Republic and Venezuela this winter? I thought it was a terrific idea.

JL: Allen [Assistant Director of Player Development Allen Rowin] and Q [Director of Player Development Quinton McCracken]. I talked to [Jamaine] Cotton last week when I was down there and he’s really benefiting from the experience. Not only is he getting to pitch in a good league, but just the whole cultural experience of living with the other players down there, being in that country and so forth. The other player that really opened eyes was [OF Brett] Phillips. He really opened eyes. For a guy that basically played for a year in the Appalachian League, they were seriously considering, and had he not come back [for personal reasons], I think he would have been on the big league team down there. When we sent him to Quad Cities, he was only supposed to go there for a couple of weeks to kind of fill in. They loved him so much, they didn’t want to let him go. The plan was for him to go to the Appy League all along [since] he was in the Gulf Coast League last year, [but the Quad Cities crew] said, “No, no, leave him here with us. We’ll take care of him.”

JH: Did anyone stand out during your visit to the Dominican Republic this winter? There are some very interesting pitchers down there.

JL: We had about two or three days of games, but we put a lot of trial players into the games so I [only] saw a couple of our guys, but [we are very] excited about what the guys have been able to do down there in terms of both scouting and continuing to develop the pitchers.

I also went to instructional [league in Florida] and I saw guys like [LHP Reymin] Guduan and [RHP Jandel] Gustave and it’s hard not to get pretty excited when you see those guys. [Note: Both Guduan and Gustave routinely flirt with 100 mph fastballs.]

Junior Garcia … I just saw him in the Paralela League a couple of days ago. He’s a pretty exciting left-handed pitcher. There’s a whole bunch of them that we’re excited about for sure.

JH: Now for some random questions. Do you have a philosophy about what you’re looking for in a DH, or is that evolving? In other words, would you prefer to have a true DESIGNATED hitter or do you like to be able to mix and match?

JL: It’s evolving and I think it depends. [Chris] Carter, I think, can be a good DH. He can also be a good first baseman so it depends on where [Brett] Wallace fits in the equation or anybody else we sign. And we were pretty aggressive pursuing a Cuban free agent this year [1B Jose Abreu] and we didn’t land him, but had we landed him, he would have been our first baseman and that would have naturally moved Carter and Wallace more towards DH and outfield, third base, whatever. I think it’s one of those things you kind of evaluate year by year. If you end up signing a DH only on a multi-year deal, you limit yourself somewhat because those at-bats can be useful for rotating players and giving people rest. I think it will evolve. It kind of depends on your roster and how you want to produce runs and where those guys can play defensively.

JH: I know that player injuries and the status of their rehab are delicate subjects, but can you tell us anything about any of the pitchers that missed the 2013 season?

JL: [RHP] Alex White is very much on schedule. You have Tommy John, you have rehab and you come back and I truly believe Alex White is going to be a big part of our team this year at the big league level. His rehab has been progressing very, very well. There’s a reason why we traded for him and unfortunately we lost a year, but I think that he’s going to be a contributor. We may choose to bring him along slowly in terms of having him be in the bullpen instead of rotation, but he made our team last year. I think there’s a good chance he’ll make our team again this year and if not, he’ll certainly spend a large part of the season up here. I’m excited about that.

JH: You know I have to ask about [OF] George Springer. Is Super Two status a factor or the factor in whether or not Springer makes the team out of Spring Training?

JL: There’s a [whole] process about what makes sense for the player and for the team and what’s the right time so there are no fast rules about it, there are no expectations. He’s going to come to Spring Training and we’re going to evaluate him and evaluate the rest of the team and make a decision. But there are no guarantees he’s going to be on the team opening day. There are no guarantees he won’t be on the team. Really, it’s still to be determined.

JH: One final thing. Please tell me that the Astros are NOT going to get the first draft pick in 2015.

JL: We certainly do not want to have the first pick again next year.

>>>>>>><<<<<<<

I keep going back to something that Luhnow said when I talked with him around this time last year.

It seems like sometimes in other sports [when] you rebuild, you’re bad for a year or you’re bad for two years, and then you’re back. In baseball, it’s like turning a battleship around. It’s not something that you can really do very quickly.

Forgive me a cheesy metaphor, but when Jeff Luhnow took over the helm of the U.S.S. Astros two years ago, she had hit a mine, had holes in the hull and was listing badly. She is now heading out to sea, repaired and painted with a full complement of young able-bodied sailors at the ready. The journey is just starting, but all hands are on deck with the same destination as their common goal, and Captain Luhnow has the map.

Thank you for your time and generosity, Captain.

A Conversation with Astros General Manager Jeff Luhnow, Part 1

I wouldn’t really characterize this as an interview with Jeff Luhnow, but rather as a conversation with him. Everyone I know who has met him for the first time is struck by how easy it is to talk with him. He is approachable, self-effacing, good-humored and highly intelligent. And when he talks to you, you never get the feeling that there is someplace he’d rather be.

When we spoke last week, we touched on a wide variety of topics, but we started with the one thing that we discussed last year about this time and which we intend to turn into an annual event.

Jeff Luhnow - Fan Fest 2013

Photo by Jayne Hansen

JH: First things first. I won’t ask you to give a State of the Union address, but tell me what you think about the State of the Astros Farm System.

JL: I think we’re in great shape. Most of the moves that we made over the past two years really have been looking at addressing our future talent and I think a lot of the acquisitions we made, a lot of the trades we made, a lot of the moves we’ve made, have been looking at the pipeline as a whole, trying to plug holes and just trying to increase the quality and the quantity of prospects up and down. And we also had a couple of drafts where we’ve picked at the top and a couple of international signing periods where we’ve been able to deploy some resources, and I think all of that has led to a system that’s in pretty good shape. We’re very healthy right now. Obviously, the proof is in the pudding. Whether or not these players get to the big leagues and perform at a level that helps us accomplish our goals in Houston is ultimately what it’s all about, but as far as all the metrics we have that we can look at, expectations for the players, scouting reports, win-loss records in the minor leagues, prospect rankings, etc., we feel very good about where the system is today.

JH: Two of the areas that you worked to address over the last couple of years were catching and left-handed pitching. Are there any other areas that you feel need to be addressed in terms of depth?

JL: It’s a constant ebb and flow throughout the system and I think we did address the catching depth. We saw that as a potential problem going forward and I think right now, we’re in good shape with three good looking young prospects at the AAA level [Max Stassi, Carlos Perez and Rene Garcia] who project to be major leaguers down the road and behind them, there’s at least one at every level behind them which we like.

Left-handed pitching is always going to be an area we’re going to need to focus on and quite frankly, one of the reasons we added [LHP Luis] Cruz [to the 40-man roster is that] we certainly don’t want to take a chance on losing left-handed starting pitching prospects. So I think we’ve done a nice job of adding depth there. We certainly can use some more left-handed starters throughout the system so that’s something that we’re going to be looking at.

JH: I was a little surprised that Cruz was protected from the Rule 5 Draft because he had spent very little time at AA, but I’ll admit I was pleased with his addition to the 40-man roster.

JL: I think, from our perspective, the way we think about it is we understand the probabilities of different players getting taken and how much time they spent at different levels and all that, but really, the question you have to ask yourself is how are you going to feel on Thursday, December 12th at 10:00 a.m. if that player is taken? Obviously you’ll regret any player getting taken you think has value, but that’s really, at the end of the day, the gut check for us. How are we going to feel if we left that player unprotected and they get taken? Are we going to regret it?

JH: We touched on this last year, but I think it bears repeating. It’s not all that easy to squirrel away a Rule 5 pick on your 25-man roster for a full season. A maximum of only about 8 or 9 players have stuck with the drafting team over the last few years. Realistically, there aren’t that many players who do stick for a full season.

JL: There aren’t, but two of the guys we took two years ago, [SS] Marwin [Gonzalez] and [RHP] Rhiner [Cruz] both stuck and then last year [RHP Josh] Fields and the first baseman [Nate Freiman], although the first baseman went to another team, they both stuck. So we’re responsible for four of those selections which is a pretty big percentage. It’s one of those things that keeping a player on your 25-man roster that another team didn’t seem to think needed to be protected on their 40-man roster, it’s just very difficult to do. And I think that’s part of the issue, but having said that, when you do lose somebody and they’re gone, there’s a reason why these players get selected and so, it’s a low probability event, but it’s a high severity event in that you may lose a pitcher, position player that might end up being a very good player. I mean everybody fears losing a Johan Santana in the Rule 5 draft because it’s happened before.

JH: I talked with [Astros Baseball Analyst] Mike Fast briefly about last year’s Rule 5 Draft and he told me that the Astros were definitely concerned that they might lose Marc Krauss, but ultimately, Fast was told that, although other teams were definitely interested in Krauss, they couldn’t make room on their rosters.

JL: There are certain positions that are easier to carry, but we’re going to cross our fingers. We know eventually someone’s going to get taken from the Astros, whether it’s this year or next year, but we’ll cross our fingers that it’s not somebody who won’t be returned to us or we can’t live without.

JH: Another factor that some people may not think about is how many players are on each team’s 40-man roster already. I looked at the rosters recently and only seven teams had more than one opening at that time.

JL: I think if you don’t have room on your 40-man right now and you try and sign a major league free agent, you’ll have to create room. We look at that also, how many teams are up against their backs, but typically by the time the Rule 5 draft rolls around, over half the teams will have at least one spot. The ones that don’t, obviously, they can’t take anybody.

JH: The piggyback rotation seems to have been a success last season. Is that something that you’re planning on using again in 2014?

JL: We’re going to talk about it, but I really like the results of the piggyback this year. One of the reasons we did it last year was because we had a lot of starting pitcher candidates to evaluate and when you limit yourself to five spots in each level, you really end up putting a lot of potential starters in the bullpen. We have the same issue again this year. I’ve already started the exercise of putting together the rosters for the minor leagues for next year and there are way more than five starters at every level basically, so I think it’s going to be something that we start with out of the gate again. [Minor League Pitching Coordinator] Dyar [Miller] did a terrific job of managing it last year. We’re not beholden to any particular date. If we feel like the AAA staff pares itself down so that it’s five or six guys after a month, we’ll switch after a month. If we feel like all eight guys need to continue to get those innings for the first two months or longer, we’ll continue it. There was sort of a natural transition for the teams when they transitioned off of it last year and we’ll probably do the same thing this year. You don’t want to support an eight-man rotation just to do it. If it makes sense and you have enough starting pitcher candidates you want to evaluate, then do it.

JH: Everyone I spoke with last year during my travels to the various minor league venues really seemed to like the piggyback. The only drawback seems to have been that a few relief pitchers didn’t get much work in the early part of the season.

JL: True, but that’s a double-edged sword. That can go both ways. I’ve seen times when the guys in the piggyback are not making it through their innings and the relievers are having to be used more than they would in a traditional system so it’s both ways. But that’s why we do it. We want the eight most valuable pitchers to get the innings they need to develop, and then you have obviously to prioritize your relievers after that. You may have a potential closer or set up candidate and you make sure they get innings, but really, it’s a good way to make sure the innings go to the right pitchers.

JH: It was helpful that you were able to get a trio of relief pitchers [RHP Andrew Robinson, RHP Jonas Dufek and LHP Alex Sogard] some extra work in the Arizona Fall League, as well as showcasing them. Dufek had a particularly good fall campaign.

JL: It’s great. It really is great. And I think he [Dufek] raised his stock by going out there. They faced a lot of good hitting out there. That’s for sure.

JH: I really want the focus of our conversation to be the minor leagues, but I did want to ask about your plans for the major league bullpen for 2014. I know that it’s tough putting together a major league bullpen when relief pitchers can be so volatile from year to year.

JL: It’s the biggest issue when it comes to relievers that the number of innings that they get is much lower than the number of innings a starter gets. As a part of that, you’re not going to have as good a feel from one year to the next and there is going to be just more variability. And then what they’re asked to do in a number of different circumstances, coming in [for a] short stint with no rest one day to the next and so forth … there are just so many variables involved and it does seem to be an inherent increase of variability from one year to the next relative to both starters and position players so it’s difficult. It’s part art, part science.

Our minor league system was able to produce guys like [LHP Kevin] Chapman and [RHP Chia-Jen] Lo and [RHP Josh] Zeid and [RHP David] Martinez and [RHP Jorge] de Leon, and those guys all have the potential to be really good relievers at the big league level. The ones at the end of the year [who] were the furthest along were Fields and Chapman and Zeid and so you can imagine a major league bullpen with all three of those guys in it next year. And you look down the road, guys like [RHP Jason] Stoffel … he’s got a major league slider … Robinson, Sogard, Dufek, there are other guys. [RHP Jose] Cisnero had a really good beginning of the year up here. There are a lot of guys that could fit in to the mix. [LHP] Rudy Owens, if he’s not a starter could be a reliever. [RHP] Jake Buchanan, same thing. There are a lot of possibilities, but one thing we’re not going to do during the next year, [is having them] exposed and having to rely strictly on these young guys. We can mix and match it and I’m sure Bo [Astros Manager Bo Porter] will do a tremendous job of figuring out which guys to use, but at the end of the day, we do feel like we need a couple of arms that are a little bit more secure and have a little bit more of an established track record to provide some stability in the bullpen.

>>>>>>><<<<<<<

In Part 2 of our conversation (which I will post tomorrow), Luhnow and I talk about topics ranging from the Astros Venezuelan presence to minor league standouts to the DH to Alex White. And, of course, I had to ask him about George Springer.

Bonus Tweets of the Day

Tony Kemp ‏@tonykemp6
When the Bandits hit a bomb we like to give the ball a proper fair well! #SeeYaPelota @RobPen10 pic.twitter.com/6c3yy2U7AJ



Jeff Luhnow ‏@jluhnow
Good night all around; Castro, Astros win; Amador, RedHawks win; mustaches and Valley Cats win! pic.twitter.com/QixeJkfYXU

Bonus Tweet of the Day

Jeff Luhnow ‏@jluhnow
Lancaster wins first half title! Two minor league teams already in post season for Astros. Great job from scouts, staff and players.

Happy Birthday - 6/8

C Roberto Pena (21)
Pena was drafted by Houston in the seventh round in 2010 out of Puerto Rico. He ended the 2012 season playing for the California League Champion JetHawks, but he is back at Low A Quad Cities to start the 2013 season as he works on getting his bat to catch up with his superior defensive abilities. In 37 games, he is hitting .284/.333/.390 and has a caught stealing percentage of 59% this season (40% during his minor league career).

RHP Gerado Sanchez (24)
A native of New Mexico, Gera Sanchez was signed as a non-drafted free agent in 2012 and played for the GCL in his first season. This season, Sanchez has appeared in 13 games out of the bullpen at Quad Cities so far this season with a 4.07 ERA and a 1.151 WHIP. He has struck out 27 batters in 24 and a third innings while walking only five.

GM Jeff Luhnow (47)
Jeff Luhnow became the 12th General Manager in franchise history on December 7, 2011 (a day which will not live in infamy) after spending nine seasons in the Cardinals organization. Luhnow has Bachelor degrees in Economics and Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Northwestern. He was born and raised in Mexico City. His parents, U.S. Citizens, relocated from New York to Mexico to run a publishing business. Luhnow attended an American school and holds a dual nationality. Naturally, the chronic overachiever is fluent in Spanish as well. He attended his first major league games as a child in the Astrodome. That's about the only thing I have in common with him.

Last year, I asked Jeff to tell me something about himself that most people don't know. He was generous enough to answer my question, and one of his answers had to do with holding two patents. Again, overachiever!!! His other answer, however, was one I could get behind. He completed an accelerated free fall program and jumped out of a plane at 12,000 feet. Ha!!! So did I! Except I jumped out between 10,000 and 11,000 feet ... even on that, he's an overachiever.

Former Astros with birthdays today ~

LHP George Brunet (Died October 25, 1991 at 56)
Brunet came to Houston in a trade with the Milwaukee Braves. In 22 games for the Colt .45's in 1962 and 1963, he was 2-7 with a 5.00 ERA and a 1.695 WHIP. He spent six seasons with the California Angels where he was 54-69 with a 3.13 ERA and a 1.202 WHIP. After his major league career was over, he played in the Mexican League for 13 years, finally retiring at 50.

RHP Dave Mlicki (45)
A 17th round pick by Cleveland in 1990, Mlicki came to Houston in June of 2001 in a trade with the Tigers for Jose Lima. He spent the final two years of his career pitching in 41 games in Houston, going 11-13 with a 5.21 ERA and a 1.465 WHIP.

Let The Kids Play!

When Astros GM Jeff Luhnow started picking up fringy starters like Phillip Humber and Erik Bedard in the off-season, I wasn't a fan of the moves, but I kept my mouth shut in hopes that he could find lightning in a bottle. But it is becoming increasingly apparent that the 30-year old Humber and the 34-year old Bedard are not upgrades over the Astros home-grown talent.

Could the team have a better record with the likes of Paul Clemens (25), Dallas Keuchel (25), Jose Cisnero (24), Brett Oberholtzer (23), Jarred Cosart (22) and Jordan Lyles (22) in the rotation? Maybe, maybe not. But why not find out? I would much rather see these guys get on-the-job major league training than to see Bedard and Humber, players who are widely acknowledged not to be a part of the future, spin their wheels.

Keuchel already has better numbers at the major league level than either Bedard or Humber have put up so far this season. Why is he in OKC? Lyles had one truly awful start for the RedHawks, but it was sandwiched  by two very good ones and he has significant major league experience that he can build on. Oberholtzer may not have the best numbers right now, but he can eat innings unlike the delicate flower Bedard. I actually like Cisnero as a bullpen arm more than as a starter so at least he's getting experience in that right now. Paul Clemens may eventually be a bullpen arm as well, but he is certainly as capable of starting for the Astros as Bedard and Humber are. Cosart may not be ready for prime time yet, but would he do worse?

What would happen if a couple of these guys were given the opportunity to start in lieu of Humber and Bedard? They would have some success and, at times, they would fail spectacularly. Clemens, in particular, with his aggressive style would be poised to have an outing here or there that would be cringe-worthy. You would see ups and downs similar to what we've seen from the 25-year old Brad Peacock thus far this season. But these players would get the valuable experience that they need under their belts. They would have the opportunity to make adjustments and get better. Some of them will ultimately succeed and some of them will ultimately fail, but now is the time to figure out that part of the puzzle. These players are potentially a part of the Astros future. Humber and Bedard are not.

And for those who think that a player can be broken by failure? Horse crap. Ask Clemens if he's afraid of failure. Ask Cosart. Ask Lyles. Ask Oberholtzer. Ask any of them. They will tell you one thing. BRING. IT. ON. If you can't deal with failure, then you are not cut out to be a major league baseball player.

This may sound harsh. I have nothing against Humber and Bedard personally, but they simply are not part of the future plans. So I am imploring Jeff Luhnow, please Let The Kids Play. At 7-17, they can't do much worse. And they may surprise us.

Tweet of the Day

Jeff Luhnow ‏@jluhnow
Welcome to the Big Leagues, Robbie Grossman... grab a bat, you are hitting first!

Piggybacking Pitchers

Twitter was, well, all a-twitter with the news today that Jeff Luhnow is going to institute a piggyback/tandem pitching protocol for his minor leaguers to start the season. I could have told you that two months ago. As a matter of fact, I did! If you're interested in reading how this will work, here it is as explained by Jeff Luhnow himself!

Tweet of the Day

Jeff Luhnow ‏@jluhnow

Midnight flight to Caracas, Venezuela. Excited to see some future big leaguers.

Astros GM Jeff Luhnow on Minor League Pitching Depth

During yesterday's Astros Fan Fest at Minute Maid Park, several individuals from the Astros blogging community attended and were given the opportunity to conduct short interviews with Astros General Manager Jeff Luhnow, new Manager Bo Porter, and outfielders Justin Maxwell and J.D. Martinez. I will talk more about Porter, Maxwell and Martinez later, but since Luhnow's remarks dovetailed so nicely with the minor league depth series I've been working on over the last couple of weeks, I wanted to touch on his remarks about minor league pitching depth first.

Take the starting right-handed pitchers who had good seasons on full-season league teams in 2012, add in lefties Dallas Keuchel, Brett Oberholtzer and Rudy Owens, and then add in the  new pitchers that Luhnow picked up in the off-season (Alex White, John Ely, Philip Humber and Erik Bedard), and the field starts getting very crowded between the major leagues, AAA and AA. And this isn't even counting Kyle Weiland and Wes Musick as they come back from injury.

Astros GM Jeff Luhnow - 2013 Fan Fest

Photo by Jayne Hansen

So I asked Luhnow how he was going to handle juggling 15 or more pitchers for whom a valid case could be made for a starting roster spot at AAA and AA. I shouldn't have been surprised by his response, but I was. I should know by now that Luhnow thinks outside the box.

"That's going to be one of the most challenging things. We've got our best people working on it. Quentin [McCracken, Director of Player Development] is going through every day and putting magnets in different spots. Sig's [Mejdal, Director of Decision Sciences] on it, and I'm on it. I think those roster decisions at AA and AAA are going to be as important as the big league roster decisions.

"When I was farm director at the Cardinals, I instituted the piggyback, the tandem pitching rotations which allowed you to have eight starters for the first couple months of the year so we are going to discuss whether or not that's appropriate.

"The way you do that [is] you have four groups of two. First guy comes in and goes through the fifth inning and the second guy goes sixth to the end. The pitchers have to get used to it. They're not used to coming in in the sixth inning, but sometimes it's good because then [they] get the experience of finishing a game which is a totally different experience than most of these guys have had. And then the next time, [the second pitcher is] the one that starts the game and [his] piggyback partner comes in later.

"We're going to talk about it. We'll be creative certainly in how we allocate those roster spots. We'll proably have to have a few guys a level below where they would be otherwise."

That final statement brought to mind Mike Foltynewicz. Until recently, I thought that Foltynewicz might skip Lancaster and go straight to AA Corpus Christi, but in looking at the pitching depth at the higher levels, I had come to doubt that there would be enough room for him on that roster, at least to start the season. Luhnow and I discussed that briefly and it sounds as though he isn't as likely as the last regime to spare a top prospect  like Foltynewicz the challenges of pitching in the hitter-friendly California League, "If they're going to learn to pitch here [Minute Maid Park], they're going to need to learn to pitch through some adversity."

One final thought. Knowing what Luhnow has in mind as far as the possibility of using tandem pitching duos helped me understand my findings regarding the lack of depth in the area of right-handed relief pitching at the upper levels. With two starters piggybacking in one game, the relief corps isn't likely to get much work.

The plethora of pitching is a good problem to have. And having a creative out-of-the-box thinker like Luhnow around to solve it is a very good thing as well.

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

I'm re-posting this from last week now that it really is Christmas Eve.

'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS - ASTROS MINOR LEAGUE STYLE

'Twas the night before Christmas, when out on the field

Not a creature was stirring, all the entries were sealed.

The stockings were hung in the clubhouse with care,

In hopes that St. Luhnow soon would be there.

St. Luhnow - photo circa 2011

(before uniform color change from brick red to orange/blue)

Courtesy of our very own Andy aka Houston Sports Counterplot

The players were nestled all snug in their beds,

Dreams of major league call-ups danced in their heads.

As Rodney and Tony D. called it a night,

Bodie and Omar turned out the lights.

When out in the park there arose such a clatter,

The clubby arose to see what was the matter.

Away to the windows the Managers sped,

And looked out to find what had roused them from bed.

The moon hit the crest of the newly raked mound,

Amid glittering dewdrops which shone all around.

When, what to their wondering eyes should appear,

But a rocket-ship sleigh, and eight strapping reindeer.

Once spying this wonderous carriage on high,

They knew in a moment St. Jeff was nearby.

More rapid than fastballs his coursers they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

"Now Springer! now, Cosart! McCullers and Rio!

On, Houser! On, Carlos! On Folty and Lino!

Over the top deck and over the eye!

All my young rookies are learning to fly!"

Just as quickly as Singleton hits the ball out,

When a fastball meanders along the wrong route,

So up to the nose-bleeds the coursers they flew,

With a sleigh full of Prospects, and St. Luhnow too.

Then I heard high above o'er the upper deck seats

The clicking and clacking of copious cleats.

The Managers stood in awe and dismay

As St. Luhnow slowly arose from his sleigh.

He wore orange and blue and a bright shining star,

And his clothing was smudged with field dirt and pine tar.

Myriad scouting reports bulged from his pack,

With advanced analytics, stack after stack.

His eyes-how they twinkled! his smile pearly white!

An affable nod told you all would be right!

His hair was all peppered with silver and gray.

An impression of confidence, he did convey.

A multi-function calculator held tight in his grip,

And a smart phone holstered alongside his hip.

He had a nice face and was fit as a fiddle,

After time in the gym (I'd say more than a little). 

He was calm and collected, in total control,

And all were encouraged, inspired by his goal! 

In the blink of an eye, to the clubhouse he sprang.

He drew towards the lockers where stockings did hang.

Stuffing them quickly with promise and dreams,

Success in the future and victorious teams.

St. Luhnow then suddenly bade us goodbye

As the home run spectacular flashed 'cross the sky.

He leapt in his sleigh, "Oye¡ Vamos! Let's go!"

And away they did fly o'er the field far below. 

But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,

"Seven weeks 'til Spring Training! Oh, what a delight!"

>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<

I'd like to wish all my readers a Very Happy Holiday Season,

and a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year.

'Twas the Night Before Christmas - Astros Minor League Style

'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS - ASTROS MINOR LEAGUE STYLE

'Twas the night before Christmas, when out on the field

Not a creature was stirring, all the entries were sealed.

The stockings were hung in the clubhouse with care,

In hopes that St. Luhnow soon would be there.

St. Luhnow - photo circa 2011

(before uniform color change from brick red to orange/blue)

Courtesy of our very own Andy aka Houston Sports Counterplot

The players were nestled all snug in their beds,

Dreams of major league call-ups danced in their heads.

As Rodney and Tony D. called it a night,

Bodie and Omar turned out the lights.

When out in the park there arose such a clatter,

The clubby arose to see what was the matter.

Away to the windows the Managers sped,

And looked out to find what had roused them from bed.

The moon hit the crest of the newly raked mound,

Amid glittering dewdrops which shone all around.

When, what to their wondering eyes should appear,

But a rocket-ship sleigh, and eight strapping reindeer.

Once spying this wonderous carriage on high,

They knew in a moment St. Jeff was nearby.

More rapid than fastballs his coursers they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

"Now Springer! now, Cosart! McCullers and Rio!

On, Houser! On, Carlos! On Folty and Lino!

Over the top deck and over the eye!

All my young rookies are learning to fly!"

Just as quickly as Singleton hits the ball out,

When a fastball meanders along the wrong route,

So up to the nose-bleeds the coursers they flew,

With a sleigh full of Prospects, and St. Luhnow too.

Then I heard high above o'er the upper deck seats

The clicking and clacking of copious cleats.

The Managers stood in awe and dismay

As St. Luhnow slowly arose from his sleigh.

He wore orange and blue and a bright shining star,

And his clothing was smudged with field dirt and pine tar.

Myriad scouting reports bulged from his pack,

With advanced analytics, stack after stack.

His eyes-how they twinkled! his smile pearly white!

An affable nod told you all would be right!

His hair was all peppered with silver and gray.

An impression of confidence, he did convey.

A multi-function calculator held tight in his grip,

And a smart phone holstered alongside his hip.

He had a nice face and was fit as a fiddle,

After time in the gym (I'd say more than a little). 

He was calm and collected, in total control,

And all were encouraged, inspired by his goal! 

In the blink of an eye, to the clubhouse he sprang.

He drew towards the lockers where stockings did hang.

Stuffing them quickly with promise and dreams,

Success in the future and victorious teams.

St. Luhnow then suddenly bade us goodbye

As the home run spectacular flashed 'cross the sky.

He leapt in his sleigh, "Oye¡ Vamos! Let's go!"

And away they did fly o'er the field far below. 

But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,

"Seven weeks 'til Spring Training! Oh, what a delight!"

>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<

I'd like to wish all my readers a Very Happy Holiday Season,

and a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year.