Happy Birthday - 3/16

Happy Birthday to ~

LHP Reymin Guduan (22)
A NDFA from the Dominican Republic, Guduan made all but one of his 11 appearances (two starts) for the Gulf Coast League Astros, ending the regular season with a spot appearance for Oklahoma City. He compiled a 4.30 ERA and a 1.435 WHIP for the season. Reportedly, Guduan can routinely hit the high 90's with his fastball, but his control is still a little iffy. He struck out 12.5 batters per nine innings, but he also walked 5.1 batters per nine.

IF Raoul Torrez (26)
Signed by Houston as a minor league free agent prior to the 2013 season, Torrez gets the Frequent Flyer Award for getting moved eight different times between Lancaster, Corpus Christi and Oklahoma City. He also played all four infield positions, ten games in left field and I saw him work as a bullpen catcher in Lancaster. Torrez ended the season with a combined line of .225/.297/.326 in 66 games.

One former Astro celebrates today as well ~

RHP Mickey Storey (28)
Originally signed by Oakland in the 31st round in 2008, Storey came to the Astros organization in a trade with Oakland for "future considerations" in July 2011 and made his major league debut in Houston on August 3, 2012. In 26 games, he had a 3.86 ERA and a 1.220 WHIP. He is currently with the Blue Jays organization.

Astros Minor League Roster Moves

Oklahoma City
3B Raoul Torrez assigned from Corpus Christi to Oklahoma City
2B Ruben Sosa placed on the 7-day DL

Corpus Christi
C Luis Alvarez assigned from Lancaster to Corpus Christi
OF Leo Heras assigned to Corpus Christi

Greeneville
RHP Jose Montero assigned from the GCL to Greeneville

GCL
RHP Euris Quezada sent to GCL on a rehab assignement
RHP Robert Corniel assigned from the DSL to the GCL

Roster Moves

Oklahoma City
IF Raoul Torrez was assigned from Corpus Christi to Oklahoma City

Quad Cities
RHP Jamaine Cottom was placed on the DL retroactive to 7/23
OF Terrell Joyce was activated from the DL

Tri-City
SS Jack Mayfield was assigned from Greeneville to Tri-City

Roster Moves

Oklahoma City
LHP Alex Sogard assigned from Corpus Christi to Oklahoma City
IF Raoul Torrez assigned from Lancaster to Oklahoma City

Corpus Christi
RHP Josh Fields assigned to Corpus Christi to continue his rehab assignment

Lancaster
OF Chris Epps activated from the temporary inactive list
SS Nolan Fontana placed on the 7-day DL

Roster Moves

OKLAHOMA CITY
2B Raoul Torrez assigned from Lancaster to Oklahoma City

LANCASTER
C Tyler Heineman activated from the DL
RHP Tyson Perez placed on the Temporary Inactive List

QUAD CITIES
DH Chase Davidson assigned from Quad Cities to Extended Spring Training
LHP Colton Cain assigned from Quad Cities to Extended Spring Training
3B Ryan Dineen assigned from Extended Spring Training to Quad Cities (just sent to EST 4 days prior)
C Miles Hamblin assigned from Extended Spring Training to Quad Cities

Also, Grant Hogue tweeted today that he was moving on. Hogue is a terrific individual that was well loved by teammates and fans alike. I met him on a couple of occasions and could see why. Those who are privileged to have Grant in their midst next will definitely be the richer for it.

Roster Moves

HOUSTON

OF Justin Maxwell placed on the 15-day DL

OF Robbie Grossman assigned from Oklahoma City to Houston

LANCASTER

LF Telvin Nash activated from the DL

LHP Kenny Long activated from the DL
2B Raoul Torrez placed on the Temporary Inactive List

QUAD CITIES

LHP Joe Bircher assigned from Extended Spring Training to Quad Cities (Note: This was effective Sunday and he was just sent down five days prior to that.)

Roster Moves

1B Nate Freiman was claimed off waivers by Oakland on Saturday, a move that wasn't totally unexpected as the Astros didn't have the luxury of keeping Freiman on the roster in addition to 1B Carlos Pena and 1B Brett Wallace (not to mention Chris Carter whose natural position is first base). It was widely reported that GM Jeff Luhnow tried to work a deal to keep Freiman and put him on a minor league contract, but the Rule 5 draft pick was instead claimed off waivers.

Nate Freiman

Photo by Jayne Hansen

The Astros are also going to have to clear a couple (or more) 40-man roster spots if they intend to break camp with Rick Ankiel and Erik Bedard (or even possibly Brandon Laird) since none of those players are currently on the 40-man. So, color me surprised when the 40-man vacancy was immediately gobbled up by the imminent signing of SS Ronny Cedeno who was recently released by the Cardinals. The move does not bode well for the future of Tyler Greene who has struggled during Spring Training.

In addition, according to Baseball America, the Astros signed OF Raoul Torrez to a minor league contract. Torrez was recently released by the Diamondbacks organization.

Finally, although I haven't seen any official confirmation of this, I have been told by a source that Erick Abreu and Adalberto Flores have signed to play in Mexico and that Henry Villar is out of baseball. Abreu and Villar pitched out of the bullpen for Corpus Christi last season and Flores split his time between Corpus Christi and Oklahoma City. Again, I have no independent confirmation of this.

I have also updated the Off-Season Transaction List, which I have neglected for the last couple of weeks.