Fowler was traded to avoid losing him next year with nothing in return.

What about Sipp in left? He had a bit of outfield experience last season

Vogelsong has left town. Doesn't look like he signed.

Forgot about that

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Vogelsong has left town. Doesn't look like he signed.

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he's gotta go pack, right?

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Nonetheless, one executive to whom Stark spoke said he sees jumping back into the mix for Shields. However, one of the reasons, per that exec, is that teams believe Shields will have to settle for less than the $110MM that he reportedly was offered earlier this month and are revisiting the situation with the assumption that the price has dropped. Said Stark's source, "But the problem is, now everyone is bottom-feeding. And when you're someone like him, that's the last thing you want, is a lot of teams bottom-feeding on you in late January."

Regardless of the imperfect fits that litter the market for Shields, most executives tell Stark they can't see Shields signing for anything less than $80MM over a four-year term, and nearly everyone to whom he spoke thinks that Shields could sign at virtually any time.

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I would love to have him in our rotation for the next few years. He's a good value at 33 years old IMO.

I'll take him

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JAN. 20: The Rangers and Astros are still discussing a Corporan trade following his DFA earlier today, tweets Jon Morosi of FOX Sports. SB Nation's Chris Cotillo hears that Texas is emerging as the "clear favorite" to acquire Corporan (Twitter link).

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11:15pm: Drellich tweets that a deal with Vogelsong would be for one year, if it is ultimately finalized.

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I'm not sure if all these moves will be good or not however I'm happy to see the Astros attempting to improve the major league club. The major league product has been unwatchable (literally and figuratively) for far too long.

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I'm not sure if all these moves will be good or not however I'm happy to see the Astros attempting to improve the major league club. The major league product has been unwatchable (literally and figuratively) for far too long.

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Last year wasn't. The pitching was excellent and we have some prospects come up we've been waiting on. I was excited. Hell even Carter started smashing the ball as well and anyone in the bigs for a stretch.

Hell, I'd even go as far as to say the steps were one of the more exciting teams to watch last season. Tons of homers, altuve leading the league in hits, great youn g pitching. Obviously there were still a lot of frustrating parts, but everyone knew this was a team who wasn't a playoff contender and just enjoyed the team for what they were

@brianmctaggart: Luhnow hints team is set offensively this winter.

@brianmctaggart: Luhnow says they could still use another starting pitcher

@brianmctaggart: It's questionable whether Peacock is ready for Opening Day

@brianmctaggart: Luhnow hints Corporan could be traded soon.

Please god yes. Be gone corporan

He gone

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He gone

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He is gone or will be gone hopefully? Key question.

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He gone

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He is gone or will be gone hopefully? Key question.

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I got an update saying Astros to trade him to rangers not that it has been done

To the Rangers!!!!

Link

Beautiful

If we got a bucket of baseballs then we won the trade

And now Corporan will single-handedly beat the Astros in at least two games this year...

Well I guess we win!!! Lunhow is a BAMF

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10:51am: Righty Akeem Bostick is the player going to the Astros, Wilson tweets. The 19-year-old, a (below-slot) second round pick out of high school in 2013, struggled to a 5.18 ERA in 92 Class A frames last year.

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From an old scouting report.

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Akeem Bostick is a 6'5", 185 lb. righthanded pitcher who won't turn 19 years old until May, 2014, and who was drafted by the Rangers in the 2nd round of the 2013 MLB draft. Ranked #147 among 2013 draft-eligible players by Baseball America prior to the draft, Bostick signed for $520,600, well below the $899,400 slot value for where he went, and was assigned to the Rangers' complex league team in Arizona, where he spent the 2013 season.

The story on Bostick pre-draft was that he was raw, athletic and projectable, throwing in the low 90s but without much in the way of secondary pitches. Bostick performed well in the AZL, putting up a 2.83 ERA in 41.1 innings, striking out 33, walking 12 and not allowing a homer, and Baseball America ended up ranking him 6th among AZL prospects in their postseason top 20 rankings. BA wrote that Bostick touched 96 mph with his fastball, and interestingly, said his curveball projected as a plus pitch, while his changeup was average. That's a better review of the offspeed stuff than you would expect, given the pre-draft reports.

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Sounds way better than corp

Bostick has dreads and neck tats. He's SEC ready if nothing else.

Another Akeem Houston legend? Maybe he'll change his name to Hakeem in the midst of his career.

Being that he's only 19 and in A ball I'm happy. There's time for development and it's too early to call on this guy.

Same cannot be said for Corporan. He is crappy.

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Sounds way better than corp

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I like it. Castro starts. Conger backsup. Gattis there if needed. Stassi in AAA.

http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&player_id=641384#/career/R/pitching/2014/ALL

I am curious as to why it is a forgone conclusion by the media and Astros fans that Gattis will be the LF. Chris Carter has much more experience in the outfield and more athleticism/range than Gattis (not saying much). They would both be defensive liabilities, but I think Gattis is a bigger one.

Chris Carter really settled into his role as DH for the club in the second half and I could see why the Astros wouldn't want to mess with that. Also, we don't know if Gattis will be able to perform as a DH. However, I would not be surprised if Trogdor was our opening day left fielder and El Oso Blanco was the primary DH. I actually think this is the most logical option, at least until Singleton proves he cannot succeed.

Gattis won't be in LF.

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While Evan Gattis, another recently acquired bat, could play some left field occasionally, he's looked at more as a first baseman and designated hitter, two positions that are themselves getting crowded with Chris Carter and Jon Singleton.

"We don't know what Gattis is going to look like in left field," Luhnow said. "If he's good out there or adequate, I'm sure he'll get some at-bats out there. Is he going to be our everyday left fielder? I can't imagine that happening with the guys that we have, but we want to have that bat in the lineup."

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http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2015/01/20/colby-rasmus-on-astros-radar/#29890101=0