While yesterday it looked like Ryan Vogelsong was on the verge of signing a one-year deal with the Astros, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports now reports that the right-hander has "shifted course" and is in serious discussions with the Giants about a reunion (Twitter link). Earlier today, MLB.com's Chris Haft wrote that San Francisco remained in contact with the 37-year-old Vogelsong.

Fine with that. Would rather see Wojo get a shot instead.

The Astros' deal with Ryan Vogelsong looks to have fallen through, with the Giants reportedly making a serious run at re-signing the righty, but Houston GM Jeff Luhnow indicated earlier today that the team could still add another starting pitcher but is likely set from an offensive standpoint, per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com (All Twitter links). Luhnow also did not rule out trading away more of his own players. It seems like the Astros may not be quite done shaping the 2015 roster.

Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle spoke with Luhnow about the Astros' abundance of strikeout-prone hitters, and Luhnow explained that the team is OK with the trade-off of strikeouts for power. "We probably will have a few strikeouts because of the types of players that we have," said Luhnow, "but the flipside of that equation is we're going to produce a lot of runs with those types of players. It's up to our hitting coach to work on them to figure out when's the right time to go for it and when to put the ball in play, and (manager A.J. Hinch) to figure out the lineup, so we don't kill rallies by stacking up more than two or three of these guys at a time."

More from Drellich, who adds some additional Astros notes in a late-night roundup, noting that Luhnow doesn't expect to resolve the team's only outstanding arbitration case (that of Marwin Gonzalez) in the near future. He also adds that the Astros' acquisition of so many strikeout-prone hitters wasn't due to a philosophy or belief that Houston knows something about strikeouts that other clubs do not; it just happened that the power bats they targeted came with strikeout issues.

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He also adds that the Astros' acquisition of so many strikeout-prone hitters wasn't due to a philosophy or belief that Houston knows something about strikeouts that other clubs do not; it just happened that the power bats they targeted came with strikeout issues.

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Riiiight.....

In the days of analytics, I'm sure it exists, but I'd like to see a player's strikeout per situation breakdown. Are these guys accumulating strikeouts with runners on base or with the bases empty?

Concerning SO's. I'm slightly worried..

Fangraphs has an article projecting the AL West.. and this comment about the Astros sums us up perfectly at this point in time..

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This club has the most untapped potential in the division above its Steamer projection, but has the largest short-term obstacle to unlocking it.

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Going further, I hope AJ Hinch can manage the lineup better than Porter did. How can we build a lineup that doesnt have high strikeout guys clogging up the best chances for RBI's, but also has out best RBI producers in spots most likely to create runs?

Its not easy.. and might be unorthodox..

1. Altuve - must get the most AB's.. no brainer - low SO's

Do you follow with Lowrie? I dont think so.. because he doesnt SO much. For the second slot, we need good OBP, manageable SO's, and decent speed..

2. Rasmus - this is risky, because he does SO alot, but he is also in a 1 year contract trying to prove himself for a longer contract next year, whether with us or someone else. I think he has a bounce back year and SO numbers come down a little.. especially when he knows his job is to ultimately move 'Tuve.

3. Springer - no brainer. If he K's, it was worth it.. because he is the most likely to create a run here.. and he can also get in position to create for the guys behind him. The bad scenario though is Altuve getting on, and then the 4 guy coming up with 2 outs. Once again, its worth the risk. I could also see switching Rasmus and Springer.

4. Carter - while it looks like we are grouping SO guys, you have to remember Springer walks alot too. So it takes some sting away. We cant completely ungroup them, so Carter's power is a must in this spot.

5. Lowrie - I know this looks weird.. but we simply cant follow Springer and Carter with a SO machine. Lowrie is a ball in play type of guy, and we will need that here, especially leading off the 2nd inning in a lot of cases.

6. Gattis - still not sure where he plays.. but right now this is for a situation with Singleton at first and Gattis in left. Purely a run generation spot after Lowrie has ultimately reset the order.

7. Valbuena/Dominguez - Castro would be here, but Im not sure he can limit his K's or have more power than these two.

8. Castro - If he has a 2013 type year, he could move to the 7 spot. If not, Conger might be playing a lot.

9. Singleton - Strikes out way too much with no proof of production to move him higher in the order. Here, he can occasionally be a guy who can get on base in front of Tuve/Rasmus.


The way I look at it.. you have three sets of four.. which is the average amount of guys to bat in an inning.

Altuve
Rasmus
Springer
Carter

Massive run potential.

Lowrie
Gattis
Val/Dom
Castro -

average run potential, enough to produce, best combination to not kill a long inning.

Singleton
Altuve
Rasmus
Springer

Massive run potential

I was actually thinking about the same thing earlier, and I really like your reasoning. This lineup is full of guys with tons of pop and tons of K's. If we space our Home Run/Strikeout hitters around our OBP guys, it maximizes our chances to get some multi-run homers. I think that is a pretty good lineup

Previously released schedule - now with game times.

Unless Singleton shows something in Spring Training, it's tough to pencil him into the lineup. I'd fill his spot with another outfielder that can set the table for the top of the lineup.

I'd also be hesitant to split up my run producers in fear of strikeouts. If two of the top three get on base, I want Carter and Gattis trying to drive them in. I think it's worth the K's.

4 Altuve R
8 Rasmus L
9 Springer R
3/DH Carter R
DH/3 Gattis R
6 Lowrie S
5 Dominguez R / Valbuena L
2 Castro L
8 Presley L / Grossman S


Using their 162 game averages

Altuve .302/.340/.401 | 7HR 53K
Rasmus .246/.313/.488 | 24HR 157K
Springer .231/.336/.468 | 42HR 114K
Carter .222/.313/.459 | 35HR 210K
Gattis .253/.304/.487 | 33HR 178K
Lowrie .261/.330/.411 | 14HR 103K
Dominguez .233/.275/.374 | 19HR 112K
Valbuena .229/.313/.374 | 13HR 111K
Castro .243/.316/.399 | 16HR 155K
Presley .259/.299/.395 | 12HR 102K
Grossman .248/.335/.348 | 10HR 171K

I have a feeling if Grossman starts, he's gonna get the lead off spot

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Previously released schedule - now with game times.

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Nolan Ryan replica Rainbow Jersey...I'll be at that game

Dollar Hot Dog Night is right around the corner

Tip I learned on the dollar hotdogs.

The regular concessions sell them too. So no need to wait in the mile long lines at the carts.

When do pitchers and catchers report? Im way too excited this early.

This team will frustrate us plenty, but there will be reason to tune in every single night.

Especially Springer dingers, Carter farters, Singleton dingletons, Tuves moves, Rasmus blastmus, Keuchel strike-els, Castro blastros, and Conger bongers.

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Conger bongers.

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at first I typed boner.. laughed.. and then corrected it.

What's Mr Gattis gonna have?

I got nothin..

Gatti Fatty?

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What's Mr Gattis gonna have?

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Pizza

Another delivery from Mr Gattis!!!

Here are the dimensions of Turner Field vs The Juice Box.



Gattis is gonna go off

Edit with 1906's image

Dead pull hitter. He's going to kill the short porch.

http://www.hittrackeronline.com/detail.php?id=2014_404&type=hitter

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Dead pull hitter. He's going to kill the short porch.

http://www.hittrackeronline.com/detail.php?id=2014_404&type=hitter

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was looking for something like that. Is there a way to see where balls that stayed in the park landed? Curious if he hit a ton close to the warning track.

Wow, great research. That does make me feel a little better.

Do we know if ROOT will carry any of the spring training games?

Troll piece by ESPN? Terrible article.

ROOT will carry ST games. How many? Good question.

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Astros agree to terms with IF Marwin Gonzalez today. All arbitration-eligible players now under contract. --- Houston Astros (@astros) January 23, 2015

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The Astros and shortstop Marwin Gonzalez have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year deal that will pay the Octagon client a salary of $1.0625MM, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (Twitter link). Gonzalez, who filed for $1.4MM and received a $900K counter-offer from the team, settled for somewhat less than the $1.15MM midpoint

Just got a bleacher report update that Vogel didn't sign cause he "didn't like what was going on with the Astros." Has anyone heard anything about this?

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Just got a bleacher report update that Vogel didn't sign cause he "didn't like what was going on with the Astros." Has anyone heard anything about this?

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I read the chron article and its a weird deal. Vogelsong was being very vague with all of his comments, and his agent seems to be doing damage control to not burn bridges.

http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2015/01/23/vogelsong-says-he-wasnt-comfortable-with-astros/

I can't imagine what the Astros could've done to make him uncomfortable, outside of negotiations just not going how he wanted

Maybe they wouldn't promise him a spot in the rotation for the entire season.

The Astros have had an eventful offseason, but it sounds like most of the heavy lifting has been done already, as Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle writes. "I don't know if we're going to sign anybody on a major league deal, but there's possibilities we'd bring another pitcher on the NRI (non-roster invitee) basis," General Manager Jeff Luhnow said.

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Just got a bleacher report update that Vogel didn't sign cause he "didn't like what was going on with the Astros." Has anyone heard anything about this?

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That makes 0 sense. Team that showed huge improvement last year. Have upgraded the roster tremendously, have a top 5 farm system, Springer is one of the up and coming stars in the league, and Correa is going to be a beast soon.... What more would he like us to do?

Man who knows, could be anything. I wouldn't sweat it.