Headley signs 4 year, $52 mil deal with Yankees. Reports were the Astros offered him 5/$65 mil. Looks like until we show we're ready to compete, we're only getting too guys by paying well above market rates.

I think Madden's source was probably just wrong on the offer. I could see 4 years, but offering 5 doesn't really make any sense with both Moran and Ruiz getting close.

3 year deal for Lowrie.

Beat me to it.

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3 year deal for Lowrie.

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Yessir!

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3 year deal for Lowrie.

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So why are we so thrilled about Jed Lowrie?

3 years $23 million (or 4-28 if option is picked up)

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So why are we so thrilled about Jed Lowrie?

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Because he is 10x better than Villar?

2:54pm: Lowrie will earn $22MM over the first three years of the deal, and his club option is worth $6MM with a $1MM buyout, tweets Chris Cotillo of SB Nation.

2:23pm: The Astros announced that they have signed infielder Jed Lowrie to a three-year contract that runs through the 2018 season. Lowrie's contract, which is reportedly worth a guaranteed $23MM, also contains a club option for the 2018 season that could boost the value to $28MM. The team will announce a corresponding roster move on Tuesday.

So what does our lineup look like currently

Altuve 2B
Lowrie SS
Springer RF
Fowler CF
Carter DH
Castro C
Singleton 1B
Dominguez 3B
Marisnick LF


Is that what we are looking at?

That's team friendly numbers compared to the $10 mil AAV I had seen thrown around for him.

I think he's a great signing under our contract terms.

Man I'm excited for this season

That lineup looks good to me. Will we see Marisnick and Presley do a righty/lefty platoon in left?

I hear we're bringing in Domingo Ayala to play third base

He's Big Tyne!!

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That lineup looks good to me. Will we see Marisnick and Presley do a righty/lefty platoon in left?

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Possibly, but I would like to see Marisnick get more playing time than Presley.

Looks like the Nix drama is now done:

The Astros have agreed to an undisclosed financial settlement with former fifth-round pick Jacob Nix, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports. The sides had been headed toward a grievance proceeding brought by the MLBPA on Nix's behalf.

Nix had reportedly agreed to a $1.5MM bonus to forego a commitment to UCLA. But that deal fell apart after Houston failed to reach agreement with first overall pick Brady Aiken. Without Aiken's slot money available to cover the Nix overage, the Astros would have exceeded their bonus allotment and forfeited two future first-round draft picks had they gone through with the Nix signing.

The terms of the deal were not announced, but Houston will not have to face the possibility of an arbitrator ruling that they must sign Nix or otherwise sacrifice picks. Whether there remains any potential league action in that regard remains unreported.

As for Nix, the talented righty is said to be eyeing a one-year stint at a junior college. That would allow him to re-enter the draft next year and steer clear of the possibility of having to deal with NCAA eligibility issues relating to the public nature of his ordeal. So far as has been reported publicly, Aiken has not pursued a grievance action of his own; of course, his situation the team was said to have been concerned with an MRI showing an abnormally small UCL is somewhat different from that of Nix.

I certainly hope Presley is not in any sort of rotation. He isn't a good player at all and shouldn't be considered as someone who would help us in the future.

The Astros have designated shortstop Gregorio Petit for assignment, Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle reports on Twitter. His roster spot goes to the recently-signed Jed Lowrie.

TUESDAY: Nix was awarded the full $1.5MM that he had agreed to with the Astros, Hall of Fame journalist Peter Gammons reports (on Twitter).

So he can't play college ball right

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So he can't play college ball right

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I don't think so? An article I read mentioned how he was going to go JUCO, and then enter the draft again. Maybe he can defer payment to a later date? Hopefully someone knows more.

Here's the best info I've seen:

Nix does have options, if that's the case. Generally, junior colleges honor NCAA eligibility, but they are not beholden to do so. The NJCAA rules on that. If he cannot play juco ball, Nix could go to an NAIA school, which operates in the same way as a junior college for eligibility reasons, but isn't governed by the same system as the NCAA or NJCAA.

http://www.crawfishboxes.com/2014/12/16/7401929/tuesdays-three-astros-things-jacob-nix-baseball-hall-of-fame-voting

Question is do we throw at lowire again in spring training for good measure?

here's to drafting aiken 2nd overall in 2015

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here's to drafting aiken 2nd overall in 2015

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good luck

What' a royal f-up the Aiken pick turned out to be

won't we have two top 5 pick bonus' pools to work with though? this could be a great draft for us

Houston will have rare draft ammunition in both picks and financial capital, armed with the No. 2 overall selection (compensation for not coming to terms with 2014 No. 1 overall pick Brady Aiken) and the fifth selection. The assigned pick values for those slots totaled $10,672,800 in 2014 and their 2015 values will likely exceed $11 million. For context, only one team spent more than $10 million for their entire bonus pool in 2014the Marlins, who spent $12,741,700, the largest draft bonus expenditure in the three drafts under the current CBA.

The Astros will pick first in the competitive balance round (picked up in a trade from the Marlins), currently the 32nd selection, which had a $1.7 million dollar value in 2014. Their early second-round pick also will have a slot value of at least $1 million. Their first four picks will likely approach or exceed $14 million in combined slot values. The 2014 draft bonus values of where the Astros will pick in 2015 (based on current slots) totals $16,898,551. Accounting for the year-over-year increase in bonus values and the overages of up to five percent, the Astros could spend around or up to $17 million in the 2015 draft.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/draft/2015-mlb-draft-order/

Basically, we're in a great spot, and we need to capitalize with a homerun draft.

I agree with you, cheers to not using the top picks on someone that doesn't sign

http://climbingtalshill.com/2014/12/17/astros-may-going-cole-hamels-untouchable-prospect-bait/



Without a doubt the dumbest ****ing thing I've seen all week. How old is Hamel? 30 something?

The Astros announced that they've outrighted left-hander Darin Downs to Triple-A after he cleared waivers. Additionally, Gregorio Petit, who was outrighted earlier this week, has accepted his assignment to Triple-A rather than electing free agency. Both will be invited to big league Spring Training. Houston's 40-man roster is currently at 39 players.

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http://climbingtalshill.com/2014/12/17/astros-may-going-cole-hamels-untouchable-prospect-bait/



Without a doubt the dumbest ****ing thing I've seen all week. How old is Hamel? 30 something?

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I'll be pissed if we trade Correa