Yeah maybe pessimistic, but not short sided.

Based on how long this regime has stuck with players that suck (Carter, Villar, Grossman just to name a few) I don't have a good feeling about Singleton. We'll see though. Hopefully he steps it up or the leash is short. Even it is short you're depending on a MiLB call up to be your power hitting 1B.

As far as young players improving I'm just kind of ehh about it. Preston Tucker is a spot starter, off the bench guy so I don't think he'll be contributing much.

Correa is a different beast. Is he really going to be that much better? I don't (here goes nothing). He's already the best SS in the league and I don't think he much more room to go up. I don't think he'll slump, but I also don't think there is going to be a huge jump. His power numbers were really surprising so I definitely don't think those going up.

Again, I was just hoping to see this front office go get some guys in a couple areas that were glaring needs and it didn't happen. Sans the back-end of the bullpen, we still have the same question marks going into this season as we did when we ended last season. Corner infield is a huge question mark, back end of the rotation, and solid, consistent bat in the middle of the lineup. That's not a short sided assessment.

I do not believe Singleton is the answer either, but I know he will have a short leash and believe that Reed is likely the guy (and will be good). If Correa is going to be a great player, he will get better. All great players improve after their rookie season. I also think that Springer will still improve some and think Gomez is due for a bounce back season. Preston Tucker will likely platoon with Gattis as a DH, as his splits against right handed pitching was good, so believe he will also improve.

It would be nice to add a Cespedes type piece, but even if not done in the off season, we still have a lot of flexibility to add pieces during the season, as we did last year (and we were very aggressive last year when in contention). I am not at all disappointed with failing to re-sign Kazmir. If you re-sign Kazmir, you basically guarantee he will be in the rotation all season unless he is absolutely terrible. I just think a move like that significantly hurts your flexibility going forward if things do not go exactly as planned. Instead, we still have a good team, have improved, have youth with potential for improvement, have a good system, and have flexibility to make moves and deals during the season should we need.

I'd bring in Cespedes in a heart beat. Thats 35 HR and a cannon in left. You move those 4 outfielders through the DH spot to save their legs a bit as the season wears on. He's a proven producer in the playoffs and an immediate upgrade in the middle of our lineup. Sign him and ship Gattis to japan or Tampa or whoever pays the most.

I think it's kinda funny that DH and first base are out struggle positions, when they should yield the highest production

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I think it's kinda funny that DH and first base are out struggle positions, when they should yield the highest production

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Our DH was the only player in the majors that had 20 or more doubles, 10 or more triples and 20 or more HRs.

Flexibility is nice but I'm tired of giving up 2 and 3 valuable pieces to get guys. Especially mediocre rentals like Kazmir. Resigning him would've made that trade worth it but now it looks like we lost that one.

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Colby working the whataburger drive-through!

http://imgur.com/ooMx34L.jpg

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Why is he wearing a shirt, and where are his ski goggles?

Cespedes is an obviously good move, and then you can platoon Rasmus and Gattis at DH as well as rotate out the outfield guys...

Who's going to fan fest this weekend?

Few Astros notes from mlbtraderumors

Colby wants to finish his career in Houston

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"As I stand here right now, I'd like to see myself in Houston for the rest of my playing career," said Rasmus. "I would really like that. I think that would be great for my family. I enjoy it here. I think there's great people, great atmosphere that they're trying to create the organization as a whole wanting to win and putting good players on the field." That may seem a lengthy goal for a player on a one-year deal, though it's worth remembering that Rasmus has previously expressed that he may not want as lengthy a career as many players. Early in the 2015 season, Rasmus said he may only want to play through the 2018 season, voicing a desire to leave time in his life for his wife and daughters.

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Marwin's hand injury was pretty serious, but has healed nicely

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The left wrist and index finger pain that plagued Astros infielder Marwin Gonzales over the final month of the season and into the playoffs has subsided this winter, he tells the Chronicle's Evan Drellich. The switch-hitting Gonzalez's swing was severely hampered when batting as a left-handed hitter, he explained, but he was able to hit for the first time this offseason yesterday and expects to be good to go when Spring Training rolls around.

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May still be some interest in Cespedes

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Both the Nationals and Astros had expressed interest in Upton, and "may" look instead at top remaining free agent outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets. Neither team looks in need of a player at that position, of course, but both are in position to be opportunistic. (Houston has been fairly quiet after a bold trade deadline, while Washington still appears to be about $30MM shy of its 2015 payroll after several moves.)

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I hope Rasmus finishes his career here as well. Love that dude

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I hope he plays like he did in the postseason.

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Was kinda having this convo with friends the other day... What do y'all think would've happened had he had a postseason more similar to Gattis?

He either wouldn't have been an Astro or he wouldn't have gotten the deal he got.

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I think it's kinda funny that DH and first base are out struggle positions, when they should yield the highest production

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Our DH was the only player in the majors that had 20 or more doubles, 10 or more triples and 20 or more HRs.

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Nice random stat, but Gattis is still not good.

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The fact that Gattis led our team in triples last season still boggles my mind

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I think it's kinda funny that DH and first base are out struggle positions, when they should yield the highest production

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Our DH was the only player in the majors that had 20 or more doubles, 10 or more triples and 20 or more HRs.

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Nice random stat, but Gattis is still not good.

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The fact that Gattis led our team in triples last season still boggles my mind

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What really boggles the mind is that he had the 3rd most in the entire major leagues.

They're just trying to placate fans that want to sign somebody.

It's way more fun this way.

Looks like the Stros are bringing back Wandy Rodriguez. Love that guy.

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Looks like the Stros are bringing back Wandy Rodriguez. Love that guy.

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Perfect gif

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Looks like the Stros are bringing back Wandy Rodriguez. Love that guy.

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It's a minor league contract with an invite to spring training.

Im ok with Wandy as a 6th starter call up option.

The jury is still out for me on Eny Cabreja, a.k.a. Wandy Rodriguez. Was a fan of his10 yrs. ago. Hope he's got something left. His ERA is close to my bother-in-laws IQ.

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The jury is still out for me on Eny Cabreja, a.k.a. Wandy Rodriguez. Was a fan of his10 yrs. ago. Hope he's got something left. His ERA is close to my bother-in-laws IQ.

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The jury is still out for me on Eny Cabreja, a.k.a. Wandy Rodriguez. Was a fan of his10 yrs. ago. Hope he's got something left. His ERA is close to my bother-in-laws IQ.

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Soooooooo low? high? I hope your BIL has an IQ lower than 4

Cespedes is mulling staying with the Mets, or going to the Nationals... I bet we couldn't match the money they are offering.

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Cespedes is mulling staying with the Mets, or going to the Nationals... I bet we couldn't won't match the money they are offering.

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Our payroll is next to nothing. We can afford him. Now whether we want to pony up for him is another story, but we can match that kind of money.

payroll should be around $83 million after the last few arbitration cases are settled.

This is the last year I cut the front office any slack about paying free agents. We have ~40 M coming off the books next year between Feldman, Rasmus, Gomez, and Valbuena.