Power Pros Forum

That's insane not even arod is worth that much

I bet 5 bucks that he'll "restructure" the deal within two years.

Mr skittlemonster your on

Strasburg winning 3 straight Cy Youngs though... holy cow that might be worth it.

Let me just Harper on him for a bit...

He won 3 straight Cy Youngs, so he's definitely Werth it.

He's just Storen up those awards, with his Stammen-a his career could Span for many years to come.

Very punny, Agent

BREAKING NEWS

RHP Stephen Strasburg has decided to take a paycut, from $40 million a year to the league minimum of $500,000. With the new cap space, the Astros traded Zac Rosscup to the White Sox for Chris Sale and Jose Abreu. Houston included five dollars cash in the deal to make it fair.

In addition, all of their top ten prospects were traded in order to re-acquire Brandon McCarthy.

How is this news? All you did was summarize the log

it's news because I said so. now go to your room

btw none of that happened and none of it will happen.

Oh snap.

2017 MLB Preseason

Preseason Predictions

The A’s and Mariners will be in a tight division race, winning 95 and 92 games, respectively. The Astros will improve, but finish last with a 78-84 record. Stephen Strasburg will anchor the Houston staff, winning 14 games and finishing with a 2.90 ERA and 9.61 K/9. In the NL, Colorado will dominate with their tremendous power hitting, with a MLB-leading 99 wins. Carlos Gonzalez will star with a .310 average, 28 homers, and 13 steals.

League News

A new rule change is in effect: the DFA period has been increased from 10 days to 11 days, giving teams more time to decide whether to release, trade, or outright the player.
Braves owner John Malone passed away; his son, Ronnie, will succeed him as owner.

Team News

On December 22, 2016, the Astros traded longtime second baseman Jose Altuve and prospect 2B Manny Maldonado to the New York Yankees in exchange for young right fielder Slade Heathcott. Altuve’s defense had deteriorated to horrendous levels in 2015 and this pattern continued in 2016. Heathcott has hit 85 doubles, 42 home runs, and stolen 45 bases over the past three years in New York, posting a combined 2.4 WAR over that span. He also had a zone rating of +6.2 in right field last season.
LHP Wei-Chung Wang, RHP Jake Buchanan and OF Dan Robertson were designated for assignment to make room for the acquisition of Stephen Strasburg and the DL activations of Aroldis Chapman and David Price. All three had previously cleared waivers and were promptly assigned to minor-league camp, where they will likely sort into the AAA level and play for Oklahoma City.

Top Prospects

Indians RP Rob Carr is the top prospect this year, followed by SS Jarred Howard of the White Sox, who has been named the #2 prospect in the MLB for three years in a row. The Mets have three players in the top ten, and the White Sox have two. Only last year’s first overall pick, Parker Kelly, is on the list from the Astros; he checks in at number 33.

Astros Roster

Starting Rotation

RHP Stephen Strasburg
LHP David Price
RHP Noah Syndergaard
RHP Jarred Cosart
RHP Matt Wisler

Bullpen

RHP Zach Eflin
RHP Aaron Crow
RHP Shawn Tolleson
LHP Josh Edgin
RHP Matty Ott (7)
RHP Mike Foltynewicz (8)
LHP Aroldis Chapman (9)

Starting Lineup

SHB Robbie Grossman, LF
SHB Micah Johnson, 2B
LHB Anthony Rizzo, 1B
LHB Jason Castro, DH (C with no DH)
LHB Cody Asche, 3B
LHB Charlie Blackmon, CF
SHB Tucker Barnhart, C (bench with no DH)
RHB Zack Cozart, SS
LHB Slade Heathcott, RF

Bench

LHB Reese McGuire, C
LHB Brock Holt, INF
RHB Lewis Brinson, CF
LHB Stryker Trahan, LF/RF

Please break .500 this year.

Let's not get too crazy here.

Realistically, he should have reached .500 last season. No team in year six of a rebuild should still be hitting 100 L's. But with the addition of Stras with the rest of that rotation, 70-75 wins is a possibility. However, until something is done about that horrid offense, the team probably shouldn't sniff 80+ wins. Like seriously, you have Rizzo and Cosart and ???. Grossman at leadoff should never happen, and the bottom half of the order is really weak. I'd say there's a good chance they're last in the league in runs scored.

I know pitching rules both the MLB and OOTP, but at least half the lineup needs to be filled with quality hitters to compete.

Yeah, this team is supposed to win the Whole Damn Thing this year, so please make a run at it!

yay new update format

April 2017 Recap: Houston Astros

MLB Standings

Standings
Power Rankings

Around the League
The Blue Jays have come out firing…Maybe they should rethink their strategy. While Toronto did hit .259 in the month, their pitchers had an ERA of 5.59, and were worst in the league at ERA, runs, hits and home runs allowed, and walked the most batters. They did all this despite a .286 BABIP, fifth-best in the American League.
Our Astros are in the middle of a tight AL West race; all five teams are above .500, and there are only 2.5 games separating the first-place Rangers from the three-way tie for third between us, LA, and Seattle. Stephen Strasburg has lived up to expectations with a 1.56 ERA and 16.5 K/BB through four starts. Noah Syndergaard has also been good, and Anthony Rizzo (194 OPS+, 1.3 WAR) has been a total stud, but the middle infield of Micah Johnson (-0.7 WAR) and Zack Cozart (.066 ISO) has struggled, and an injury to starting center fielder Charlie Blackmon didn’t help matters, though young Lewis Brinson (.296 AVG) has played well in his place.
In the National League, Colorado is dominating as expected despite the loss of Carlos Gonzalez (torn labrum) for seven months. Young pitcher Ryan Arrowood continues to shine, with a sparkling 0.74 ERA in four starts. Closer Rex Brothers has converted all six save opps and allowed no runs with 16 strikeouts in eight appearances spanning nine and one-third innings. Offensively, Chris V. Carter (.379, 3 HR) is starring despite only five starts on the season. Troy Tulowitzki and Chris Davis have also been big for the Rox’ offense.

Other significant injuries: Cardinals SP Adam Wainwright (elbow tendinitis, 2 months), Reds SP Homer Bailey (torn flexor tendon, 13-14 months), Diamondbacks SS Didi Gregorius (ruptured MCL, 9-10 months), Mets CF Juan Lagares (broken elbow, 4-5 months).

Astros News

April 1: Houston released three minor-leaguers: 1B Chase McDonald, 2B Josh VanMeter, and SS Luis Reynoso. Reynoso, 22, spent parts of 2014, 2015 and 2016 in A and AA, but struggled to hit and play defense. His best year came in 2015 when he hit .290 with a 1.7 WAR in 61 A games, but upon his promotion to AA he hit only .216. VanMeter, 23, was acquired in the Matt Wisler trade in 2014. His days were scattered between A, AA, and AAA. In 2016, though, he struggled at all three levels, combining for a -0.9 WAR in 98 total games. McDonald, 24, looked to be the most promising of the bunch, as a defensive first baseman with a decent bat, but he couldn’t hit in AAA - he hit .219 in exactly 162 games at that level, with 8 homers and a -2.2 WAR despite winning the Glove Wizard Award at first base for the 2016 season.

April 13: The Astros have signed outfielder Drew Stubbs to a minor-league contract. Stubbs, 32, played for Detroit last season, hitting .199 with 3 home runs and 5 stolen bases in 45 games. Houston has assigned him to Triple-A, where he will start in center for the RedHawks, who recently lost Austin Wates to an oblique injury that will keep him out five to six weeks. Upon Wates’ return, Houston will be forced to make a decision on Stubbs’ future with the organization.

April 15: Houston assigned RHP Riley Ferrell to Corpus Christi, its AA affiliate, for rehab. Ferrell suffered a rotator cuff strain in the preseason. The 23-year-old was Houston’s second overall pick in 2015, and made his debut that same year. He has pitched in 50 major-league games thus far, with a 3-3 record and four saves.

April 19: Outfielder Charlie Blackmon (hamstring) was placed on the 15-day disabled list, with infielder Nolan Fontana being recalled to take his place. Blackmon is in the second year of a three-year contract paying him an average of one million dollars a year, and had 4 hits in 20 at-bats before the injury. He was the team’s starter in center field, a role which Lewis Brinson will take over. Fontana, 25, was hitting .347 with three homers and five steals in twelve AAA games, and has played in 43 career MLB games, including 38 last season. He will assume the “bench ace” role favored by general manager Parker Bernhart, meaning that he will be the team’s first pinch-hitting and pinch-running option as well as backing up his two positions (second and short).

May 1: The Astros made a flurry of moves, including the activation of RHP Riley Ferrell (shoulder) from the DL. Southpaw reliever Kevin Chapman was also recalled from Oklahoma City, with pitcher Mike Foltynewicz and infielder Micah Johnson going down to Triple-A. Infielder Matt Duffy was designated for assignment as well. Foltynewicz, 25, has pitched in five games with a 16.20 ERA and one save, after a 3.38 ERA and seven saves in 15 games last season. Johnson, 26, was acquired in a trade last season, and had hit .165 in 19 starts at the keystone thus far, with five stolen bases. Nolan Fontana will become the starter at second base. Ferrell, 23, pitched five scoreless innings with eight strikeouts at Corpus Christi during his rehab assignment. Chapman, who missed all of 2016 with an injury, had pitched in 11 AAA games with a 1.46 ERA and four holds. He most recently pitched in the majors in 2015, when he posted a 3.03 ERA and 12.0 K/9 in 47 games.

Stats

League Leaders
Batting Stats
Pitching Stats