(This will be even less popular) Towers on the Jake Peavy trade talks: “It’s really come down to one club now – the Cubs,” he said. “It’s going to take awhile. They have a couple of players to pick from that we are interested in but anything with them is going to potentially involve a third team or fourth team. We’re focusing only on them.”  Link

Minors and Major league teams in the same city?
Voters approved a series of propositions on Nov. 4 authorizing the City of Sugar Land to move forward on creating a cultural entertainment district. The first phase would include a 6,500-seat concert venue, baseball stadium…

Sugar Land cannot secure an affiliate of a Major League Baseball team without approval from the Houston Astros, but Astros approval would not be necessary if an independent baseball team is selected.

Joe Esch, Sugar Land’s executive director of business and intergovernmental relations, says the city has already informed the Astros of its preference to bring in a minor league team. Link

He “feels good in Houston”
“I’m going to the Dominican next week, but I’m not going to play this year,” Tejada (quoted in Ortiz’s blog) . He’s working out five days per week in Fort Lauderdale

“…They made me a program for Spring Training. I hope that Houston sees in me this year what everybody has seen in me so I don’t go anywhere. I hope Houston has the same love so I don’t have to go. I feel good in Houston and I think that’s what I want. I hope that’s what Houston thinks.”  Link

This isn’t new news, on Aug 30, 2008 he told Ortiz “I want to have a super season,”  he said. “I want to see if after next year I can stay here.” Link

Lobos de Arecibo
Raymar Diaz, RHP - had a rough week. In 2 1/3 innings, he gave up 8 hits, 5 earned runs, no walks and one K. His season ERA is a whopping 10.50.

Edwin Maysonet, SS - he had a solid week, going 7 for 19. Last Tuesday, he went 3 for 4 with 3 doubles. He has only 3 strike outs in 32 at bats.

Leones de Ponce
Rene Garcia, C - has not played

Reggie Abercrombie, OF - cooled off this week, going 3 for 21. He has fanned 6 times in 30 AB for the season while hitting .233.

Indios de Mayaguez
Carlos Lazu, LHP - has not played.

Criollos de Cagues
Luis Cruz, LHP - has only went one inning in his first outing, giving up 4 hits (1 HR), 1 walk and 5 earned runs.

Rob Cosby, 1b - is 5 for 22 (.227) with 2 doubles to start the season.

VENEZUELA
Leones del Caracas
Cesar Quintero, OF - is still hitting .290 through 29 at bats.

Caribes del Anzotegul
Josh Miller, RHP - pitched 3 2/3 innings without giving up a run. He gave up 5 hits, 1 walk and K’d 5.

Paul Estrada, RHP - didn’t appear this week. So far in a combined 1 1/3 IP, he gave up 4 hits, two
walks and two runs. He struck out one batter.

Fernando Nieve, RHP - has not played

Ray Sadler, OF - was busy this week going 7 for 23 with 7 strike outs.

Navegantes del Magallanes
Richie Paz, IF - saw his average climb to .207 with a 2 for 11 week.

Wladamir Sutil, IF - saw his average jump to .313 after a 3 for 6 week.

Nick Regilio, RHP - didn’t pitch this week. In 9 appearances, 11 2/3 IP, 7 earned runs allowed, 4 BB/ 15K

Aquilas de Zulia
Humberto Quintero, C - got his first hits of the season in a 2 for 5 game. Is now 2 for 13 on the season.

Jeiler Castillo, RHP - did not appear this week, has appeared in 1 game, no hits, walked one and struck out three.

Bravos de Margarita
Felipe Paulino, RHP - has not played

Tigres de Aragua
Kyle Middleton, RHP - Got hit in his one start this week but avoided a bunch of trouble. In 4 IP, he gave up 7 hits but only one earned run. He took the loss again.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Aguilas Cibaenas
Sergio Severino, LHP - made one appearance this week. Now, through 9 appearances (6 IP) he has a 6.00 ERA. He has given up 7 hits (1 HR) and 6 BB while striking out 6.

Jose Duran RHP - Has not played

Michael Bourn - Had his hitting streak stopped after 10 games. In the last two games this week, he didn’t get a hit but reached on 3 walks. He has taken 9 walks so far this season. His OBP is a solid .458.

Azucareros del Este
Fernando Abad, LHP - 2/3 IP, 1 hit, nothing else, Hasn’t pitched since Oct. 18.

Gigantes de Cibao
Erick Abreu, RHP - had the cursed *.* ERA in his one outing this week. He gave up 3 earned runs on 2 hits and a walk.

Jhon Florentino, 3B - Didn’t play this week. Has appeared in 5 games but with only 1 AB. He hasn’t reached base on his own this year.

Tigres del Licey
Alberto Arias, RHP - 2 innings with nothing but zeros, except for 4 strike outs.

Sammy Gervacio, RHP - has had 5 straight scoreless innings. Total -9.0 IP in relief, 7 hits, 4 earned runs 3 walk, 11 K.

Yordany Ramirez, OF - he went 2 for 6 this week raising his average to .227.

Polin Trinidad - pitched 2/3 of an inning this week with no hits, walks or runs.

Jason Castro - tied for 5th in the league in average (.333), 7th in the league in slugging (.487), 4th in the league in OBP (.438), and 5th in the league in OPS (.925).  He tied for 9th most doubles (6) and tied for 6th most walks (16).  He struck out 21 times in 74 AB and only made one error.

Jordan Parraz - finished strong as he he .297 in his last 10 games.  He got a homer and a double in his last three games after going without an extra base hit the rest of the season.  He went 3 for 4 in the stolen bases and made 2 errors.  He hit .221 for the season.

Christopher Hicks - also finished strong.  In his last for outings, he went 7 1/3 innings giving up 5 hits, 3 walks, and 1 earned run while striking out 8 batters.  His season ERA finished at 5.52 and his record was 2-0 with 1 save.

In Arizona, Brian Bogusevic had his 7 game hitting streak snapped Saturday night.  He leads the team with his .359 batting average.

Drew Sutton hit in all 4 games he played in this week but his average still dipped.  He has hit in 9 of his last 10 but is only hitting .262 over his last 10 games because he only has 1multi hit game during that span.  He has 7 multi strike out games during the same span.  He has 17 strike outs in his last 10 games (42 AB).

Chris Johnson was 4 for 11 this week with a double and a triple.  He also has struck out in each of his last 10 games (14 in 36 AB).

Mark Ori went 4 for 10 this week.  He is battling strike outs as well, he has fanned 17 times in 51 AB this season.

Sergio Perez had his worst outing of the fall this week.  He gave up 4 earned runs in 2 IP.  He gave up 5 hits and a walk in the outing.  It jumped his season ERA to 4. 05

Bud Norris didn’t give up any hits or runs this week during his two outings (2 1/3) but he gave up 3 walks.  He did fan 2 to bring his season total to 20 in 17 IP.

Brad James didn’t pitch this week.

Before Wade shot down the Peavy rumors for perhaps the final time later Friday afternoon, club owner Drayton McLane, while attending a luncheon where Commissioner Bud Selig was the keynote speaker, also dispelled the notion that the Astros were legitimate players in the Peavy sweepstakes.

(Footer) Hunter Pence likely would have been in any package the Astros could send to San Diego, along with one or more components of a trio of young pitchers …Link

the progress so far,

Wade has stated he wants to sign Randy Wolf, LaTroy Hawkins and Doug Brocail.

On Friday, Hawkins signed a one-year deal worth $3.5 million plus incentives

Wade says “Brocail wants to be here. The only stumbling block is how much do we pay…”

And Footer reports Wolf is expected to test the free-agent market before making a decision about his immediate future.
Link

On Friday, 22-year-old right-hander Chia-Jen Lo signed a Minor League contract with the Astros worth $250,000.

“He’s two or three years away,” Barker said. “It depends on how he adjusts to playing in America.”

Barker said that Lo could begin next season as high as Double-A, but Wade indicated that might be reaching too high.
Link

Not much news regarding Ben Sheets. Footer reminds us that, (S)hould the Astros sign him, they’ll be faced with the possibility of Sheets needing surgery at some point during the length of his contract.

Wade would rather add pitching through free agents and things will get going at the Winter Meetings

“…(Footer)… the Winter Meetings, set to take place in Las Vegas in early December, are going to be busy.”

“(Wade)…I’ll continue these trade talks. (which?) But I’d really rather do it through free agency and try to string the trade stuff along and hope those things don’t deteriorate in the meantime while I’m still chasing my primary objective.”

“That said, I do think that Vegas has the potential for a lot of things, whether it’s a lot of free-agent signings which will then cause a domino effect of trades or just the trades ending up themselves. I think there will be more of them than there has been the last couple of years.”
Link

Free agents? Aren’t they expensive
(Footer) When the Astros announced last week that they were freezing ticket prices, I called Ed Wade and asked him if this meant they were slashing the payroll. He said, “We’re raising the payroll.” I waited in silence for a few seconds, waiting for the punch line.

But, Wade was serious. He wants to try to keep the team that ended the 2008 season together, and that’s going to cost a bundle. Wolf will command a high salary, and arbitration-eligible players such as Jose Valverde and Ty Wigginton are due significant raises. If they are serious about retaining most of these players, it’s highly unlikely they’ll be pursuing an expensive free agent from the outside. ”
Link

Ortiz coaxed this out of the GM“To keep this club together, it would be a real challenge from a payroll standpoint ,” Wade said. “We would like to keep this club together, but we might have to get creative to do certain things, which might entail us having to move one or two pieces off this club.”
Link
The two statements are not contradictory.

Lobos de Arecibo
Raymar Diaz, RHP - in his first two outings went a combined 3 2/3 innings giving up 4 hits and 1 walk. He struck out 3 while being held accountable for 2 runs.

Edwin Maysonet, SS - has hit in all three games so far (4 for 13), with only 1 strike out.

Leones de Ponce
Rene Garcia, C - the 18 year old backstop is on the roster but has yet to play. It is likely he will be catching bullpen and learning.

Reggie Abercrombie, OF - is off to a hot start. He is 4 for 9 and scored 3 runs so far. He has also contributed to the gulf stream with 2 strike outs.

Indios de Mayaguez
Carlos Lazu, LHP - is on the roster. Only appeared in 3 games for Greeneville after serving a 50 game suspension for banned substances.

Criollos de Cagues
Luis Cruz, LHP - the just turned 18 year old got a baptism by fire into playing with older, more skilled professionals. He went one inning in his first outing, giving up 4 hits (1 HR), 1 walk and 5 earned runs.

Rob Cosby, 1b - is 2 for 9 with 2 doubles to start the season.

VENEZUELA
Leones del Caracas
Jose Lopez, C - no longer on roster

Cesar Quintero, OF - is still hitting .302 through 19 games.

Caribes del Anzotegul
Josh Miller, RHP - had a better week, giving up 1 run in a combined 3 1/3 innings. Season ERA is 6.63

Paul Estrada, RHP - didn’t appear this week. So far in a combined 1 1/3 IP, he gave up 4 hits, two
walks and two runs. He struck out one batter.

Fernando Nieve, RHP - has not played

Ray Sadler, OF - appeared on the roster this week. He played in 4 games going 2 for 12 with 7 strike outs since joining.

Navegantes del Magallanes
Richie Paz, IF - is riding a 4 game hitting streak. thru 16 games, .163 (8/49) with 10 K.

Wladamir Sutil, IF - thru 7 games, .200 (2/10) with 1 K. Has not had an at bat in two of those games.

Nick Regilio, RHP - 9 appearances, 11 2/3 IP, 7 earned runs allowed, 4 BB/ 15K

Aquilas de Zulia
Humberto Quintero, C - has played in 2 games and is 0 for 5 so far.

Jeiler Castillo, RHP, appeared in 1 game, no hits, walked one and struck out three.

Bravos de Margarita
Felipe Paulino, RHP - has not played

Tigres de Aragua
Kyle Middleton, RHP - took the loss in his only start this week. In 5 2/3 innings, he surrendered 2 earned runs on 2 hits and a walk. He did strike out 5.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Aguilas Cibaenas
Sergio Severino, LHP - didn’t pitch this week, through 8 appearances (5 1/3 IP) he has a 6.75 ERA. He has given up 7 hits (1 HR) and 5 BB while striking out 5.

Jose Duran RHP - Has not played

Michael Bourn - Has hit in all 7 games he has played (12/31 .387). He also has 5 walks, 4 Ks and 2 stolen bases. He has scored 9 runs and has an OBP of .472.

Azucareros del Este
Fernando Abad, LHP - 2/3 IP, 1 hit, nothing else, Hasn’t pitched since Oct. 18.

Gigantes de Cibao
Erick Abreu, RHP - has made 3 appearances, allowing 1 earned run in 3 1/3 IP. His only hit given up was a round tripper. He has 2 walks and 5 Ks.

Jhon Florentino, 3B - Didn’t play this week. Has appeared in 5 games but with only 1 AB. He hasn’t reached base on his own this year.

Tigres del Licey
Alberto Arias, RHP - 2 innings with nothing but zeros, except for 4 strike outs.

Sammy Gervacio, RHP - 7 2/3 IP in relief, 6 hits, 4 earned runs 3 walk, 9 K.

Yordany Ramirez, OF - appeared in only one game this week. He went 0 for 1, his average remains at .188.

Polin Trinidad - had an *.* era outing this week. He gave up 2 earned runs on a walk and a hit without getting anyone out.

Jordan Parraz continues to dig out of his deep hole he started off in.  He has raised his average to .200 by hitting .243 during the last 10 games.  Not the numbers you want to see from a kid who just turned 24 and has 5 seasons of pro ball under his belt.

Christopher Hicks continues to have descent outings.  He pitched around trouble in his first outing this week.  He gave up 4 hits but no runs in 1 1/3 IP.  He gave up a run on only one hit and a walk in his second outing (1 2/3 IP).  His season ERA is 6.19.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch….. Drew Sutton’s slump continues.  Well, slump is relative.  He has hit .275 through his last 10 games and had 3 for 4 game last night where he was a triple shy of the cylce.  So I guess slump is a little strong but he has cooled off and his average is down to .377 on the season.

Brian Bogusevic has taken over the team lead in batting average (.404).  He went 3 for 5 last night and missed the cycle by a home run.  Going into the week, he had no extra base hits.  He finished the week with a double a two triples.

Chris Johnson remains near the team leaders with his solid .314 batting average.  He is really struggling with his plate discipline.  This week, he went 2 for 16 with 7 strike outs and 3 walks.  In his last 10 games, he is 12 of 37 with 15 strike outs and 6 walks.

Mark Ori in limited action, has raised his average to .220.  He has only played in 10 games and has a hit in 9 of them.  The reason his average has stayed low despite hitting in 9 of 10 games is that he has yet to have a multi hit game this season.  He has had 2 multi strike out games.  Last night, he went 1 for 5 with 4 Ks.

Sergio Perez had a solid start in his one start this week.  He went 5 innings giving up 3 hits and 2 walks that resulted in 1 run.  He fanned 3.  This brings his season long ERA to 2.50.

Bud Norris continued his good work out of the bullpen.  He made two scoreless appearances (3 2/3 IP) this week where he gave up 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 6.  He has 18 strike outs in 14 2/3 innings pitched.

Brad James made one appearence this week.  He gave up a run on two hits and no walks in 2 IP.  He did strike out 4 batters.  Brad appears to be having difficulty keeping the ball down as he has given up 3 homers during the AFL.  He made a name for himself as a ground ball pitcher prior to his injuries last season.  We will see how he looks in spring training to see if he has maximized his potential.

“I was not the happiest guy coming out of Spring Training,” said Ori…. “I thought I had a chance to be in Double-A….I got 500 at-bats and the guys at Double-A had to split time. It worked out. I learned a lot from the hitting coach [Keith Bodie] and the manager [Jim Pankovits]. For my career, it was the best thing that could have happened. It was harder at the time to not see it as a bad thing because you see it as a standstill in your career going back to the same place. But after a couple of days and once games started, I didn’t even give it a thought.”

So what did they work on?

Bodie changed up Ori’s stance just a bit, having him standa bit more upright. The change allowed him to see the ball better.

We also learned that his older brother, Joseph, plays minor league hockey in the East Coast Hockey League for the Elmira Jackels.  He just joined the Jackels this season after playing for two years with the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs of the CHL.

Ciollos de Caguas
Edwin Maysonet - SS

VENEZUELA
Leones del Caracas
Jose Lopez, C - has not played
Cesar Quintero, OF - is still hitting .300 through his first 13 games. He has improved his K numbers as he has only K’d 2 times in his last 22 AB.

Caribes del Anzotegul
Josh Miller, RHP - got shelled this week. In two appearances in relief, he lasted only a combined 3 innings giving up 10 hits, 10 earned runs and 1 strike out. The good news is he didn’t walk anyone. His ERA for the season has jumped to 7.63.
Paul Estrada, RHP - Made his first two appearances this week. In a combined 1 1/3 IP, he gave up 4 hits, two walks and two runs. He struck out one batter.
Fernando Nieve, RHP - has not played

Navegantes del Magallanes
Richie Paz, IF - thru 14 games, .140 (6/43) with 8 K.
Wladamir Sutil, IF - thru 6 games, .200 (2/10) with 1 K.
Nick Regilio, RHP - 7 appearances, 9 2/3 IP, 5 Runs allowed, 4 BB/ 12K

Aquilas de Zulia
Humberto Quintero, C - has not played
Jeiler Castillo, RHP, appeared in 1 game, no hits, walked one and struck out three.

Bravos de Margarita
Felipe Paulino, RHP - has not played

Tigres de Aragua
Kyle Middleton, RHP - gave up 10 earned runs on 17 hits in two starts this week. ERA jumped to 5.50.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Aguilas Cibaenas
Sergio Severino, LHP - through 8 appearances (5 1/3 IP) he has a 6.75 ERA. He has given up 7 hits (1 HR) and 5 BB while striking out 5.
Jose Duran RHP - Has not played
Michael Bourn - Has hit in all three games he has played (4/14 .286). He also has two walks, two Ks and a stolen base.

Azucareros del Este
Fernando Abad, LHP - 2/3 IP, 1 hit, nothing else, Hasn’t pitched since Oct. 18.

Gigantes de Cibao
Jhon Florentino, 3B - Has appeared in 5 games but with only 1 AB. He hasn’t reached base on his own this year.

Tigres del Licey
Sammy Gervacio, RHP - 5 2/3 IP in relief, 4 hits, 4 earned runs 3 walk, 1 HB, 7 K.
Yordany Ramirez, OF - Is hitting .188 (3 of 16) in limited action. He has struck out 4 times.
Polin Trinidad - in his only appearance, pitched a perfect 2/3 of an inning.

Down in Hawaii, Jason Castro still leads the team with his .328 average and is among the league leaders in several categories. He had a hitting streak snapped this weekend but another streak is continuing. He has now struck out in 7 straight games. That streak includes 11 strike outs in 29 at bats.

Jordan Parraz has brought his average above the Mendoza line to .203. He had a 5 game hitting streak snapped last night.

Christopher Hicks brought his ERA down to 6.28 with his 3 outings this week. Combined, he pitched 4 1/3 innings giving up 2 earned runs, 6 hits, 3 walks and 4 strike outs. His totals for the season are 14 1/3 innings pitched, 11 walks and 17 strike outs. He has struck out at least one batter in every appearance.

In the AFL, Drew Sutton has hit a dry patch. His average has dropped to .415 during the last week when he went 4 for 19. Despite the slump, he is showing solid plate discipline. He has only 6 strike outs on the season against 15 free passes.

Chris Johnson is second on the team in average to Sutton. He is batting .357, but his discipline needs work. He is almost the polar opposite of Sutton. Johnson has only 4 walks against 17 strike outs. Johnson has 5 multi strike out games in his last 10.

Brian Bogusevic has raised his average to .310 since coming back from his injury. His pop has not been there as he is yet to have an extra base hit.

Mark Ori only plays on a couple of days due to being on the taxi squad. He has hit in 5 of the 6 games he has played in but his average is right at .200.

Bud Norris had a solid week. He appeared in 3 games with a combined line of 4 2/3 innings pitched, 4 walks, 2 earned runs, 1 walk and 9 Ks. That brings his totals on the year to 12 Ks in 11 IP.

Sergio Perez dropped his ERA down to 2.77 with his only outing this week.  He scattered 5 hits and 3 walks over 4 innings but didn’t allow an earned run to score.

Brad James had his best outing of the fall Friday night.  He allowed 1 hit, 1 walk and no earned runs while striking out 1 in 2 innings.  That dropped his ERA to an even 9.00.

Chris Blazak was removed from the roster last week after not having pitched since Oct. 9th.

Castro represents one of the best Draft picks Houston has made in years. He was a no-brainer when the Astros expended the 10th overall pick on him, and will provide the club with a legitimate star quality catcher for the better part of the next decade.

They named Drew Sutton the player of the year and Polin Trinidad the pitcher of the year.  Be sure to check out the photo gallery of Astro’s prospects on the page.

Speaking of Sutton, BA talked about what had led to his improvement last season that has carried over to the AFL.  He gave the credit to a golf coach.

A former golf instructor named Jamie Cevallos, who last offseason encouraged Sutton to use better body control when bringing his bat through the zone.

“It gives you more room for error,” said Sutton, who had a breakout season at Double-A Corpus Christi (Astros) and parlayed his success to the Arizona Fall League. “He had a lot of video on his computer, and it had Ted Williams and Albert Pujols and it showed a lot about positioning yourself in your swing.”