Given that the Astros’ catching situation was described as “dire” last week, this makes a lot of sense: Catcher Ivan Rodriguez has agree to a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the Houston Astros, a source told ESPN’s Steve Phillips on Monday. Rodriguez can make an additional $1.5 million in performances bonuses. At the World Baseball […]

TUCK! toons now every Thursday!

Here’s an interesting article about Astros’ President Tal Smith’s second gig — or maybe first gig; it’s hard to tell — representing teams in arbitration cases: When it comes to salary arbitration in baseball, Smith has seen it all. He argued his first cases in 1974, the year baseball adopted the process, when he was […]

There’s a point in every offseason when people stop looking back at last year and start looking forward to the next. When fans of any given team start to employ some mental spackle to make all of those holes in the roster disappear. That point where hope starts to spring eternal. We have officially reached […]

Lost in Transactions recaps a defense and pitching-heavy week.

I got a pretty informed and insightful comment regarding the Astros bugging out of Venezuela and I thought I’d share it with the rest of the class. It’s from reader James Van Awesome (pretty sure that’s German), who is writing his undergraduate thesis on baseball in Venezuela. James writes: In my opinion, the Astros’ operations […]

The Astros are closing their Venezuelan training academy: Twenty years ago, the Astros were the first team to start a baseball academy in Venezuela, and since then, dozens of products from that grassroots undertaking have gone on to enjoy successful and lucrative Major League careers, including outfielder Bobby Abreu and ace left-hander Johan Santana. But […]

Lost in Transactions covers a very busy week in Las Vegas.

Lost in Transactions recaps the week that was, with the Braves snapping up Javier Vazquez and the Padres dumping Khalil Greene.

That’s what ESPN is reporting anyway: Pitcher Mike Hampton has agreed to terms on a one-year deal with the Houston Astros pending a physical exam, two baseball sources told ESPN.com. The contract will pay Hampton a base salary of about $2 million plus incentives, the source said . . . . . . Hampton spent […]