He was playing winter ball in the Dominican.
Yeah I translated that wrong
I did too, Matt. He hit well enough in RR but never in Houston.
Note that the Astros had 3 players on the restricted list which don’t count toward the 40-man roster limit:
- Joe Smith (COVID opt-out)
- Francis Martes (PEDs)
- Kent Emanuel (PEDs)
Smith apparently was recently activated however even though there was no public announcement by the Astros (and not being reflected on the 40-man roster at astros.com).
So the Astros actually entered today with 37 players on the 40-man (not 36 if you were relying on astros.com). So minus Mayfield and Armenteros they’re currently at 35 players.
Any guesses on who they add for Rule 5 protection? Whitley and Freudis Nova are the top two Astros prospects (per MLB.com’s Top 30), and both would be subject to Rule 5, so they’re probably locks to be added. After that, you’ve got a half dozen guys who are reasonable candidates for the other three slots:
- Jairo Solis (RHP, Astros #8 prospect),
- Tyler Ivey (RHP, #12),
- Jose Alberto Rivera (RHP, #14),
- Jojanse Torres (RHP, #15),
- Luis Santana (2B/3B, #19),
- Peter Solomon (RHP, #27),
- Ronnie Dawson (OF, #29).
It’s tough to make educated picks without a 2020 minor league season to go off of, but my guess is that it’s Solis, Ivey, and Torres. We’ll know soon enough.
All those players were already mentioned over here in the Rule 5 thread:
https://forumbackup.orangewhoopass.com/t/2020-rule-5-draft/724
It was only a matter of time before I earned a Cabrera merit badge.
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Also, I don’t think Jojanse Torres is actually Rule 5 eligible and thus won’t need protecting.
I was hoping Click would trade a few bodies for a single useful player before the 40 man crunch whittled them away.
I could see - Armenteros, Toro. Nivaldo Rodriguez, and Bailey bringing back a player like Yastrzemski
That would clear 3 spots on the 40 man as well as fill an outfield hole.
Roster now down to 34 with the trade of Brandon Bailey to the Reds for cash considerations.
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Could “cash considerations” equal international signing pool money?
That’s usually specified upfront from what I remember of past transactions involving pool money. So i’m not completely sure but i lean towards the doubtful side.
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Whitley, Nova, Solis, Ivey and Solomon were all added to bring the roster to 39.
25 pitchers, 14 position players.
Plus 2 more pitchers on the restricted list.
Comments in there from Click about Whitley’s health, offseason workout regimen and his showing in Corpus.
Maybe there’s not a lot of tough decisions at the 40 man margins, or maybe I just underestimate the likelihood of a teams willing to carry relatively unknown qualities coming off TJ, but I find it surprising that they added those two.
As to Whitley, it will be a shame if he never achieves even a fraction of what he could be. I think it was three years ago when I saw him at CC, with a truly dominant repertoire. Three years ago, no major surgeries and he still hasn’t thrown a pitch in the majors.
He needed major surgery on his attitude.
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Rosenthal sez the Astros:
-
Are listening to offers on Correa
-
Won’t entertain signing any free agents that have a QO attached
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Despite the QO thingy, Kenny speculates they might go after LeMahieu if they are able to trade Correa
(Also says Blue Jays continue to covet Springer and have also contacted Brantley)
The prospect of losing Springer, Correa, and Brantley in the same off-season makes me ill. I thought Brantley might be re-signed by now after reading the recent reports, but that issue has gone silent. Cole and Harris already gone over a year. Springer signs with another team? Brantley too? Trade Correa? JV lost forever because of TJ? Damn.
Of course, this dismantling of the historically good 2019 team makes losing Game Seven to karma and the Nats even worse for me. Fuck you, Taubman.
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“Listening to offers” on Correa could simply mean “if you want Correa, I’m gonna need an All-Star caliber OF and 2-3 MLB-ready pitchers all of which have at least 2 years of club control left, plus a top-ranked SS prospect and 1-2 other prospects, and fuck you if you think that’s unreasonable”. I don’t think it means they’re actively looking to deal him. In the current climate I think they’d listen to offers on Altuve and Bregman if they thought they were tradeable.
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I agree that they should ask for the moon, but no one would pay that when you look at the free agent class for next year.