Latest news and updates about the Astros
Good morning, folks… We got not much out there today. Remember Ryan Pressly? Former Astros reliever? He announced his retirement. In non-baseball news, Bo Nix broke his ankle, so the Denver Broncos will be playing in the AFC Championship Game with Texas native Jarrett Stidham as their quarterback. Hmmm, what else… If you listen to […]
From Lone Star Ball | about 16 hours ago | 0 reads
There are rumors that are growing strong regarding trade talks between the Houston Astros and the Boston Red Sox. Many of the rumors involve Astros 3B Isaac Paredes and Red Sox LF Jarren Duran. There have been several iterations of this rumor, as far as packages going back and forth, and other players that have […]
From The Crawfish Boxes | 1 day ago | 0 reads
Astros Fans, It’s Time to Be Realistic About Kyle Tucker Astros fans, it’s time to step back, relax and stop all the hate for Kyle Tucker because he decided to sign with the Dodgers. You need to be realistic and get past your hurt feelings surrounding Kyle Tucker’s decision to sign with a team you […]
From The Crawfish Boxes | 1 day ago | 1 read
With Christian Vazquez’s contract finally off the books, the Twins have been searching for a new catcher behind starter Ryan Jeffers. According to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, Minnesota got their man in Caratini who agreed to a two year, $14M deal. Caratini, 32, has spent the past two season with the Astros backing up Yainer […]
From Twinkie Town | 2 days ago | 0 reads
In one of my last pieces, we discussed the concept of correlations. There are never any perfect correlations in statistics. So, while secondary average and real offensive value explains a lot, it does not explain everything. We are looking at what impacts run scoring and we need to look at factors outside of those two. […]
From The Crawfish Boxes | 3 days ago | 0 reads
Good morning.
From Bleed Cubbie Blue | 3 days ago | 1 read
According to Francys Romero, the Houston Astros have reached an agreement with international prospect Jack Valbrune, adding another promising young talent to their farm system. The 17-year-old Cuban outfielder, who trains at the Javier Rodriguez Academy, was officially declared a free agent by Major League Baseball yesterday and is expected to sign for a bonus […]
From The Crawfish Boxes | 4 days ago | 1 read
The final review of the 2025 season will be looking at each position in the Astros farm system. Next up is the outfield position. BEST OF THE BUNCH Zach Cole Cole was drafted by the Astros back in 2022. He got off to a slow start with some injuries but once he got hot he […]
From The Crawfish Boxes | 4 days ago | 1 read
Earlier today, it was announced that the Arizona Diamondbacks had traded for Cardinals’ third baseman Nolan Arenado. The Cardinals are eating $31M of the $42M left on the remaining two years of Arenado’s deal. The Cardinals have been trying to unload Arenado for two offseasons. He famously rejected a deal to the Astros last year […]
From The Crawfish Boxes | 4 days ago | 1 read
Often, the biggest problem with complex statistics is that there is not a good enough frame of reference. I always try to include league average references for the new metrics that we come up with, but league average is not the only frame of reference available. For many Astros fans, they want to know why […]
From The Crawfish Boxes | 5 days ago | 1 read
While the Astros and Yainer Diaz find themselves in an arbitration standoff, the 27-year old remains firmly entrenched as the club’s primary catcher in 2026, but as the start of spring training nears, the question of who will back him up remains unanswered. Victor Caratini is the incumbent, but appears to be headed elsewhere in […]
From The Crawfish Boxes | 5 days ago | 1 read
By any measure, the Houston Astros are running out of easy ways to improve their roster. With the signing of Tatsuya Imai and the team operating near the Competitive Balance Tax, ownership has made it clear that more significant free-agent spending is off the table. That leaves one realistic path forward: trades. The problem? Moving […]
From The Crawfish Boxes | 5 days ago | 0 reads
For weeks, baseball insiders have been saying that the free agent market has been slow moving. However it only takes one big move to potentially jump start things, and we may have gotten that in the Chicago Cubs signing free agent 3B Alex Bregman to a 5 year, $175M deal. Where does that take us? […]
From The Crawfish Boxes | 6 days ago | 1 read
Previous Winner Jacob Melton, OF25 | L/L | 6’3” | 208AAA (HOU) | .286/.389/.556 (141 wRC+) 150 PA, 6 HR, 12 SB, 14.7% BB, 20.0% KMLB (HOU) |.157/.234/.186 (22 wRC+) 78 PA, 0 HR, 7 SB, 7.7%BB, 37.2% K Brought over from Houston in the Brandon Lowe deal, Melton was the Astros top prospect and […]
From DRaysBay | 7 days ago | 0 reads
One of the things we want to do in the lab is to find as many different ways to explain what we are seeing as possible. The Houston Astros were 21st in the league in runs scored. They were 11th in team batting average. Therefore, something is going on that would limit their offensive production. […]
From The Crawfish Boxes | 7 days ago | 1 read
Ever since he was drafted fifth overall by the Astros in 2015, Kyle Tucker has been a well-known name in baseball. By the time the three most prominent outlets put out their top 100 or 101 lists in the winter of 2015-2016, Tucker was a consensus top-100 prospect in the sport. And by the time […]
From Amazin' Avenue | 9 days ago | 0 reads
In the movie “Moneyball”, one of the scouts told younger Billy Beane that all of us are told one day that we can no longer play a children’s game. Some of us are told when we are children and some of us are told much later on, but we are all told. Father Time is […]
From The Crawfish Boxes | 10 days ago | 1 read
The Houston Astros will host the 14th annual Houston Winter Invitational at Daikin Park at the end of the month, from Jan. 30-Feb. 1. The tournament will feature six NCAA Division II universities, squaring off in nine games across the three days. Tickets for the tournament are now available for purchase at Astros.com/WinterInvitational. The tournament field features […]
From The Crawfish Boxes | 11 days ago | 1 read
Morning, all! The Rangers are monitoring things in Venezuela and offering assistance to their Venezuelan players after the capture of Nicolas Maduro. The team has announced some changes to what used to be called the Winter Caravan events. Former Ranger farmhand and 2018 draft pick Jax Biggers has signed with the Astros as a minor […]
From Lone Star Ball | 12 days ago | 2 reads
The final review of the 2025 season will be looking at each position in the Astros farm system. Next up is the shortstop position. BEST OF THE BUNCH Caden Powell Powell was a 6th round pick back in 2024 out of junior college after posting some video game like numbers. He got off to a […]
From The Crawfish Boxes | 12 days ago | 0 reads
it is a new year and with new years come all kinds of possibilities. One of the fun parts when the calendar switches to 2026 is seeing what different projection systems have in store for your favorite team. I am a big believer in data. That is what the lab is all about. Few things […]
From The Crawfish Boxes | 12 days ago | 1 read
Results Starting with Game 2 of the 2004 ALDS and continuing through the 2020 Wild Card sweep by the Houston Astros, the Minnesota Twins lost 18 consecutive postseason contests—the longest such drought in North American professional sporting league history. The franchise had nearly become synonymous with the very concept of “playoff losing”. But then, 2023 […]
From Twinkie Town | 13 days ago | 1 read
There was a bit of a stir during the holiday week when Tatsuya Imai put pen to paper and agreed to a deal with the Houston Astros. The deal that he signed contained multiple opt-out clauses in it, one after each season to be exact. It’s interesting that the opt-outs exist since that type of […]
From The Good Phight | 14 days ago | 1 read
The Royals have been focused on trading their pitching depth for an outfielder, and could still use another bat despite adding Isaac Collins and Lane Thomas. One potential trade partner could be the Houston Astros, who are starved for starting pitching depth and have a surplus of outfielders. Earlier rumors focused on Jake Meyers, who […]
From Royals Review | 14 days ago | 0 reads
Legitimate prospects out of Latin America sign for at least six-figure signing bonuses, and they do so when they are 16 years old. Anyone who signs for less or signs when they are older tends to be an afterthought. Framber Valdez signed with the Astros for $10,000 as a 21-year-old on March 18, 2015. He […]
From The Crawfish Boxes | 14 days ago | 1 read