Yep. Injuries combined with sloppy roster construction meant we saw something like 750+ plate appearances last year taken by negative-value players (Trammell, Hummel, Chas, Rodgers, Melton, Short...etc.). We often had guys playing that were replacements of injured replacements of injured starters.
JL had decent numbers in limited action last year: .879 OPS across 41 games at the big league level. Gives us a lefty platoon option in the OF and he's a lot cheaper than Sanchez. I got no problems with that trade.
In other neighborhood big box news, construction at the site of the old Sears complex on N Shepherd finally got underway this week. Target is going in as the main tenant, but the plats I saw a while back had additional space for some other stuff.
Yeah, they added a small beer and wine section in the back corner shortly after the Heights Dry Zone was repealed to clear the way for HEB to get built. No meat/seafood counter, limited selection of just about everything, clientele looking like the walking dead....etc. That store has innumerable flaws, but it was still convenient for a quick trip if you only needed 1 or 2 basic items on your way home and didn't want to deal with HEB crowd.
Latest from Chandler: Stros were working on a 3-way trade earlier this year with BOS and STL that would have sent Paredes to Red Sox and Brendan Donovan to Houston. Obviously didn't pan out that way. Red Sox are now out of the Paredes market after they acquired a young 3B from the Brewers this morning. Pirates and other teams are still interested. He adds that, despite whatever Brown has said to the contrary, we do not intend to go into the season with the infield logjam unresolved. Just remains to be seen who can/will make an acceptable offer for E-sock.
More industry consolidation this week: SM and Civitas completed their merger that was announced back in the Fall. Devon announced yesterday they are acquiring Coterra and moving their HQ from OKC to Houston.
The weather might not feel like it, but it's almost Spring Training time. 12 days until Pitchers and Catchers. Just 3 weeks until first game. I imagine the Astros social media team will be queuing up the annual "loading up the equipment trucks for WPB" posts sometime next week.
We made it to the end of the month fellas. Hope everyone had a good start to the year. Enjoy a drink later this weekend if you've been abstaining and lets kick ass in February.
I'm late to the party on this, but finally picked up some pre-workout powder a few weeks ago and it has definitely been helping. The energy boost definitely gets you more ready to workout, especially in the mornings or on days when you're just plain tired. I did a bunch of looking around and reading reviews and found one that has a lower dose of caffeine to avoid getting jittery. Some brands have upwards of 300mg per scoop. This comes in at 175. Also helps that it tastes pretty good. I drink it with about 12 oz of water 20-30 minutes before arriving at the gym.
Final week of Dry January ahead. Been good other than a cheat night this past Thursday for an industry happy hour. It definitely helps to kickstart the year from a fitness perspective. Probably shed an extra 5 lbs this month that would have stayed on. Felt like it was easier this year than previous years, rarely ever had the urge. That said, I will admit I'm looking forward to grabbing a sixer when I'm getting groceries on Sunday.
If he wasn't so abysmal at striking out, he could have had a solid career as a journeyman DH and ended up with 300+ career HR. So much raw power. Unfortunately for him, not even 40 HR seasons can salvage a .215 BA and 40% K rate.
Chandler says Stros are continuing to talk with Red Sox about Paredes but nothing is close (in contrast to Twitter randos saying a deal is imminent). Other teams have also inquired about E-sock. Also adds that Wilyer Abreu may be more of a target for Astros than Duran as he'd cost less. Still a year from arbitration, wouldn't be an FA until 2030.
Bunch of hubbub on Twitter that Stros and Red Sox are discussing possible deals for Paredes. BOS needs a 3B badly after Bregs left and they ran off Devers. Add in whatever prospects are needed to get Duran and set us up in LF through '29 please!
Gonna be a glorious January day. Currently 35 in Houston. Should warm up to about 55 this afternoon. Clear, blue skies, calm breeze. I'm definitely taking the bike out for a long haul this afternoon. Firepit weather this evening.
Came down with a pretty solid cold this week. Totally sapped my energy. Was falling asleep by like 9 pm most nights and waking up exhausted in the mornings. Still managed to exercise every day, but mostly just cardio and some light lifting. Simply didn't have the strength to do my usual routine. This morning was my first full-on workout since last Saturday. Somebody once said in one of these threads a year or two ago something that stuck with me. I forget the actual wording, but to paraphrase: "Doing something, anything, even 50% effort when you're not feeling good is almost as important as what you do when you're at 100%." Not exactly how I wanted to spend the 2nd week of the year, but hopefully that's outta the way now.