Houston Astros Offseason Notes, December 4, 2014
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Minute Maid Park 5O1 Crawford St. Houston, TX 77OO2 Phone 713.259.8900 Houston Astros Offseason Notes, December 4, 2014 OFFSEASON SCHEDULE MEETING OF THE MINDS: The MLB Winter Meetings are set to take place next week from Dec. 8-11 (Mon.-Thur.) in San Diego, Calif...GM Jeff Luhnow, Asst. GM David Stearns, new manager A.J. Hinch and President of Business Operations Reid Ryan will be in attendance Dec. 8-11: Winter Meetings in San Di- along with several other front office staff members...the Astros will upload video interviews ego, CA each day from the Winter Meetings for media to download at www.mlbpressbox.com. Dec. 10: Ford C. Frick Award winner HINCH AVAILABLE: At the Winter Meetings, Astros manager A.J. Hinch will have his announced manager’s availability on Monday, Dec. 8 at 4:00 p.m. PT in the press work area. Dec. 11: Rule 5 Draft ASTROLINE: The 2nd installment of Astroline is tonight at Pluckers Wing Bar with Astros manager A.J. Hinch as the guest...Astros radio color commentator Steve Jan. 6: Hall of Fame Vote Announced Sparks will serve as host...Astroline is broadcast live weekly from 7-8 p.m. on KBME SportsTalk 790 and can be streamed online at Astros.com/Astroline during the off- Jan. 16: Salary arbitration figures ex- season...there will be 16 total segments of the show that will run through March 2015. changed UYA HISTORY: Two members of the Astros Urban Youth Academy, Pablo Salazar and Feb. 20: Pitchers/catchers and Major Evian Benjamin, became the first members to earn college baseball scholarships since League staff report. the Academy opened in 2010...Salazar, a shortstop and right-handed pitcher, was offered a scholarship by the University of Arkansas at Little Rock...Benjamin, a center fielder, received Feb. 21: Pitchers/catchers first work- his offer from Sam Houston State...both players (high school seniors) have committed to out. their respective colleges. Feb. 24: Position players report. COMMUNITY CALENDAR: The Astros have a number of events in the Houston commu- nity scheduled for the month of December...media are invited to each event...on Dec. 10, Feb. 25: First full squad workout. the Astros will host the Ronald McDonald House Christmas Party and Lunch at the Ronald McDonald House in Houston (11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.)...the Astros and Craig Biggio will host Feb. 26: Media photo day. the annual Sunshine Kids Christmas Party at the Houston Children’s Museum on Dec. 12 (6:00-9:00 p.m.)...on Dec. 13, the Astros Urban Youth Academy families are volunteering Mar. 5: First Spring Training Game at the Houston Food Bank (8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.)...Dec. 18 will be the Star of Hope Dinner (vs. PHI) for women and children hosted by the Astros in the Union Station lobby (5:00-7:00 p.m.)... the Astros will release more details to the media prior to each event...the Astros have also April 6: First Regular Season Game been assisting the Star of Hope shelter with their ongoing lunch service on the 1st and 3rd (vs. CLE) Fridays of each month (11:00 a.m.-1:30 p.m.). CALL TO THE HALL: The ballot for the 2015 Hall of Fame induction class was officially announced on Nov. 24, and once again the Astros have 2 strong candidates that will be eligible for induction in 1B Jeff Bagwell and 2B Craig Biggio...this marks Bagwell’s 5th year on the ballot, and Biggio’s 3rd...last year, Biggio fell just 2 votes shy of receiving the required 75 percent of the vote for induction into the Hall...Bagwell received 54.3 percent last year. • The Case for Biggio: One of 28 players in MLB history to reach 3,000 hits (26 of those 27 other players are in the Hall of Fame)... one of 14 players ever to reach both 3,000 hits and 1,000 extra-base hits...his 285 HBPs are a modern MLB record...668 doubles are a Major League record by a right-handed hitter...only player in MLB history to reach 3,000 hits, 600 doubles, 250 homers, 400 steals...earned 5 Silver Slugger Awards, 4 Gold Glove Awards and made 7 All-Star appearances. • The Case for Bagwell: Was a 4-time All-Star and 3-time Silver Slugger Award winner...was named the NL MVP in 1994 by unani- mous vote...earned a Rawlings Gold Glove Award in 1994 and was named the NL Rookie of the year in 1991...is the only first baseman in National League history to have a season with 30 homers and 30 steals, which he did twice...owned a career .297 batting average with 449 homers, a .408 on-base percentage and a .540 slugging percentage. 40-MAN MOVES: The Astros added RHP Michael Feliz, IF Ronald Torreyes and RHP Vincent Velasquez to the 40-man roster prior to the Nov. 18 deadline to protect players from selection in the Rule 5 Draft...additionally, the Astros outrighted RHP Anthony Bass to Triple A Fresno, while RHP Josh Zeid was claimed off waivers by Detroit. • RHP Michael Feliz: 6-foot-4, 226-pound right-hander is ranked by Baseball America as the Astros No. 5 prospect...struck out 111 batters in 102.2 innings at Class A Quad Cities in 2014...21-year-old participated in the 2014 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game. • IF Ronald Torreyes: A career .306 hitter in the minor leagues, he hit .298 with a .345 OBP at Triple A in 2014...struck out just 26 times in 519 plate appearances in 2014, which was the lowest strikeout rate (5%) in the Pacific Coast League...played 2nd base, 3rd base, shortstop, center field and left field last year. • RHP Vincent Velasquez: The Astros 2nd-round pick in 2010 is rated by Baseball America as Houston’s No. 4 prospect...went 7-4 with a 3.74 ERA (23ER/55.1IP) and 72 strikeouts in the hitter-friendly Class A Advanced California League in 2014...22-year-old pitched in 5 games in the Arizona Fall League following the season, striking out 13 batters in 13.2 innings. PRESLEY INKED: The Astros and OF Alex Presley agreed to terms on a one-year contract for the 2015 season on Nov. 18, avoiding the arbitration process...Presley appeared in 89 games for the Astros last season, hitting .244 (62x254) with six homers and 19 RBI... he made 63 starts for Houston, including 29 in left field, 20 in right field and 14 in center field. PROSPECTING: Baseball America recently published their Top 10 Astros Prospects list for 2015: SS Carlos Correa (#1), RHP Mark Appel (#2), RHP Mike Foltynewicz (#3), RHP Vincent Velasquez (#4), RHP Michael Feliz (#5), CF Brett Phillips (#6), 3B Colin Moran (#7), 3B Rio Ruiz (#8), CF Teoscar Hernandez (#9) and LHP Josh Hader (#10). NEW HOME ON THE AIR: ROOT Sports Southwest regional sports network officially made its debut on the air on Nov. 17, and will serve as the new television home of the Houston Astros and Houston Rockets...ROOT Sports Southwest will carry Astros regular season and Spring Training games beginning in March...network is available to AT&T U-verse subscribers on channels 758 (SD) and 1758 (HD), and DIRECTV customers on channel 674...local Comcast customers can see the network via channels 39 (SD) and 639 (HD). SPRING TRAINING REPORT DATES: Astros pitchers, catchers and Major League staff will report to Spring Training on Feb. 20 with the first workout on the following day...position players will report on Feb. 24...the first full-squad workout is Feb. 25...MEDIA PHOTO DAY: Media photo day is Feb. 26. at 7 a.m....media interested in participating in photo day can contact Chris Peixoto (cpeixoto@ astros.com). RISING STAR: Popular Astros mascot Orbit was featured in a new ESPN “This is SportsCenter” commercial which debuted on Nov. 19...the spot also includes Houston Rockets All-Star James Harden...”This is SportsCenter” has been an award-winning series of humorous commercials featuring various athletes and team mascots from several different sports teamed with ESPN’s on-air talent... this marks the first time an Astros mascot has been featured in the commercial series. NL West Champions 198O, 1986 | NL Central Champions 1997, 1998, 1999, 2OO1 | NL Division Series Champions 2OO4 | NL Champions 2OO5 ASTROS AMBASSADORS: Four Astros players (IF Jose Altuve, OF Dexter Fowler, IF/OF Chris Carter and RHP Jose Veras) along with Astros mascot Orbit traveled to Japan in November as part of the Japan All-Star Series 2014...led by Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell, the MLB All-Star Team played a 5-game series against Samurai Japan (Japan’s National Team)...2014 American League All-Star and Silver Slugger Award winner Jose Altuve led all Japan All-Star Series hitters with a .429 (6x14) batting average while adding two doubles and two RBI...the MLB All-Stars ended with a 2-3 record in the series. GOLD RUSH: LHP Dallas Keuchel was named a 2014 American League Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner...Keuchel was 1 of 3 finalists for the award for AL pitchers, with the others being Blue Jays LHP Mark Buehrle and Mariners RHP Felix Hernandez... Keuchel became the 1st pitcher in Astros history to win a Gold Glove Award, and the 8th player overall...the last Astro to win a Gold Glove Award was OF Michael Bourn from 2009-10.