Astros Rumors & News

The Big Lead "The Cincinnati Reds swept the Detroit Tigers in a doubleheader unlike any other yesterday. Major League Baseball's first foray into the seven-inning game was a mixed bag. Playing 14 innings instead of 18 certainly made the long day a bit shorter and, on balance, the most deserving team..." August 03

Los Angeles Times "A grueling Sunday afternoon in which the Angels let another late-inning lead slip away in a 6-5, 11-inning loss to the Houston Astros ended with news that could puncture their playoff hopes in a pandemic-shortened season. Soon after the 4-hour, 37-minute marathon..." August 03

CBS Sports "Houston Astros right-hander Zack Greinke was perfect through five in his start Saturday against the Los Angeles Angels (GameTracker). Taylor Ward's one-out single broke up the bid and started a mini-rally for the Angels. Greinke still had a quality final..." August 02

MLB Trade Rumors "Astros closer Roberto Osuna left Saturday’s game due to an arm injury, and manager Dusty Baker told reporters that Osuna will head from Anaheim to Houston to undergo an MRI.  Facing his third batter of the ninth inning last evening, Osuna threw a pitch to the..." August 02

Bleacher Report "Before it began, exactly how the first 60-game season in Major League Baseball's long history would unfold was anybody's guess. Now that we have more than a week's worth of data, let's dive into it. It's obviously too early to read too much into anything,..." August 02

The Score "Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred isn't ready to give up on the 2020 season just yet. Even amid a COVID-19 outbreak that's reportedly affected 20 people within the Miami Marlins organization and as multiple St. Louis..." August 01

Sportsnaut "It was always going to be tricky to start the 2020 MLB season amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic around the United States. Unlike the NBA and NHL, baseball is being played outside of a bubble. This brings a lot of issues to the forefront. Immaturity from players and the danger of..." July 31

Larry Brown Sports "There is growing frustration among some MLB players about their colleagues not taking health and safety protocols seriously, but make no mistake, there are plenty taking things seriously. In light of the Miami Marlins’ COVID-19 outbreak, some players appear to be taking steps to..." July 31

MLB Trade Rumors "Recently, we ran through the full slate of future financial commitments teams have made to MLB players. As I explained throughout that series of posts, there are several different ways to look at salaries. Since the purpose of this exercise is to see where teams stand as we enter a period of..." July 31

Clutch Points "MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has threatened to shut down the 2020 MLB season if the sport doesn’t do a better job of managing the coronavirus, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN. This comes in the wake of a plethora of Miami Marlins players and coaches testing..." July 31

MLB.com "Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association jointly announced today the latest COVID-19 testing results under MLB’s COVID-19 Health Monitoring & Testing Plan, through the end of Thursday, July 30: MONITORING TESTING Covered Individuals..." July 31

The Score "Houston Astros owner Jim Crane understands why the public is still upset over MLB's punishment handed down to the club for stealing signs electronically in 2017 - the year the team won the World Series - and parts of 2018. "People are aggravated the players didn't..." July 31

MLB.com "If a baseball game is played and no one is there to see it, was it ever really played? That was the philosophical question when the coronavirus delayed Opening Day until July and necessitated social distancing between players in the dugouts and masks out in public. It also meant that,..." July 31

MLB Trade Rumors "7:01pm: An agreement has been reached, per Jeff Passan of ESPN. Seven-inning doubleheaders will take effect Aug. 1. 6:12pm: Major League Baseball and the union are moving toward an agreement on 2020 doubleheaders, Ken Rosenthal and Jayson Stark of The..." July 31

Sportsnaut "Something seemed to be off when new Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Wade Miley took to the bump against the division-rival Chicago Cubs earlier this week. The veteran yielded six runs (five earned) in just 1.2 innings of work. We now know something was indeed off. " July 30

ESPN "Ernie Banks famously said: "Let's play two.'' Baseball players just might not want to play nine innings twice in one day during this pandemic-delayed season. While the Cleveland Indians swept the Chicago White Sox in the first..." July 30

ESPN "It became clear a couple of years ago that Major League Baseball and its commissioner, Rob Manfred, were working toward an inevitable introduction of weird extra-innings rules, and in this space we were pretty harsh to it. "The runner-on-second-with-nobody-out fix is just about the..." July 30

MLB Trade Rumors "It seems that Major League Baseball would prefer to avoid a repeat of the Astros’ sign-stealing debacle, a scandal that only worsened when individual players escaped punishment due to a lack of a punitive framework and an exchange of immunity for information. There’s a new..." July 30

The Big Lead "If there's Major League Baseball in 2021 — and that's a big if — they need to go back to extra innings as we've known them for over 150 years. Let's get that out of the way. Putting a runner on second base without him earning his way out there is a bastardization of..." July 30

ESPN "Following the coronavirus outbreak that infected nearly half of the Miami Marlins' roster and prompted the temporary suspension of the team's season, Major League Baseball is encouraging players not to leave hotels in road cities except for games, mandating the use of surgical..." July 30

CBS Sports "There are four star players who have looked totally baffled at the plate so far this season. Aside from poor Khris Davis -- who is 0 for 15 -- these are the next four if you sorted for the worst batting average in baseball. You might recognize the names.  Christian..." July 30

The Score "MLB and the MLBPA have agreed that players who steal signs electronically can be suspended and receive no pay or service time, according to Evan Drellich of The Athletic. The league has reportedly hired an independent security firm to monitor video-room entrances. Additionally,..." July 30

MLB Trade Rumors "The Astros announced that they’ve placed right-handed reliever Joe Biagini on the 10-day injured list due to shoulder soreness and, in a corresponding move, selected the contract of right-hander Andre Scrubb from their alternate training site. Biagini, 30,..." July 29

Larry Brown Sports "Joe Kelly’s suspension for throwing at Houston Astros players has once again sparked a debate over whether the punishment fit the crime. MLB was widely criticized for not suspending any Astros players for their roles in the team’s 2017 sign-stealing scandal, with many..." July 29

Bleacher Report "Lance McCullers Jr. has taken exception to Joe Kelly throwing behind Alex Bregman during the Los Angeles Dodgers' 5-2 victory over the Houston Astros on Tuesday. McCullers told reporters Kelly's actions were "unprofessional" and..." July 29

The Score "When Major League Baseball announced its return-to-play plan in June, it was a foregone conclusion that relief pitchers would play an outsized role in the unprecedented season ahead, at least at the beginning of the campaign. A truncated, three-week training camp wouldn't provide sufficient..." July 29

ESPN "Major League Baseball is looking into the Joe Kelly incident in Houston on Tuesday night, a source tells ESPN's Buster Olney. The Los Angeles Dodgers flame-throwing reliever sent a 96-mph fastball whizzing behind the head of Houston's Alex..." July 29

MLB Trade Rumors "It appears that the recent run of COVID-19 infections within the Marlins organization has prompted further contemplation of rules changes. The MLB Players’ Association has reached out to its members to gauge their sentiment regarding a few potential tweaks, per Britt Ghiroli of The..." July 29

New York Post "A bubble can’t contain Major League Baseball. That’s the reasonable contention that Rob Manfred made Monday to the MLB Network as concerns grew about the league’s viability in the wake of a coronavirus outbreak among the Miami Marlins. Back during the..." July 29

The Spun "We have an MLB trade a couple of days into the weird 2020 regular season. The Houston Astros are in major need of some pitching help. The team’s ace, Justin Verlander, is out with an injury. It’s unclear when the two-time Cy Young award winner will be..." July 29

USA Today "They may be playing baseball in the middle of a world-wide pandemic, where social distancing is strongly encouraged and breathing on one another is prohibited. But sorry, it wasn’t about to stop three years of built-up anger and rage. The Los Angeles Dodgers, believing they..." July 29

Yahoo! Sports "A contentious series was expected when we first learned the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros would meet this week in Houston. A contentious start to the series is exactly what we got in the Dodgers 5-2 series-opening victory on Tuesday. The benches..." July 29

MSN.com "The Astros have placed Justin Verlander on 10-day injured list due to a forearm strain and selected the contract of right-hander Brandon Bielak, MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart tweets. Houston has also optioned infielder Taylor Jones to alternate camp and..." July 28

Houston Chronicle "On the day the Astros officially placed Justin Verlander on the injured list, the team had no further update on its ace or his “right forearm strain.” “He’s in a good frame of mind,” manager Dusty Baker said Monday. “This guy, I’ve always..." July 28

Bleacher Report "Major League Baseball has issued a statement about its COVID-19 test results in the wake of the outbreak that has affected the Miami Marlins.  Per the statement, the Marlins are the only organization that has returned positive tests for on-field personnel in over 6,400 tests..." July 28

The Big Lead "Major League Baseball is less than a week into its season and they have already hit a little bump in the road. With 17 Miami Marlins (so far) testing positive for COVID-19, MLB has decided to "pause" the team's season, with their series against the Orioles and Nationals scheduled..." July 28

Yardbarker "It took less than one full week for the 2020 MLB season played amid the COVID-19 pandemic to fall apart. The coronavirus outbreak among members of the Miami Marlins led to both the Marlins and Philadelphia Phillies temporarily shutting down after those two..." July 28

Sports Radio 610 "The Astros are nearing an agreement to purchase the contract of three-time Major League All Star Fernando Rodney from the Sugar Land Skeeters, a source tells SportsRadio 610. Rodney, 43, joined the Skeeters July 18 and pitched a scoreless inning with a strikeout on Sunday in his..." July 28

MLB.com "Major League Baseball is being played this season in unprecedented conditions, under circumstances that would have seemed unimaginable as recently as four months ago. And as we’ve seen in recent days, it’s an extremely difficult endeavor. We live in scary times, a fact that is..." July 28

MLB Trade Rumors "The Astros announced that they’ve exercised their 2021 club option on manager Dusty Baker. Mark Berman of FOX 26 in Houston first reported that Houston was set to pick up the option.  " July 28

NJ "MLB wants to play ball. The coronavirus may say otherwise. Dr. Anthony Fauci, believes the COVID-19 outbreak on the Miami Marlins could spell the end of the 2020 season during an appearance Tuesday on “Good Morning America.”..." July 28

Total Pro Sports "Julia Rose surely knows how to keep giving the boys what they want. The founder and CEO of an online publication SHAGMAG rose to prominence in 2019 when she and pal Lauren Summer flashed their bare breasts at Gerrit Cole during Game 5 of the World Series. " July 28

USA Today "The Los Angeles Dodgers haven’t walked into Minute Maid Park in three years, but when they enter Tuesday afternoon, their eyes won’t stop wandering until they find it, hanging above the left-center-field wall, just to the left of the train, painted in gold. The 2017..." July 28

The Score "One day after ace right-hander Justin Verlander landed on the 10-day injured list with a strained forearm, the Houston Astros got more bad news about their pitching staff. Relievers Chris Devenski and Ryan Pressly have both experienced elbow..." July 28

Bleacher Report "MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred confirmed the league will carry on with the 2020 season after the Miami Marlins experienced a COVID-19 outbreak.  ESPN's Jeff Passan and Jesse Rogers reported at least 13 members of the Miami Marlins have tested positive for..." July 27

Total Pro Sports "The Houston Astros were riding high over the weekend as the only undefeated team in the league, and then they were dealt a serious blow when it was first reported that he would be out for the season with an elbow injury. " July 27

Larry Brown Sports "Major League Baseball postponed two games on Monday after multiple Marlins players and coaches tested positive for the coronavirus, but as of now there are no plans to cancel or postpone more games going forward. The Marlins are undergoing another round of COVID-19 testing on Monday,..." July 27

CBS Sports "Less than one week into the 2020 Major League Baseball regular season, the league has been forced to postpone two games scheduled for Monday night because of a COVID-19 outbreak among the Miami Marlins that has reportedly entailed more than a dozen positive tests. The..." July 27

Bleacher Report "Coming into the shortened 2020 season, the Houston Astros could have assumed two Cy Young Award winners would anchor their otherwise thin starting rotation. Now they know one of them will be out for a while. The team announced Sunday that veteran..." July 27

Yahoo! Sports "Justin Verlander, the Houston Astros ace and future Hall of Famer, will miss the rest of the 2020 season, according to a report from Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. Verlander, 37 and the reigning AL Cy Young winner, reportedly has an elbow injury. The Astros have yet to..." July 26