The expectations for the Houston Astros this season are beyond low. Most national sportswriters are predicting another worst-in-baseball season and many are suggesting the team, now in the tougher American League West, will make a run at a record setting losing season.

I’m not completely sold.

I don’t think the 2013 Houston Astros are a foregone conclusion. Now, before you bust out the straight jacket and have me committed, hear me out. I don’t think anyone can possibly know what to expect of the Astros this season. Yes, if you look at the roster in attendance at Spring Training you’ll do a lot of  ”who?” and “really?” before you hit a name that you think has long term, big league potential. But there’s a factor that I believe will be more influential than a list of unknown’s on the roster – Bo Porter.

Bo Porter at Spring Training in Kissimmee, Florida

Don’t get me wrong, Bo Porter’s not the second coming, but I think he’s exactly what the doctor ordered for the Houston Astros. Remember last year as we all laughed and groaned and cried as the Astros made silly error after silly error, so much so that the .gifs of their antics were in the running for awards of worst plays on some fan sites?

Of course you remember all of that. What those behaviors and plays come down to is reactions. When the pressure is on, human beings react instinctively, they don’t think, rationalize, weigh the pros and cons and consequences of their actions – they just act. The past few seasons fans have witnessed some really poor actions on the field at Minute Maid Park. The ranting on twitter is comical – the base running errors, the throwing errors, the little league mentality of a major league team.

Not all the name calling has been fair, but some of it was certainly well earned. I expect to do less of that this season. I expect to see fewer silly errors. I hope to never say “little league” and “Astros” in the same sentence. What’s all this expectation and hope riding on? Bo Porter.

I’ll admit it, he charmed me a bit, with his jovial personality and nice-guy smile, Bo Porter knows how to win someone over. But more importantly, Porter’s got good things to say about his approach and why it will be different. I asked him a while back if he’d be addressing those fundamentals that so often failed to produce good reactions in the past few years.

“As a team, we will be prepared differently than they have been prepared in the past.” The way in which Porter conveys thoughts like that one make you just know he’s passionate and believes what he’s saying heart and soul. To listen to him explain the 5 P’s (Proper Preparation Produces Peak Performers) is akin to listening to a Southern Baptist preacher on Sunday morning.

Porter’s hand slaps the table for emphasis, he leans into his statement and enunciates every word. The man means business. And reports from Spring Training camp say he’s hands on, more so than any other manager has been.

All of this makes me smile at the thought process behind Bo Porter’s hiring. I already thought Jeff Luhnow was a pretty bright guy, but his best move thus far may just be the jovial and passionate manager that brings a background of not just baseball knowledge, but a hard core football love as well. When your team is made up of young guns and no names, I think the guy you want leading the pack is someone like Bo, a little bit southern charmer and a little bit old school strict  father. He’ll give you all the love you want, but you better have picked up your room and respected your mother that day. Yes, just what the doctor ordered, indeed.

So if you want to count out the Houston Astros, feel free, but I just can’t do it -not with Bo Porter at the helm.

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the tortured Senior Houston Astros Writer for Aerys Sports. You can email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her ridiculous ramblings on sports, vodka and the weeone on twitter @agirlinthesouth.

It started innocently enough last night when Houston Astros fan Steve Eisenhower (@KevinBassStache) saw White Sox fans tweeting funny movie titles about their team. Astros fans, with nothing but humor to get them through many past seasons and a handful still to come, stole it, owned it and knocked it out of the park.

By 10pm CST #AstrosMovies was trending on twitter, despite a dropping and disgruntled fan base. The Houston Astros may not have a lot of heft when it comes to payroll, but when it comes to witty fans? They’ve got it in spades. There were participants from all the major blogs – myself, The Crawfish Boxes, What the Heck, Bobby, The Houston Sports Counterplot, Climbing Tal’s Hill, and Astros County (who’s been know to start hilarious hashtags in the past of things like #MMPpromotions).

Before long MLB beat writer, Brian McTaggart, had joined in as did Mike Fast and Kevin Goldstein of the Astros. I was waiting with bated breath to see if Jeff Luhnow would join in the fun, but he proved to be the most grown up of us all. Former Astros pitcher, Chuckie Fick, tweeted his thanks for being spared from mention which instigated a flood of tweets of movie titles with his name. (Moby Fick, Fun with Fick and Jane, Fick Tracy). Hilarity has ensued.

So what were some of the best in the bunch? Here you go Astros fans….laugh away. And it’s not too late to get in on the action. The hashtag #AstrosMovies was still trending this morning.

And I can’t leave out my own….as was pointed out to me on twitter. My favorite of mine?

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the tortured Senior Houston Astros Writer for Aerys Sports. You can email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her ridiculous ramblings on sports, vodka and the weeone on twitter @agirlinthesouth.

This past weekend at Houston Astros’ FanFest, I got a chance to sit down with a few members of the club and get their take on the upcoming season. In that mix was outfielder, Justin Maxwell.

Maxwell will likely always be best known for his first at bat for Houston. Justin had been claimed off waivers from the Yankees on April 8, 2012, came up to bat on Tuesday, April 10th for the first time in an Astros uniform and blasted a pinch hit, two-run homer in the eighth inning in what would become an 8-3 win for the Astros over the Atlanta Braves. I was at that game and I remember thinking, “I’m gonna like this guy.”

Maxwell started to come into his own last season as he hit 18 home runs, the club leader for 2012. He’s a guy that you notice right away thanks to his 6’5″, 235 presence, but he’s not as scary as his size implies. A mild and well-mannered guy, the biggest takeaway after speaking with him was how poised and well-spoken he is. This is a trait that may bode well for him and this young club in the future.

At age 29, he’s one of the older guys in the clubhouse now.  I asked him about the youth in the clubhouse and who the players could look up to this year. He’s met Carlos Pena and is looking forward to learning as much as he can from the seasoned veteran this year, but sees himself as someone who can become a leader for the Astros. “As one of the older players this year, I’m usually not as vocal as I should be, so hopefully I can take more of  leadership role.”

And Maxwell has some wisdom to spread. His career trajectory was one of slow and steady wins the race. He paid his dues and worked hard at every level of baseball. He admits to frustration and mistakes along the way,  ”2010 was really frustrating, I was up and down a lot – 5 times and I kind of let that affect my play a little bit. But it’s always in your favor to play well. No one cares about what you’re going through off the field, they want to see you perform on the field.”

But that experience made him realize exactly where his real attention should be. What advice would he give to a frustrated player? “Just focus on baseball, the rest will take care of itself.” If that’s the sort of advice that Maxwell imparts to this young club, I’d say he’s the absolute right guy for the job.

Maxwell takes his role of power hitter seriously and knows he’s capable of the big hits when the team needs them, but wants to work on improving his average. “I’d like to hit for average this year and be more consistent that way. Just try to hit the ball every at bat, don’t try to do too much. Just let the game come to me.”

With the move to the American League every fan wants to know what changes in the mind of the players and Justin Maxwell seems ready for some of the changes at least. “We’ll have some dialogue in Spring Training, but for me, it’s nice not to have to watch the pitchers hit anymore or bunt because to me that was kind of boring.” As you can imagine that was followed by a lot of laughter.

As fans brace themselves for a new era of baseball in Houston, I feel confident that with Justin Maxwell, the Houston Astros get much, much more than a guy who can hit a baseball. With a young roster and a rebuild in progress, Justin Maxwell is poised to make an impact on this club well beyond batting average.

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the tortured Senior Houston Astros Writer for Aerys Sports. You can email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her ridiculous ramblings on sports, vodka and the weeone on twitter @agirlinthesouth.

I’ve been mulling over a conversation from a dinner last week about the Houston Astros. As you’re all aware, the new regional sports network that the Astros are part owners of (they own 46.3%) isn’t available widely in Houston yet. So far, Comcast Sports Net is available on Comcast and a few small cable providers, but I don’t have it at my house, just like 60% of Houston homes.

This came up at a dinner full of Astros fans last week and it begged the question, “If your cable provider doesn’t carry CSN by Opening Day, will you change your cable to Comcast?” My answer was a resounding, “Hell, no.” I had Comcast once upon a time and for reasons I won’t bore you with here I swore them off. What surprised me was that half the people at the table said they would, indeed, change to Comcast if that’s the only way they’d see games. The remainder of us had other ways we’d stay abreast, including the radio, but held firm that we wouldn’t budge.

Since the Chronicle online blog posted a story about possible conspiracy theories and Jayne over at What the Heck, Bobby got up on her soapbox, I figured it was time to ask all of you what you will do. So, check the box…

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Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the tortured Senior Houston Astros Writer for Aerys Sports. You can email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her ridiculous ramblings on sports, vodka and the weeone on twitter @agirlinthesouth.

The Houston Astros are poised to have a pretty horrible season. I have no reason to believe that the team, as it sits now, will win more than 60 games this year. Is that me being pretty negative? Maybe, but I think it’s me being pretty realistic. I’d love to say that the rebuild efforts were further along than that, but they’re not.

The good news is that the minor leagues look good. They’ve jumped in the rankings from the very bottom of the pack (30) to being a top 10 minor league system in a very short time. And we all know that to have a successful ball club, a minor league system jam-packed with talent is essential. So Jeff Luhnow’s plan seems to be moving forward and, dare I say, working.

In the meantime, those of us who mainly follow the big league team suffer a bit. So how will the Houston Astros keep our attention this year? Is a new Manager in Bo Porter enough? Is watching Jose Altuve enough? Is Carlos Pena enough? Nope. None of those things will get fans to put their butts in seats.

I’ve wondered if the dismal failure that is the spread of Comcast Sports Net would encourage attendance to games. “You can’t see it on tv, so see it live!” But at a dinner this weekend 2 out of 4 fans said they’d change cable providers to insure their ability to watch Houston baseball. For the record, I have AT&T Uverse and will not be switching. I”ll find another way and there’s always radio.

But if you’ve been following the announcements coming out of Minute Maid Park recently, you know that everything old is new again…and I don’t just mean the logo. The team’s recruiting former players for roles in the organization. Is this an attempt to draw us back? If a favorite of mine is working for the team, will I come to more games?

Who’s on the menu so far, you ask. We all know that Craig Biggio already has a role as a special assistant to the GM and I can only see his role increasing over time. Roger Clemens will be working with the pitching staff. He’ll be hands on starting at Spring Training and will likely spend the majority of his time working with minor leaguers.

Alan Ashby, who played with the Astros throughout the 1980′s as a catcher is back as a tv* guy. And Geoff Blum will join the television broadcast team and is expected to cover about 60 or so games to fill in when Bill Brown isn’t on air.

Morgan Ensberg and Adam Everett will return to the club in roles in the minor leagues. Ensberg will be a development specialist assigned to Class A Lancaster and Everett will be an infield instructor and will work with both the minor league teams and the major league club. Both of these guys were on the 2005 Astros World Series team.

So, is this a gimicky parade of boys from the past to get our attention, or are these legit hires? I’d argue that they are both. Every one of these guys is definitely qualified to do the job they’ve been hired to do and in some cases, Clemens in particular, I don’t think there’s anyone who could do it better. Adam Everett was a fantastic defensive player and we all know that the Astros could use some serious help in that regard – if you don’t know what I’m talking about – go watch THIS VIDEO. (By the way, Bo Porter gets a shoutout in that video as the Nats 3B coach).

I salute the Astros for reaching out to former players who have the talent to help coach the young staff. I think it’s a good move. And in a year where good moves are needed to appease fans who are angry about all the bad moves (Jim DeShaies, Dave Raymond, Brett Dolan – good talent lost needlessly). Will this be enough to get former fans to come back and buy tickets? Nah. It’s not enough. But it’s an interesting move and one I’ll be following to see how these new coaches pan out.

None of these guys will be in high profile positions and fans aren’t going to see them, hear about them, etc throughout the season, but there is a little flicker of something – dare I say “hope” – that players who played in Houston’s glory days are coming home to play a role in returning the team to the days of old.

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the tortured Senior Houston Astros Writer for Aerys Sports. You can email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her ridiculous ramblings on sports, vodka and the weeone on twitter @agirlinthesouth.

*Edited – my first draft went out before I had caffeine and I stated that Alan Ashby would be joining the radio team. That was incorrect. He will be joining the television team.

Last night I watched as my twitter feed exploded with talk of the Baseball Hall of Fame. There was an overview show on MLB Network and discussion around each of the players on the ballot. A lot of Houston Astros fans were contemplating throwing things at their televisions as the participants shrugged off Craig Biggio asking if he was a “great player” and passed over Jeff Bagwell because of unsubstantiated “suspicion” about using performance enhancing drugs.

The announcement as to who the 2013 HOF class will be happens at 1pm Central time and you can watch it live on MLB Network if you’d like.

Many BBWAA members have publicly stated who was on their ballot and their reasonings as to why they did or didn’t vote for a particular player. There’s been a lot of talk and debate about whether steroid-era players should or should not be inducted and should they go on the first ballot or have to wait a few years. They discussed the “morality clause” and how heavily that should weigh on their minds as they decided which names to check yes on this year. If you want to see a list of who has voted yes and no and publicized it with regards to Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio, go visit Astros County, they’ve been keeping track.

Although I care to some degree who gets into the HOF and who doesn’t, I’ve decided I’m not going to let today’s announcements change anything for me. Honestly, it doesn’t change anything for anyone. Is getting into the Hall an honor? Absolutely. Does it change what a player did or did not accomplish in their career? Absolutely not.

Whether Bagwell or Biggio are inducted or not, they defined an era in Houston Astros baseball. They were the core of the Killer B’s. They helped our local team get to the playoffs six times and were major contributors to the team getting all the way to the World Series one year. They were good baseball players, no matter what happens today.

I could list their stats, but you guys likely know exactly what each accomplished. I could list their records, but again, those are achievements that Houston is so very familiar with at this point. Instead, I’ll say this. Craig Biggio was the player that captured my daughter’s heart and began her love of baseball. Jeff Bagwell was a player that I adored watching hit a baseball on sunny days in Spring and Summer. The HOF vote won’t take any of that away.

So thank you, Bags. Thank you Bigg. You both contributed to a whole host of memories for me, the weeone and the city of Houston when it comes to baseball…no matter what the BBWAA thinks.

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the tortured Senior Houston Astros Writer for Aerys Sports. You can email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her ridiculous ramblings on sports, vodka and the weeone on twitter @agirlinthesouth.

Last Friday, I spent the evening watching the Houston Aeros hockey team play some team in red. Anyway, I went to the game with Jayne from What the Heck, Bobby, the blog that follows the Houston Astros minor league system. It stands to reason that in an evening fueled by Grey Goose, Dewers and twenty-somethings on skates that baseball would be a topic of conversation, right? Duh.

One of the topics that we wandered onto that evening was Jordan Lyles. We talked about his season and his woes the third time through the batting order last year. The first two times that hitters saw Lyles’ stuff he had the upper hand, but by the third at bat, hitters had his number. It was like clockwork and he was getting lit up like a Christmas tree. Is it something they can coach him through? That’s what I wondered.

I don’t have an answer to that particular question yet, and I’m working on it, but when I read Brian T. Smith’s article on Chron.com about Roger Clemens taking an active role with the Astros again, that exchange last week about Lyles is what immediately came to mind.

According to the Chronicle article, the Astros are expecting and hoping for a decent amount of involvement from Clemens this season.

“We’ve got the whole calendar mapped out, and we’re going to sort of figure out what makes sense,” Luhnow said Monday. “But the idea is to plug him in in spring training, plug him in throughout the season, and just have him get a lot more involved with our pitchers.”

So there you have it. Roger Clemens is going to be spending some time working with the Houston Astros pitching staff.

There’s been lots of buzz about Clemens in the last year. First there was the whole “pitching for the Skeeters” thing that fueled rumors of a posible start at Minute Maid Park again. Those rumors were squelched by Clemens himself. Now, we’re a day away from finding out what judge and jury have to say about Clemens, PEDs and history when the results from this year’s Baseball Hall of Fame voting are announced. Clemens, along with several other steroid-era players, appeared on the ballot for the first time this year.

What do I think about the influence of Roger Clemens on the young pitching staff in Houston? I think it could be outstanding. The Astros have needed reinforcements in pitching for quite some time. With a rotation of young kids, the need increases. If you have a pitcher like Clemens ready, willing and able to impart some advice, knowledge and help, you have to be excited.

Imagine being a 22 year old pitcher, finding your way in the major leagues and your new mentor just happens to be a guy with 7 Cy Young Awards, a guy who has two World Series rings, a guy who was named an All-Star 11 times and the All-Star MVP once, a guy who had a career 3.12 ERA. Not many pitchers get the opportunity to be coached and mentored by a player like that.

So thinking back to last week when the Aeros were beating that team in red and my ramblings with Jayne about Jordan Lyles, do I think that that the Astros could use the expertise of Roger Clemens? Absolutely.

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the tortured Senior Houston Astros Writer for Aerys Sports. You can email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her ridiculous ramblings on sports, vodka and the weeone on twitter @agirlinthesouth.

Perhaps as a blogger I became too attached to the Houston Astros. Perhaps. But I think that when it comes to fandom, any fandom, change is hard. It broke my heart when Rob Lowe left The West Wing. I didn’t like it when the Twilight Series replaced the actress who played Victoria. And when Jerome Bettis retired from the Pittsburgh Steelers, I felt as if it was a foreign team. Change, it seems, is hard to swallow when you’re a fan.

I guess then it shouldn’t have been too surprising when, at the end of the 2012 season, I’d had enough. I was watching the Houston Astros make change after change after change and I couldn’t take it anymore. I needed to step away, get a little perspective and find a way to love my favorite baseball team again.

I haven’t written anything about the Astros really since the World Series. I took my own off season of sorts. I didn’t stop paying attention. I know about the coaching changes, the trades, the signings, the firings, the logo, the Spring Training schedule and everything else. I just didn’t talk about it.

Those of you who follow me on twitter have seen a comment or two, some of them sarcastic and bitter, some of them just happy for the things that are starting to take shape. I’m not back here talking to you about the Astros because the Astros did something to make me happy. I’m back here because I’m finally over it.

I am a Houston Astros fan.

I’m not a fan of one particular person in the organization or one particular player. I’m not a fan of a GM or a Manager or an owner. I’m a fan of a team. I cheer for the Houston Astros because I grew up watching them play and somewhere around age 11 they found a way to become a part of my life, like family, but in uniforms. And like family, I don’t always agree with their choices or how they treated me or talked to me, or that they didn’t ask my opinion before committing to something. But like family, when push comes to shove, I have their back.

So here we are, just a few short weeks away from the first players reporting to Spring Training. It’s the first time in 51 years that the Astros will field a team in the American League. They’ll do it under a logo that is new and yet familiar. They’ll take the field with a crop of players that likely won’t make the Hall of Fame someday and likely won’t be All-Star selections. But they’ll take the field knowing that the decisions of 2012 and 2013 were and will be necessary in order to make me smile in 2014 and beyond.

2013 will be a historic season in more ways than one for the team from Houston. Not every way they make history this year will make us cheer, but I’ll be there, in orange and blue, cheering, because that’s what you do when your family is going through a hard time. Yep, change is hard.

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the tortured Senior Houston Astros Writer for Aerys Sports. You can email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her ridiculous ramblings on sports, vodka and the weeone on twitter @agirlinthesouth.

In anticipation of tonight’s 10:59pm CT deadline to finalize moves to the 40 man roster to protect players from the Rule 5 draft, the Houston Astros have made some changes. Any player who was first signed at age 18 has to be added to a 40-man roster within five years or they are eligible to be drafted by another club through the Rule 5 draft. The same goes for any player signed at age 19, but with a 4 year timeframe.

With that deadline looming Jeff Luhnow announced this afternoon that they are adding seven players to the 40-man roster. The players added are RHP Jose Cisnero, RHP Jarred Cosart, OF Robbie Grossman, RHP Chia-Jen Lo, LHP Brett Olberholtzer, RHP Ross Seaton and IF Jonathon Villar. These were all players that it makes sense to protect at this stage of the rebuild in Houston.

Jarred Cosart with the Corpus Christi Hooks

These are names that die hard Astros fans should recognize. After all, Grossman(.266 BA with 28 doubles, 6 triples and 10 HRs, 77 walks in 131 games of both A and AA play in 2012) was a part of the trade with the Pirates for Wandy Rodriguez and several others are top players in the Astros minor league system. Cisnero, one of the winningest pitchers of the system in 2012 spent time at both AA Corpus and AAA OKC ending his season 13-7 with a 3.70 ERA and twice being named Texas League Player of the Week.

Like Cisnero, Cosart spent time at both AA and AAA during the 2012 season with 21 combined appearances. In his 6 starts at OKC he threw for an impressive  2.60 ERA. Cosart was also named the top Astros pitching prospect by Baseball America and MLB.com.

Lo, who spent part of the 2012 season injured, impressed in the Arizona Fall League this year posting a 2.40 ERA in 14 games that included 3 saves. Oberholtzer had a split record of 10-10with a 4.37 ERA in his 28 combined starts at AA and AAA this past season and earned Texas League All-Stars before moving up to OKC.

Seaton spent much of his season at AA Corpus (25 games) where he was 8-8 with a 4.07 ERA allowing only 31 walks. He tied for 7th in the minors with 169.1 IP, but led the Texas League in strikeouts with 91. Finally, Jonathon Villar spent 2012 at AA Corpus Christi where he hit .261 with 54 runs, 11 home runs, 50 RBI and 39 stolen bases in 86 games. At the start of the season Villar was ranked as the 4th best prospect in the Astros’ system by Baseball America. He’s been recognized as the best defensive infielder in the system.

In addition, it was announced that RHP Mickey Storey has been claimed off waivers by the New York Yankees (no more sing alongs of “Oh Mickey” it seems), and IF Scott Moore has been outrighted to AAA Oklahoma City. Time will tell if Moore decides to accept this assignment or select free agency.

These moves leave the Astros 40-man roster at 36 just a few hours shy of the deadline.

Let the “hot stove” season begin….

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the tortured Senior Houston Astros Writer for Aerys Sports. You can email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her ridiculous ramblings on sports, vodka and the weeone on twitter @agirlinthesouth.

This is the problem with being a Houston Astros fan right now. I like postseason baseball. It’s exciting, it’s fun, it’s energetic, it’s everything that’s good about this sport. But when your favorite team finishes the season dead last, there is no October cheering.

Now I’m faced with the dilemma of whom I should cheer for the rest of this postseason. There are some that I just can’t bring myself to cheer for…figure it out, I’m an Astros fan.

Who do YOU think I should cheer for and why?

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the tortured Senior Houston Astros Writer for Aerys Sports. You can email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her ridiculous ramblings on sports, vodka and the weeone on twitter @agirlinthesouth.