Late last night news broke that the Houston Astros had named a new Manager and it would be Bo Porter, third base coach of the Washington Nationals. Per a tweet from Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle, front office personnel flew to Philadelphia yesterday, where the Nationals were playing to formally offer Porter the job.

Once again the Astros front office had big news flying through the air as most of us slept. They made it official during a 10am press conference at Minute Maid Park this morning. During his statement GM, Jeff Luhnow, stated about Porter, “He is openminded. He is smart and he knows baseball.”

Porter, who has been with the Nationals since 2011, was not the guy many of us had in mind for this position, but it’s only fair we give him his shot. The powers that be in the Astros front office did a fine job this year of making deals, stocking a desolate farm system, and proving that they have a master plan for returning the Houston nine to the glory the team once knew.

I’ll continue to have faith until they prove to me I shouldn’t.

In the meantime, Bo Porter and the Nationals are in a race for a championship and Luhnow asked that we all respect that and let him finish the job he has ahead of him. Not that Bo Porter would pick up his phone for me, I would love to ask him a handful of questions.

But for now, we have this: Bo Porter is a 40 year old who lives in Houston during the offseason, so he’s a hometown boy, of sorts. He played football at the University of Iowa until he was drafted in the 40th round by the Chicago Cubs in the 1993 draft as an outfielder. He made his major league debut, with the Cubs, in 1999, but would end up going to Oakland in the Rule 5 Draft in 2000. He played for the A’s for only 1 season before being claimed off waivers by the Texas Rangers, again, staying there only one season. He played the rest of his career in the minors in the Atlanta Braves and Colorado Rockies systems until his career concluded.

Since leaving the playing field he’s done everything from hitting coach in the minors to third base coach in the majors. He’s been a managerial candidate for the Marlins and Pirates, but never got to grab the brass ring.

Fangraphs interviewed Porter back in July of this year, calling him a “Future Big League Manager.”  When asked what his managerial style would be, he said this -

“When people ask what kind of manager I’ll be, I always tell them, ‘Give me a roster and then I’ll tell you how I’m going to manage that ball club.’ You can say you’re going to be an aggressive manager and that we’re going to steal bases and hit-and-run, but if you have six guys in your lineup that can hit 25 home runs, it’s probably not a good idea to take too many chances of giving away outs. Conversely, if you have a team that doesn’t have a lot of power — but you do have guys who put the ball in play — you can put runners in motion.

“You want to take advantage of the ability that your players have. How you manage shouldn’t be etched in stone. You have to play to your strengths and at the same time you have to look at your opponent. If there are things the other team doesn’t do well, you want to put your players in a position to take advantage of that. A big part of this game is recognizing advantages, whether you do that with data or with your own eyes.”

As of yesterday, Porter’s wish came true. I’d say with one heck of a coaching opportunity ahead of him. Many would see the Houston Astros as the team they’d least like to lead, but I’d bet that Porter’s looking at it as the opportunity of a lifetime. He gets the chance to prove to the Marlins and the Pirates that they were wrong. That he can turn a team around.

Until he proves me wrong, I’ll give Mr. Porter the benefit of the doubt. I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do with a team that has the lowest payroll and highest loss rate in the majors. A team that has too many minor leaguers taking the field each night. A team that has a developing farm system that’s talent is a few years out from the show. Yes, he has one heck of a challenge in front of him, but it’s one hell of an opportunity.

Welcome to Houston, Bo.

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.

Fred Nelson, the Astros Director of Player Development, and Stefanie Brown, the River Bandits General Manager, make the announcement today about the new affiliation.

When the news broke that the St. Louis Cardinals would not be renewing their Player Development Contract with the Quad Cities River Bandits, the rumors then began flying over which Big League club would pick up the newly-free low-A club.

With Jeff Luhnow’s familiarity with the Cardinal farm system, the Astros seemed a likely fit.

The River Bandits thought so, too.

Today, the two-year PDC between the Astros and the River Bandits was announced at Modern Woodmen Park in Davenport, Iowa. Bandits general manager Stefanie Brown was accompanied by Astros Director of Player Development Fred Nelson as the two shared the news with local media.

“We’re extremely excited,” Brown said. “Jeff Luhnow has been a friend of ours … so, talking with him was very exciting. In the end we’re very excited about the direction and the rebuilding of the Houston Astros and to have them be part of this community.”

Nelson echoed her sentiments as he recalled the years the Astros had a home in the Quad Cities from 1993-1998.

“One thing that really pushed us towards the Quad Cities was Jeff Lunhow’s relationship and knowledge of the renovations, the operators of the league, and I think because of that, it might have given us a little bit of a leg up coming back into the Davenport area, back in the Quad Cities,” he said. “But, we’re thrilled to death to be here.”

“Rebranding” was the word of the hour, both for the Bandits and the Astros.

With new ownership, management, and front office staff, the Astros are on their way to fulfilling a vision Luhnow and company have — a vision that restores the Astros to the top in the Major Leagues.

“To give you an idea of the direction and the focus of Jeff Luhnow, George Postolos and Jim Crane, they’re all winners – they’re all driven to win,” Nelson said. “Jeff especially. I’ve seen a passion in his desire to win in the Minor Leagues, at all levels, and ultimately we think that will filter into the big leagues as we secure better players, players that we’ve been able to acquire in trades, and through especially this last draft which Jeff and his staff directed.”

For the Bandits, the vision now centers on the excitement of adding that fresh, newly drafted talent and introducing a whole new group to a community — especially since that community is full of Cardinal fans who were disappointed to see their parent club move their affiliate to Peoria. Brown says, though, that simply makes their job more interesting.

“Obviously we were very sad to see the Cardinals go,” Brown said. “They were a great organization, and there are many fans here that are Cardinals fans, but I think it’ll just be educating the community and letting them know the great things that the Astros are doing and probably trying a little bit harder to get the new players out in the community and get that personal touch with the fans. Every organization has a great group of guys and a great group of athletes, so it’s just going to be on us to get them out there.”

Local fans will recognize at least three players who made their way through the Quad Cities on their way to the Major League club in 2012 — Brett Wallace, Chuckie Fick, and most recently, Tyler Greene.

With the potential of a first overall draft pick on his way to town, and oodles of other promising young players, talent will definitely not be a problem.

Ultimately, it came down to three teams vying for the Bandits’ attention — the A’s, the Angels, and the Astros. When all was said and done, it came down to identifying the Major League team that offered the thing the River Bandits wanted most: partnership.

“We were looking for a Major League affiliate that understood what we were doing,” Brown said. “We wanted to have player appearances, we wanted them to be an intricate part of the community, [we wanted] someone that is easy to communicate with, that will hear out our ideas on different promotional ideas or appearances, someone who buys into the same vision.”

For the next two years at least, that team is the Houston Astros. And Nelson is confident that those two years will be exciting — both in the Quad Cities, and eventually all the way to Houston.

Welcome to the Quad Cities, Astros fans!

Tara is a St. Louis Cardinals reporter for Aaron Miles’ Fastball and a contributor to Around the Horn. Follow her on Twitter @tarawellman. 

The 2012 season hasn’t given Houston Astros fans much to get excited about. But one thing we can all look forward to is the unveiling of the new team uniforms. With a move to the American League West slated to take place at the conclusion of the season, it was the perfect time for the new ownership to put their stamp on this team visually.

There have been lots of ideas and guesses as to what we’ll see when all is revealed after the 2012 World Series, but nothing set in stone and at this point it is still a lot of guessing.

But you know that big monstrosity of a sign out in left field that blocks the lovely windows in Minute Maid Park and that we all seem to agree completely sucks? It might just be our most concrete clue as to what we can all expect. The header to the sign is a Navy Blue. Huh….there’s no navy blue in the current team color scheme.

So does that mean navy’s coming back? My guess is a resounding, “Yes!” Not only does that sign give part of the new color scheme away, but it hints that a logo fans miss will return. You see, when that sign was made recently, the Astros logo used to represent the team was the old star with an H on it. Remember that logo? Remember when our players hats always wore it proudly?

So my money’s on a return to the H/star and navy. And if they’re bringing back navy, I’d say they’re bringing back orange too. Chris Creamer over at SportsLogoNews posted earlier this week about his take on the new unis and logo -

The return to blue and orange for the first time in 20 years is just one of the major brand changes planned for the soon-to-be American League club heading into next season.

In addition to the colour scheme making a return, the old cap logo from the 1980s will be back as well, albeit in a modernized form.  The logo featured a white H on an orange star and was originally worn from 1965-1993.  For 2013, the “H” will be in a different font.

So it seems that everything old will be new again. I, for one, am THRILLED about this. But this chick wishes that the old rainbow unis would be brought back. I don’t see that happening, but feel certain that there will be a nostalgic feel to the Astros 2013 look.

We’ll have to wait and see. And while we’re waiting, I’ll be wearing my favorite baseball cap…the one with the logo I hope to see again VERY soon.

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 want THIS logo back!

This week there was an awful lot going on in the world of Houston Astros Baseball. Here’s the wrap:

The CAREavan continued around the state (and even into Oklahoma). Former and current players as well as owner, Jim Crane, and GM, Jeff Luhnow, participated in bringing some Astros joy to many fans this past week.

Over on Footnotes, Alyson Footer’s blog, you can find tips for Spring Training attendees, so check that out if you’re planning to attend!

Jessica, the caption contest winner, and me at the reception before the Baseball Dinner.

The Astros in Action Foundation hosted the Annual Baseball dinner benefitting Grand Slam For Youth Baseball last night. I was there along with Jessica (@mamu30) who won my caption contest. It was a who’s who of baseball history for Houston celebrating the 49 years of baseball in this great city and looking forward to the 50th season.

Jayne Hansen, who writes What the Heck, Bobby, a blog about the Astros minor league system, had an entertaining run in with JR Richards last night. Head over to her blog and give it a read.

Lance Berkman was there and stole the show, on his birthday no less. After taking the stage to be honored as the Houston Chapter of the BBWAA’s MLB Player of the Year he solemnly stated how touched he was to be onstage with a host of historical Astros baseball figures. He leaned over, head in hand as if to collect himself then popped up smiling and said, “Just kidding!” And then went on to tease the audience about how that probably felt as awkward for us as walking into Minute Maid Park in a Cardinals uniform was for him!

Lance was his ever-charming self when he thanked the “Houston Lonestars” for the award and then looked over his shoulder at players and front office peeps to confirm, “Wait, it wasn’t approved? We’re still the Astros?”  And yes, Lance said we.

That wouldn’t be the only reference to Lance as an Astro as stated he would always consider himself one. Later, when Jeff Luhnow took the stage he reminded Lance that in 2013 the team would need a DH and Berkman’s services may be needed. Oh, how I wish that would happen. If Luhnow could bring Lance back to HTX for one more season to end his career as an Astro, he would forever be my baseball hero.

Brad Mills even made a good funny at Lance’s expense when he wished Berkman a happy birthday and then stated, “I hope you play your age next year.”

Yes, Mr. Berkman stole the show. The other current players also honored: JD Martinez, Wandy Rodriguez, Jason Bourgeois.

With that, it’s time for me to get ready to head to Minute Maid Park. In case you’re not aware, today is FanFest! The event itself is free, and autographs are $10/ticket with 3-4 players per session. There are “Talkin’ Baseball” sessions and batting practices you can do, activities for kids and anything else you can imagine to get you ready for Spring Training. You can find the schedule of events for the day on the Astros website.

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.

Sig Mejdal, Astros Director of Decision Sciences has the coolest title in baseball.

With the introduction of Sig Mejdal to the roster in the Houston Astros front office something very cool happened. The most amazing title in baseball was created – Director of Decision Sciences. I mean, seriously? Is there a better title in baseball?

Sig’s title got me thinking about what would be more appropriate titles or at least more fun titles for some of the other staff running the show over at Minute Maid Park….

Jim Crane, owner could now be “Chief Shit Stirrer”. I don’t have to explain that one, do I?

George Postolos, President & CEO is now “President of Keeping Jim Crane from Pissing off Fans” since he certainly doesn’t want him to suggest anything like moving the team to another city the next time Crane insists that “everything is on the table.” I am looking forward to the day when George is the face of this ball club. He’s likable, and charming and I think he’s about perfect for this role.

Jeff Luhnow, General Manager could be “Chief Gambler” because is signing players on a bargain basement budget anything less than gambling? Granted, I think the gambles he’s made so far have been really low risk with potential for high payoff, but it’s gambling still. Spring Training is going to be fun as we see if some has-beens have still got it and some almost-theres are ready. The tightrope that Luhnow is balancing deserves a high risk title.

Bobby Heck, Assistant GM of Scouting, could become Hercules because isn’t the weight of the world on his shoulders this year? Plenty of people have given him the benefit of the doubt over the demise of the farm system, but now with an Owner and GM ready to truly rebuild, this is his make it or break it year. I like Heck and think he’s a smart guy when it comes to judging talent. I just hope the rest of the front office really lets him get the guys he know are a good choice for the club this year.

Brad Mills, Manager, should really be called “Camp Counselor” given the age of the rebuilding Astros. I wonder if he makes them take a buddy when they go hiking? I’m sure he makes sure that lefties don’t go anywhere with other lefties.

Alyson Footer, Sr. Director of Digital Media, is really Queen of the Crazy Fan since she gets the great pleasure of calming down the nut jobs on Twitter and Facebook when they get riled up about silly things (not me, of course! ;p). Hey Alyson – is the roof going to be open today?

So if you could retitle anyone within the Astros organization, who would you change and to what? Is it JD and Brownie? Maybe Doug Brocail or Mike Barnett? Let me hear it. We’ve got another 12 days until Spring Training starts, we’ve got to entertain ourselves somehow.

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.

Straight from the big guy’s mouth-

Jim Crane assures fans “the name won’t change.”

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.

Yesterday afternoon’s press conference by Astros’ owner Jim Crane was met with mixed reviews. There was excitement at the idea of reduced ticket pricing for certain seats and a 5% rebate for season tickets purchased before the end of the month. In addition there was positive fan reaction that Minute Maid Park will finally allow patrons to bring in bottled water and snacks.

So what’s the protest about? Well, in response to a question, Mr. Crane mentioned that all sorts of changes were being considered including logos, colors, Tal’s hill….and a name change?

Yep, a name change.

Even Astros employees seemed to be surprised at the mention of that as a consideration.

This was my initial reaction.

Fear not, my friends. I don’t really think this is a serious consideration. If I were a smart businessman, and Jim Crane is nothing if not that, I’d consider everything a possibility as well. But the outpouring of fan sentiment that the name should not be messed with or altered has been heard it seems.

Already, less than 24 hours after that little mention by the owner, fans are emailing and writing and calling the ballpark voicing their concerns and getting interesting feedback.

I sent my own email last night and was replied to early this morning. What’d they say?

“Thank you for your concern in the Houston Astros. If you listen to Mr. Crane’s  comments he made yesterday everything is on the table. We will listen and take the feedback from our fans and make the best possible decision.”

Other fans have called and been told that a change in the name of the team is a “low likelihood.”

So let’s all take a deep breath. Houston is still tied closely with Space Exploration and the Astros name is still a relevant one for a Houston based team. After all, there’s a little basketball organization here called The Rockets.

That being said, the changes in colors and mascot in recent years to tie the team to the history of its home Minute Maid Park and specifically Union Station have introduced another theme for our beloved baseball team, the railroad. So should they float these options? Sure. But rest assured. It seems that MMP and the Astros organization is hearing your cry to leave the name alone.

I, for one, will be shocked if there’s a change. And my outrage would probably rival that of my displeasure of our move to the AL in 2013.

If you would like to express your opinion on a possible name change you can send an email via this link or write a letter via 501 Crawford, Houston, TX 77002 or call (713) 259-8000.

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.

Houston Astros Season Ticketholders were welcomed today to Minute Maid Park for the first of several “town halls” with the new owner and front office team. On the agenda? A little bit of sharing and a little bit of venting.

Fans were given the chance to ask questions, air grievances and generally give feedback. One of my friends, who writes about the Astros farm system on her blog What The Heck Bobby?, was at the event and was kind enough to share her takeaways with the rest of us.

Here’s a snippet from what she had to say about the Q & A session -

There were several good questions/comments during the Q&A.  I made a comment about how some feel that the season ticket experience has been devalued with the proliferation of cheap deals to the non-season ticket holder, and how upset people were when “Sweet Caroline” was played during a Red Sox game at Minute Maid Park (which led Astros fans to feel that they weren’t as valued as the Red Sox fans).  Jim Crane took the question and came extremely close to guaranteeing that season ticket holders would be getting a partial credit on their tickets, and did guarantee that a decision would be made by February 15th.  And, although the “Sweet Caroline” incident wasn’t specifically addressed by Crane, I think from the comments that were made, you could safely bet that incident will never be repeated.

I’m sure I’m not alone in my relief that “Sweet Caroline” won’t be a part of the Astros Playlist this season! In addition, I’ve commented several times about my displeasure at the “come when they may” fan getting a half priced seat right next to my “paid in full for 27 games” seat last season, so I was encouraged to hear that would be addressed as well.

To see all the scoop from the Meeting today at Minute Maid Park, you can visit the post on What The Heck, Bobby? which, by the way, is a great place to keep up with the comings and goings of the minor leaguers in the Astros system.

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.

When you look back at the Houston Astros 2011 season, there are many things that come to mind. I think about the lost chances, the bad baseball, the crazy number of rookies, the fan-crushing trades, but the one continuous thread throughout the 2011 season was the will they / won’t they roller coaster about Jim Crane & Co. being approved as the new owners of the ball club.

The first time we were told officially of the sale was back in May when Drayton McLane had a press conference to announce he’d made a deal with Crane and his group of investors. Bud Selig didn’t want that press conference to happen.

Little did we know that day that the approval of Crane would hinge not on his professional and personal history, but his willingness to give Selig what he’d long wanted: an even number of teams in each league. And so the waiting game and the guessing game and the game of political power matches had to be played out and an agreement to move the Houston Astros to the AL West in 2013 had to happen before the MLB owners would unanimously vote to approve Crane.

It was a hard pill to swallow, but with Crane as the new owner came the chance to really begin rebuilding and the hope of future for the Houston Astros. It didn’t take Crane long to put his stamp on things as he removed both President Tal Smith and GM Ed Wade from the organization.

It’s only fitting then that in the favorite moments of the Astros season that this be included. I know it didn’t happen until the season was long over for this team, but it was the culmination of a year of what ifs and hopefully gives my favorite baseball team a rebirth.

Click the photo to watch the video of Crane’s press conference.

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.

While I was sleeping, and probably while you were sleeping, the Houston Astros hired themselves a new General Manager and it’s not the guy I thought it would be. It’s the guy I thought this organization would never hire. It’s Jeff Luhnow, the Vice President of player procurement from the St. Louis Cardinals.

Houston will have a press conference later today to formally announce Mr. Luhnow, but in the meantime, let’s poke around in his career and see what we can see. Wanna?

Why didn’t I think the Astros would hire this guy? Well, because he’s part of what I consider the “new regime” in baseball. Luhow’s a graduate of the Wharton School of Business. He’s an Ivy League boy. He’s not a part of baseball’s good old boy network.

The Astros have held on to the old ways of baseball and that’s not all bad, but they’ve often sidestepped newer methods of scouting and rating players. With Luhnow as the GM it appears the good old Astros are doing a 180. And it was effective in St. Louis.

Luhow has been with the Cards since 2003 so he knows what it feels like to be a part of a winning organization and to have contributed to those wins. He’s overseen the amateur player draft since 2005 and is the guy responsible for signing players like Jon Jay, Jaime Garcia, Allen Craig and Lance Lynn. Luhnow fits the profile outlined by Jim Crane and George Postolos as what they were looking for in a new General Manager.

“We are very pleased to have Jeff as the new General Manager of the Houston Astros,” Postolos said in a prepared statement. “Jeff is the perfect fit for the Astros because of his track record in scouting and player development during his eight-plus seasons with the Cardinals.”

“The Astros strive to develop one of the best systems in baseball and create a consistent winner at the Major League level. Jeff has the knowledge, skills and experience to lead the baseball operations efforts at all levels and help the Astros achieve this vision. Jeff has a demonstrated the ability to inspire and motivate staff in the front office and out in the field. He was born and raised in Mexico and his bicultural background will be an asset in recruiting players from Latin America and developing the Hispanic market for Los Astros.” via Ultimate Astros

 

I’m cautiously optimistic this morning. Merry Christmas to me.

There will be a press conference at Minute Maid Park at 1:00pm today to formally introduce Luhnow as the new Astros General Manager. In the meantime, I’ll be comforted by the fact that the Astros HAVE a GM. In Dallas, Dave Gottfried and Bobby Heck will be overseeing the Rule 5 Draft that starts this morning. What will you be doing?

PS. Jeff Luhnow tweets and I love that. You can follow him – @jluhnow

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.