The Launch Angle

The Astros are re-acquiring Joey Loperfido from the Toronto Blue Jays for Jesús Sánchez, GM Dana Brown announced. It’s a money saving move — Sánchez is owed $6.8 million while Loperfido is making the league minimum.

The Launch Briefing: Some Spring Training Notes While games are still over a week away, Spring Training officially arrived on Wednesday. A long offseason is one step closer to being done. Not fully, as we still have over a month of camp before m…

The Launch Briefing: Some Spring Training Notes

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The Infield Logjam Continues In the span of one Monday morning, the Astros likely lost two potential suitors for the services of Isaac Paredes in the Pirates and the Red Sox, with Marcell Ozuna signing with the former and the …

The Infield Logjam Continues

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Here’s To You, Framber Valdez One of the most reliable starting pitchers in baseball this decade has a new home in Detroit. For three years, $115 million, Framber Valdez will now pitch for the Tigers and perhaps offer the best …

Here’s To You, Framber Valdez

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Let’s Talk About Kai-Wei Teng Remember my post from last week? About the Astros’ pitching staff, I stated, “There are seemingly more names than roles readily available, so you can see where adding another pitcher is…

Let’s Talk About Kai-Wei Teng

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Sources: the Astros and Giants are nearing a trade that would send right-hander Kai-Wei Teng to Houston in exchange for catching prospect Jancel Villareal. Teng is an optionable swingman who can pitch out of the rotation or within a bullpen that could use more right-handed depth

Roster Questions Still Loom Entering the offseason, the Astros had a couple of apparent roster positions to address. Primarily, the pitching staff, especially with Framber Valdez entering free agency and highly unlikely to re…

Roster Questions Still Loom

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The Launch Briefing – January 28, 2026 Sorry, y’all, it has been a wild week or so. Life was busier than usual with multiple work commitments, doctor visits, electrician appointments, and prepping for a multi-day freeze event. My …

The Launch Briefing – January 28, 2026

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Good for Chas!

Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones Headline a Historic 2026 Hall of Fame Class, Plus What It Means Going Forward For the third year in a row (and tenth time in the last twelve elections), the Baseball Writers Association of America has inducted multiple players into the Hall of Fame. For 2026, centerfielders …

Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones Headline a Historic 2026 Hall of Fame Class, Plus What It Means Going Forward

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The Launch Briefing – January 20, 2026 The 2026 Astros certainly won’t lack intrigue for a variety of reasons. For one, there is the uncertain long-term status of Joe Espada and Dana Brown, who are essentially “lame ducks&#8…

The Launch Briefing - January 20, 2026

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The Launch Briefing – January 19, 2026 So, the Astros undoubtedly need a new backup catcher now. For two years, $14 million, Victor Caratini’s new contract with the Twins represents a fairly minor raise compared to his previous tw…

The Launch Briefing - January 19, 2026

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Professional Sports Continue to Grow and Grow, While We Just Stay the Same The only “little guy” left is us, the fans. Baseball players and athletes are making more and more money, and it’s because sports teams are making more and more money. But is the …

Professional Sports Continue to Grow and Grow, While We Just Stay the Same

By @mhatter106.bsky.social

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YouTube video by Locked On Astros Can the Astros compete with the top teams in the American Leagues

ICYMI, @astrosstats.bsky.social was on Locked On Astros yesterday with Eric Huysman, to discuss the Astros’ offseason, the pitching staff, Kyle Tucker’s market, the infield logjam, and The Launch Angle.

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Here is the Astros' spring training roster. Non-roster invitees include Walker Janek, Lucas Spence and Joseph Sullivan. Also, Brice Matthews is wearing No. 0 now.

The Launch Briefing – January 16, 2026 Well, the big news from yesterday was that Kyle Tucker got paid handsomely. I figured he would eventually, but I didn’t think it would be with the Dodgers on a shorter contract with that high…

The Launch Briefing – January 16, 2026

The Launch Briefing – January 12, 2026 Well, Alex Bregman finally got his bag. In fact, by the time his contract with the Cubs expires, he will have made $215 million across six years, including his lone season with the Red Sox in 2025.…

The Launch Briefing - January 12, 2026

The Big 2026 Hall of Fame Ballot Preview! It’s been a month since we got our last big piece of news on the 2026 Hall of Fame election, that the first member of this year’s class of inductees would be Veterans Committee choice Jeff Kent. In…

The Big 2026 Hall of Fame Ballot Preview!

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Alex Bregman, between his time with the Red Sox and Cubs, will make $215 million across six years. The Astros offer to him after 2024 was six years, $156 million.

I think he did just fine in free agency.

The Launch Briefing – January 9, 2026 Welcome to the latest edition of “Avoiding Arbitration,” everyone’s favorite January passtime. Without a settlement, the foreseeable outcome is dissatisfaction and hurt feelings. …

The Launch Briefing – January 9, 2026

The Astros did not come to a salary agreement with infielder Isaac Paredes, source tells @theathletic.com. Houston is a file and trial club, so the team is headed to an arbitration hearing with Paredes, whom @mlbtraderumors.bsky.social projected to make $9.3 million.

I’m quite curious to see how Tatsuya Imai’s adjusts to MLB hitters with his strike throwing. In any case, this is a trend I like to see, regardless of league.

Digging Deeper: Tatsuya Imai Throughout the offseason, one message kept surfacing: the Astros were intent on adding to their starting rotation. Easy enough to address, right? Not quite, once you factor in the financial constraints. Whether self-imposed or not, the financial constraints matter. If the mandate is truly to avoid the $244 million first tax threshold for the 2026 season, Dana Brown and the front office would be forced to operate with efficiency in mind.

Digging Deeper: Tatsuya Imai

Throughout the offseason, one message kept surfacing: the Astros were intent on adding to their starting rotation. Easy enough to address, right? Not quite, once you factor in the financial constraints. Whether self-imposed or not, the financial constraints matter. If…

The Launch Briefing – January 5, 2026 Happy Tatsuya Imai day to anyone who celebrates! The Astros are set to officially introduce their new pitcher at Daikin Park later today, but he’s already turned some heads in Houston after making an appearance at Sunday’s Texans–Colts game at NRG Stadium. I have a hunch that he'll fit in just fine with his new team and city. In other news, here's to you, Kaleb Ort, who was designated for assignment following Imai's contract becoming official.

The Launch Briefing – January 5, 2026

Happy Tatsuya Imai day to anyone who celebrates! The Astros are set to officially introduce their new pitcher at Daikin Park later today, but he’s already turned some heads in Houston after making an appearance at Sunday’s Texans–Colts game at NRG Stadium. I…

A CBT Update And Some Payroll Related Thoughts Tatsuya Imai agreeing to terms with the Astros for three years and $54 million (up to $63 million including incentives), with opt-outs after both the 2026 and 2027 seasons, was certainly a surprise. It feels appropriate to classify it as such. Based on the reactions I've read and listened to since the news broke, I don't know how it isn't. Yes, we all knew that the organization was prioritizing starting pitching this offseason.

A CBT Update And Some Payroll Related Thoughts

Tatsuya Imai agreeing to terms with the Astros for three years and $54 million (up to $63 million including incentives), with opt-outs after both the 2026 and 2027 seasons, was certainly a surprise. It feels appropriate to classify it as such. Based…

The Launch Briefing – January 2, 2026 2026 is here, for better or worse. For the Astros, they're definitely hoping for the former, considering they did agree to terms with Tatsuya Imai on Thursday. In any case, baseball is inching closer to a return as Spring Training isn't that far away now. We're only 50 days away from the first Grapefruit League game of the year. While the novelty of Spring Training and Grapefruit League games tends to wear off quickly, it is a relief knowing that baseball will exit its offseason sooner rather than later.

The Launch Briefing – January 2, 2026

2026 is here, for better or worse. For the Astros, they're definitely hoping for the former, considering they did agree to terms with Tatsuya Imai on Thursday. In any case, baseball is inching closer to a return as Spring Training isn't that far away now.…

Astros, Tatsuya Imai Reach Agreement What a way to start 2026, y’all! We’ve all known for a while that the Astros top priority in the offseason was to beef up the pitching staff, specifically the rotation. They first signed free-agents in Nate Pearson and Ryan Weiss then traded for Mike Burrows before the holidays in December. But it still felt like their work wasn’t done.

Astros, Tatsuya Imai Reach Agreement

Yuli Gurriel – One of the All-Time Best Players? In an era of unprecedented dominance, a team full of all-stars, and the wizards in the Astros front office turning pitchers into aces overnight – it was easy to miss how special Yuli Gurriel …

Yuli Gurriel - One of the All-Time Best Players?

Analyzing Free Agent Catchers for Astros’ Backup Role The Astros are in the market for a backup catcher. According to general manager Dana Brown, acquiring a backup catcher is next on the off-season agenda. This is based on the assumption that the cur…

Analyzing Free Agent Catchers for Astros’ Backup Role

Quick Thoughts: Astros Trade For Mike Burrows The top priority for the Astros in the offseason was to bolster a pitching staff already short on depth, specifically starters, and likely losing Framber Valdez to another team in free agency. The rotation looked increasingly more like Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and a bunch of question marks. In turn, Dana Brown signed Nate Pearson and Ryan Weiss…

Quick Thoughts: Astros Trade For Mike Burrows

The top priority for the Astros in the offseason was to bolster a pitching staff already short on depth, specifically starters, and likely losing Framber Valdez to another team in free agency. The rotation looked increasingly more like Hunter Brown,…