Jim Callis had a live chat today. What matters to Astros County?
On Kody Hinze:
He has some power, but it's his lone distinguishing tool, and he feasts more on mistakes and has trouble making contact against quality pitching. He's also a righthanded-hitting first baseman, and those are fairly easy to find.
On the Bourn trade:
I thought the Astros should have held out for more. Bourn was such a nice fit for the Braves, and while they weren't going to give up Teheran or Vizcaino, they wouldn't have given up Minor if pressed?
On the prospects in both Bourn and Pence deals:
Singleton and Cosart are nice gets. Oberholtzer and Clemens are more complementary pieces.
Who the Astros should be looking at with the #1 pick in 2012:
Stanford RHP Mark Appel, Arizona State SS Deven Marrero, Florida HS RHP Lance McCullers Jr. Assuming he's back to full health, throw Texas Christian LHP Matt Purke in there too.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
