Thursday Morning Dump

Here are your relevant links for this, the 2nd off-day in four days because the MLB schedule is stupid.

*SI's Jay Jaffe knocks it out about the approach Luhnow is taking to this team, and how it's totally the right one.

*Billy Beane, on the Astros: "I think they're going to be a great franchise, because they've got revenues, they have smart people running things . . . My guess is, once they get there, they're going to be there for a long time."

*The Astros are on pace to strike out 2322 times (Justin Maxwell is still on pace for 108 triples, so you shove that "on pace" crap up your tail pipe). Porter said "Tuesday was about (Darvish), and Wednesday was about (the Astros)."

*DirecTV: "If the Astros and Comcast will agree to make the channel available only to those customers who want to pay for it or make it more reasonable for all of our customers, we can have an agreement completed very soon." 

*CSN Houston is reaching out to Louisiana fans to help get them on the air. 

*Alan Ashby is in trouble over his comments after Darvish lost his no-hitter in which he said, "That'll force a guy to learn some of the language." Ashby sort of apologized, which is for the best.

*Regardless of what happened with Marwin Gonzalez, Ron Washington would have taken Darvish out after the #9 spot came up. Even if it meant pulling him from a no-hitter.

*Pittsburgh is thankful for Wandy (6.2IP, 2H/0ER, 6K:1BB), as is Oakland for Jed Lowrie (3x3, BB, 3RBI) and Nate Freiman, who singled in his first MLB AB (2x3, RBI).

*Corpus Christi 2013 preview by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times.

*Also, check out minor-league previews from the Crawfish Boxes (Oklahoma City, Corpus, Lancaster, and Quad Cities) and What The Heck, Bobby (Oklahoma City, Corpus).

*This will take you to yesterday's Ripped Foul podcast hosted by our boy John Wessling, in which I am your special guest. We talk Darvish, Luhnow, the minors, Ed Wade, and I mumble my way through draft talk.