So now that Thanksgiving is over and I once again have to get up at an obscene hour just to remember my name, let's put some links on the ol' Hot Stove...
*Former Astro Great J.A. Happ signed a 3yr/$36m deal with Toronto. Jordan Zimmermann (whom I had hoped the Astros would land) signed a 5yr/$110m deal with Detroit. And now Johnny Cueto has rejected a 6yr/$120m deal from the Diamondbacks.
*Jerry Crasnick tweeted that the reliever market is expected to pick up this week, with a logjam of Chapman and Melancon holding things up. And, of course, the Astros are linked to (and have been since July) Chapman.
*On the Astros side of things, Jeff Luhnow said that the Astros can afford to keep everybody if they want to, though the "not constrained by a budget" line is, ahem, a departure from what we're used to.
*Here's a fantastic story from Ryan McKenna about Jim Stevenson - the Astros scout in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, and Missouri - who drafted Dallas Keuchel and Jake Arrieta.
*Bud Norris signed a one-year deal with the Braves.
*The A's are shopping both Brett Lawrie and Danny Valencia. I vote for acquiring Danny Valencia and just stashing him on the bench so that he can't destroy the Astros again. In 12 games against the Astros (47 PAs) in 2015, Valencia hit .436/.522/.821.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
