Links for you to read this morning while you wait for your preferred college football team to play yet another meaningless game...
*The County Mountie wrote about potential catching and outfield free agent options.
*I wrote about Franklin Perez.
*The Blue Jays signed Kendrys Morales, so that likely seals Edwin Encarnacion's exploration of free agency. Richard Justice thinks it's between the Red Sox and Astros. Justice:
Like the Red Sox, the Astros have young players who may be productive, but none of them is likely to have the kind of immediate impact Encarnacion would have.
*The New York Post reports that the Yankees want one "super-prospect" in exchange for Brian McCann
*The Astros have not determined the long-term roles of Chris Devenski or Michael Feliz. Luhnow:
Devenski was such an important part of our bullpen that it's hard to think about him not in that role. But at the same time, starting pitching's hard to find and I think he can do it. And the same thing for Feliz. So, we're going to have to see how the offseason goes before we make a determination on those two guys.
*Free agent catcher Jason Castro has interest from three AL teams, and will meet with Minnesota for a second time next week. My prediction is that Castro gets 3yrs/$30m with a club option for a 4th year.
*I didn't see this coming: the Astros did not sign Yulieski Gurriel's younger brother Lourdes. The Blue Jays did. There wasn't a great long-term fit for Gurriel on the Astros, but I'm still surprised.
*FanGraphs' David Cameron posted his Top 50 Free Agents, while FanGraphs also lists the Astros as one of the teams with the most money to spend.
*And one more from FanGraphs, at the risk of getting our hopes up...again. The 2017 Expected Standings. Here's the AL West:
Houston: 88.6 wins
West Shreveport: 85.8
Seattle: 84
Anaheim: 78.7
Oakland: 73.9
*Ben Badler rips into Rob Manfred and MLB, writing that the international draft is all about the money.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
