Sunday Morning Hot Links

*Houston native and Dodgers Game 2 pitcher Ross Stripling has been haunted by the World Series.
Ross Stripling was like most Dodgers fans on that dreary first night of November. Moments after his team's Game 7 World Series loss, the Dodgers pitcher couldn't get home fast enough. He had to catch a flight to get there, so he rushed from the stadium, confirmed his reservation, and the next morning was sitting in an economy window seat preparing to leave a nightmare. Only, for him...there would be no escape. Stripling lives in Houston, and shortly before takeoff he realized he would be flying home in a plane full of rowdy Astros fans. 

"I was like, 'Oh, hell.'"

*MLB Pipeline released their Top 100 Prospects list and there are three Astros on it:
9. Forrest Whitley
17. Kyle Tucker
76. J.B. Bukauskas

Houston got 201 prospect points, 11th in MLB. Here's the rest of the AL West:
Oakland: 14th
Anaheim: 16th
Arlington: 19th
Seattle: 27th

The Cubs, Royals, and Mets failed to land a single prospect on the list.

So the Prospect Ranking Matrix looks like this:
Forrest Whitley: #9 (MLB), #10 (BA),
Kyle Tucker #17 (MLB), #15 (BA),
J.B. Bukauskas: #76 (MLB), #76 (BA)
Yordan Alvarez: #62 (BA), (NR by MLB)

BP has yet to release their 2018 list.

*Alex Bregman was named the Headliner of the Year by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association. Bregs, on his off-season:
I've changed my diet, eating habits, flexibility and mobility. I'm not satisfied, especially with my power. Altuve's 5'5" (or) 5'6", and he can hit to center field. I'm working on getting a lot stronger. I want to improve on every phase of the game. I want to be one of the best players in the game.

*ESPN's David Schoenfield torches Scott Boras' claim about rampant tanking in baseball and has suggestions for how to "fix" baseball. His suggestion about reworking the draft order is really interesting.

*Kenley Jansen says MLB players should consider going on strike in opposition to perceived collusion/slights/penny-pinching by owners:
That is something we might have to address, so you don't have a lot of Miami Marlins doing this. Maybe it's an adjustment for us, as the player's union. Maybe we have to go on strike, to be honest with you.

*The Braves changed their mascot from Chief Wahoo to...something...(?).

*This Mets fan got 500K retweets and will get to take her prom pictures at Citi Field.

*Vice: The bizarre homicide case involving a billionaire couple from Toronto took another turn.

*LA Times: Suge Knight's murder trial is weird.

*On the "strength" of this NY Times article about fake social media followers, @AstrosCounty is 85% real, baby.