*Stop me if you've heard this before: Nelson Cruz was down to the Astros, Rays, and Twins before deciding to accept the Twins' offer of $14m for 2019 with a $12m club option for 2020 or a $300,000 buyout. That is ridiculously low for a guy who hit .278/.347/.529 (134 OPS+) from 2008-2018, with 37+ HR in each of the last five years. And I'm extremely curious about the Astros' offer and why the Twins' offer was the best. Houston's last player with 37 Home Runs in a season was Former Astros Great Chris Carter (who carried the Astros to a playoff spot in 2015), when he hit exactly 37 in 2014.
*The Astros lead the way for Jim Callis' Most-Improved Farm Systems.
*Baseball America named Astros Legend Brent Strom as their MLB Coach of the Year.
*Josh James made SI writer Jon Tayler's list of 2019 Breakout Stars.
*Kyle Tucker was named to MLB.com's All-MiLB team. Josh James and Myles Straw were honorably mentioned.
*Philadelphia is interested in Dallas Keuchel, but not for Keuchel's (or Boras') asking price of five years minimum.
*God.
Just ran into Scott Boras at Houston airport as we were each headed to different gates. Asked if he was switching planes or was in town. He gave a very cryptic answer insinuating he was IN Houston. Hmmmm, Bryce to the Astros?— Pedro Gomez (@pedrogomezESPN) December 29, 2018
*Yasmani Grandal declined what was apparently a 4yr/$60m deal from the Mets, for some reason.
*This 88-year old's reaction to getting to go to Spring Training is pretty great.
*James Crane is ready to help out with $13.5m + $1m in annual fees to renovate Memorial Park Golf Course in what I *think* is an effort to bring the Houston Open back within the city limits. I don't know, I'm not a Golfer.
*Thrillist: The myth of Mom & Pop restaurants.
*A Musical Selection:
You can follow the Hot Links Music playlist on Spotify, if you're so inclined but it's whatever.
*Thrillist: The myth of Mom & Pop restaurants.
*A Musical Selection:
You can follow the Hot Links Music playlist on Spotify, if you're so inclined but it's whatever.
