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Drayton McLane: Astros Sale Unlikely

By Pat Lackey 1/21/2010 3:20 PM ET

Drayton McLaneWith Astros' owner Drayton McLane approaching his 74th birthday, he's been willing to listen to proposals from prospective owners of the Astros. He's said himself that he's not actively looking to sell the club, but that he's always willing to listen after 17 years of ownership.

He said that the group that contacted him late last year about buying the 'Stros hasn't gotten back to him recently, Thursday, and with the Jan. 31 negotiating deadline, he assumes that means they don't have the money to meet his asking price. That means that at this point, it seems more than likely that McLane will be the owner for at least the 2010 season, if not beyond.
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Arbitration Intrigue Goes Past Lincecum

By Andrew Johnson 1/20/2010 4:21 PM ET

Joe Blanton / Wandy RodriguezThe figures are in. The haggling has begun. And you can rest assured it's going to get crazy.

Of the 128 players that filed for salary arbitration last week, 44 exchanged figures with their respective clubs Tuesday and 35 remain without a contract for 2010, raising the specter of a hearing next month (Feb. 1-21).

There's just one player that figures to capture everyone's imagination -- two-time Cy Young Award-winner Tim Lincecum, who is in line for a record award -- but plenty of cases are worth watching.

Back to Lincecum for a second.
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Drayton McLane Grants Negotiating Window to Prospective Buyer

By Tom Fornelli 1/12/2010 12:54 PM ET

Houston Astros owner Drayton McLane has owned the team since 1993 when he paid $113 million for the franchise, and though he says he has no interest in selling the team now, "when people call, you listen." Well, from now until the end of January there's only a couple of select people that McLane will be listening to.

McLane granted exclusive negotiating rights to a group that is interested in buying the Astros from him, and includes former USOC chief Harvey Schiller. Still, even though he's granting negotiation rights and nearly sold the team to Jim Crane in 2008, McLane wants you to know he's not planning on selling the team.
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Brett Myers Signs With Astros

By Pat Lackey 1/08/2010 7:04 PM ET

Brett MyersThe Astros' offseason quest to find help for their starting rotation has culminated today in the signing of long-time Phillie Brett Myers. There's no word on terms yet, but with Myers recovering from hip problems (and subsequent surgery) that limited him to 70 2/3 innings (in 10 starts and 18 appearances) the deal doesn't seem likely to be worth a huge amount of money.

For a team that's been spending money in rather questionable fashion this winter (three years and $15 million for Brandon Lyon?!?), Myers seems like a relatively good risk. He's only 29 and though he battled injuries last year and spend most of 2007 in the bullpen, he put up some good numbers in 30 starts with the Phils in 2008 (1.379 WHIP, 7.7 K/9 innings, 3.1 BB/9) and could, at the least, be an innings eater in a rotation with very little depth behind Roy Oswalt and Wandy Rodriguez.
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Pedro Feliz Signs With Astros

By Matt Snyder 12/10/2009 1:40 PM ET

Pedro Feliz AstrosThe Houston Astros have filled one of their many holes, inking third baseman Pedro Feliz to a one-year contract reportedly worth $4.5 million. Feliz played the previous two seasons for the World Series representatives from the National League, the Phillies, but they decided to sign Placido Polanco to play third base and let Feliz walk.

The addition of Feliz does help the Astros a bit. He has some home run power and is an above-average defender at third base. Still, he's not going to set the world on fire offensively. He hit at least 20 home runs in four straight seasons, but regressed to 12 last season. His career on-base percentage is a dreadful .293 and he can't run. Plus, he's going to turn 35 within the first month of the 2010 season.

The best part about the signing is that it gives the Astros a plus defender at third base who will play every day. The impact he'll have on the offense, however, is pretty minimal.

Winter Meetings Wrap: NL Central

By Matt Snyder 12/10/2009 1:30 PM ET

INDIANAPOLIS - Of all the names involved with the NL Central, two in particular stuck out during the Winter Meetings. The path the Cubs and Cardinals will lead this offseason will be forged based upon what happens with Milton Bradley and Matt Holliday, respectively. Some expected concrete things to happen at the meetings, but nothing of the sort emerged. The Cubs still desperately need to trade Bradley and the Cardinals are still holding out hope they can retain Holliday.

Meanwhile, there were a handful of other moves in the division. The Cardinals signed Brad Penny, seemingly to take Joel Pineiro's spot in the rotation. The Pirates signed what's left of Bobby Crosby. The Astros lost LaTroy Hawkins and possibly Jose Valverde, but added Matt Lindstrom, Brandon Lyon and Gary Majewski. They also signed Pedro Feliz at the last minute to fill a need at third base.
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Odds and Ends From Tuesday in Indy

By Matt Snyder 12/08/2009 11:30 PM ET

INDIANAPOLIS - Tuesday at baseball's annual Winter Meetings, a blockbuster trade went down, two free agent signings were announced as officially complete and nine managers addressed a media throng. Here are some notes from the day.

• There's a report that the White Sox have joined the Angels in heavy pursuit of Hideki Matsui. Earlier today I warned against reports stating managers are "interested" in Matsui due to the fact that some international media are asking every single manager if they like Matsui and would like to manage him. This report, however, is unconnected and could be legitimate.

I do question what the White Sox would want with Matsui, because Ozzie Guillen specifically said he'd want someone to be able to play the outfield consistently and is really excited about being able to use multiple players in the designated hitter slot. He discussed how having an everyday DH handcuffs him in keeping his bench fresh. Then again, he also stressed Kenny Williams makes all personnel decisions. Stay tuned.
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Potential Winners, Losers as Arbitration Decisions Made

By Andrew Johnson 12/02/2009 8:00 AM ET

Placido PolancoWhen is a free agent truly free? When he's not John Lackey or Matt Holliday or Jason Bay or a few other elite members of the class, he's still designated a Type-A free agent by Elias and he's not offered arbitration by his 2009 club.

Lower-tier Type As face an agonizing choice when they are offered arbitration: Accept and go into 2010 with a one-year deal, likely at a time in their life when they are looking for long-term security, or decline and watch their stock drop on the open market as clubs shrink away because of the prospect of losing a first-round draft pick as compensation for signing him.

The teams face a similarly difficult decision-making process before offering arbitration to their free agents. If they miscalculate in one direction or another, they could wind up stuck with an expensive, superfluous player or miss out on a valuable draft pick.
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Footprints in the Snow: Astros

By Pat Lackey 11/17/2009 6:00 AM ET

Lance BerkmanFootprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.

After hanging in contention until early August, the Astros bottomed out with a 23-36 finish in the season's final two months. That culminated in Cecil Cooper's firing and Brad Mills' hiring. The squad Mills inherits is full of both veteran players and holes that will make it hard for him to returnthe team to where owner Drayton McLane thinks it belongs -- the top of the NL Central.

That's because the Astros are currently caught in Ed Wade Purgatory. He can do just enough to keep his veteran squad in pseudo-contention, but probably not quite enough to get them into a real playoff race. That won't stop him from trying, though.
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Astros Hire Brad Mills as Manager

By Andrew Johnson 10/27/2009 3:15 PM ET

Brad MillsThe Houston Astros are poised to announce the hiring of Red Sox bench coach Brad Mills as their new manager Tuesday, according to multiple reports, first from MLB.com, a move that comes two days after the club lost out on Manny Acta to the Indians.

Mills, who came to Boston with manager Terry Francona before the 2004 season and won two World Series with the team, also managed in the minors for 11 seasons and played four seasons with the Montreal Expos from 1980-83.

The Mills hiring continues a mini-exodus from Boston. This past week former Red Sox assistant general manager Jed Hoyer was hired away by the Padres to be that club's general manager, a sign of how well-respected Boston's management team has become in baseball circles.
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