Astros Insights: Former MVP Ivan Rodriguez expected to sign; Boone out.

In good news compared to the Astros' dismal showing this Spring Training, general manager Ed Wade announce that the team has re-engaged in negotiations with Ivan Rodriguez's agent Scott Boras (and I thought Drayton McClane had vowed not to deal with Boras again after the Carlos Beltran's fiasco a few years back) and the parameters seems to be set for the free agent catcher to join the Astros pending a mandatory physical. It looks like it's going to be be a one-year contract for $1.5 million dollars. With all of the catchers in camp at this moment hitting a combine .100 this spring the Astros had to make a move. Ivan Rodriguez fills that void. He is certainly past his prime but he brings credentials that none of the other candidates have: an MVP award, 14-time All-Star, 13-time Gold Glove winner, 7-time Silver Slugger Award to go along a .301 career average with 2605 hits and 295 home runs. He has also played in two World Series, winning one with the Florida Marlins in 2003 and losing with the Detroit Tigers in 2006. He is an upgrade, both defensively and offensively for this club, not to mention the leadership abilities he'll bring as well. Kudos to Wade.

Now it's a matter of finding a third basemen after Aaron Boone announced that he is having open heart surgery, effectively ending his season with the Astros and perhaps his career. Boone describes his condition as "non-emergency". The grandson of former Major League infielder Ray Boone, son of former catcher Bob Boone and brother of former infielder Bret Boone, Aaron has played in 1,142 career games, batting .264 with 126 home runs and 555 RBIs (a friend of mine joked that next season will be the first ever that a Boone was not in any team!). With his spot on the club now open, maybe it's time to consider some of the rookies that had made an impression so far this Spring, namely Chris Johnson. Manager Cecil Cooper will definitely take a long look at him at third with two weeks still left to play in Spring Training games.

And last, the Astros fell again today to the N.Y. Yankees 4-1, running their record to 1-15-3. I have never seen an Astros team do so poorly in Spring training games. The only team that comes close to the Astros in futility this Spring are the San Diego Padres who are 4-11-3.

Venezuela moves on.

Team Venezuela achieved what no other team has been able to do in this Classic, and that is to beat Team Puerto Rico. Riding an undefeated streak, the Puertoricans were unable to solve the stellar pitching of Felix "King" Hernandez, and K-Rod finished the game with a four outs save to secure the win for "Los Venezolanos". A disputed home run by catcher Ramon Hernandez provided the offense in a 2-0 victory. The home run, according to the second base umpire, appeared to have struck the top of the wall, and he signaled that the ball was still in play, in which Hernandez went to third. After conferring on the field, chief Ed Rapuano's crew ducked away into a locker room where they were to have made the first instant replay review in World Baseball Classic history. But a funny thing happen. Rapuano tried to view the replay but then realized that the replay equipment was not functioning properly so the umpires huddled up old school style and reversed the call to a home run. Not that it mattered anyways as the Venezuela's bullpen was airtight the entire game. Venezuela will be making its first trip to the semifinals, having been ousted in the 2006 Classic by the Dominicans in second round play.

The other teams remaining will duke it out starting today for the final three spots in the semifinals. Korea will play Japan for the third time in this Classic and the winner will join Venezuela in the Final Four. The loser will then face Cuba in an elimination game. Puerto Rico in the meanwhile will face an U.S.A team looking to avenge an 11-1 loss to the "Boricuas" that ended after 7 innings due to the Mercy Rule. It could be the end of the line for either one of those teams tonight. Team USA has been dealing with injuries that has shortened the bench and the bullpen with Dustin Pedroia, Ryan Braun, Chipper Jones and Matt Lindstrom to miss the remainder of the Classic. Either way, they are eager to show the world that it can win this tournament and they are not letting this injuries to hinder their resolve.

WBC shifts into second gear.

The top eight teams are now set, with the second round of the Classic slated to start Saturday from Dolphins Stadium in Miami. All the teams that I predicted were going to the second round advanced, except one very BIG notable exception. The Dutch team is going and the Dominican Republic is not. How weird is that?? The Dutch managed to pull the upset of the century by beating the Dominican team TWICE in pool play. The Dominicans should be embarrassed. Felipe Alou shouldn't managed them again. Next up for the Dutch, they will play Venezuela to begin the second round while the US will meet with undefeated Puerto Rico.

On the other side, Mexico and Cuba still need to battle out who will win their pool with a game tonight (I think Cuba will win) and then the winner will face Japan while whoever loses will meet with the team from Korea. And there you have it. The top eight team. The Elite Eight. Let's play some ball!

Astros Insight: No time to panic.....yet.

If you are an Atros fan like me, you will probably cringe when I tell you that they have the worst record of ANY team in Spring Training games. They won their first game of the spring but have yet to crack the win column again since then. At 1-11, they are the only team under the .100 winning percentage. Ay!

But to their defense, this is only Spring Training. All this numbers will soon be forgotten. It still has potential to mess with their psyche if their losing ways continue. Losing is no fun regardless of setting. Pitching coach Dewey Robinson still sees light at the end of the tunnel. He has been most impressed with the work of the starting pitching, namely Russ Ortiz, Mike Hampton and former Braves farmhand Jose Capellan. The other pitchers such as Brandon Backe and Brian Moehler are only showing glimpses of what they can really do but needs to step up their cases. And Wandy Rodriguez needs to get healthy again. And of course, Roy Oswalt is just Roy Oswalt, enough said. The bullpen has also been a positive case with closer Jose Valverde anchoring what is arguably one of the best bullpens in the league.

Amongst the hitters, they ALL seem to be in a funk at the same time. Theoretically, that's good since then all should come out of their slumps at the same time, preferably by opening night. Among the regulars in the lineup Michael Bourn is hitting .219, Hunter Pence .233, Kaz Matsui .045, Geoff Blum .105, Aaron Boone .111. Only Lance Berkman amongst our regular is hitting good at .308. And what about the competition for the catcher starting job? Well Humberto Quintero is at .125, J.R.Towles is at .083 and Lou Palmisano is at .091...who has the upper hand there? Did you really wanted to be a Dodger Ausmus? But enough sad stories. The rookies are the one that has impressed me the most. Drew Sutton, Chris Johnson, Brian Bogusevic and John Gall are all batting higher than .300 and have been tearing the cover off the ball.

But then again, it's only Spring Training. No time to panic yet. Let us wait for the regular season to start and only then we can get a better feel of what this year awaits us. GO ASTROS!

In Full Swing

The World Baseball Classic is now in full swing after playing out 6 games on an exciting Saturday full of baseball. First of all, team USA avenged a loss to Canada in last Classic by beating them this time 6-5 in front of a mostly pro-Canadian crowd in Toronto's Rogers Centre. The game was marked by offensive firepower from both teams. Brian McCann, Kevin Youkilis and Adam Dunn went deep for the US while Joey Votto and Russell Martin did so for the Canadian. Astros LaTroy Hawkins picked up the victory and J.J. Putz closed out what many described as a game with playoff feel. By the way (here is your cue BD) did anyone else noticed the extensive coverage that the netwok was giving Jeter througout the game? So much it seems, that the game was almost an afterthought.

Oh, and what happen to the team of the Dominican Republic?? In one of the biggest upset of the Classic, team Netherlands held on to beat the D.R 3-2. The three runs were unearned thanks in part to a costly error by shortstop Hanley Ramirez in the first inning. And then there was Sidney Ponson (yes, the one that beat up a judge from his homeland of Aruba a few years back) getting the victory despite not pitching at his best. Ay! On a encouraging note, D.R. pitcher Pedro Martinez looked like his old self firing 3 shutout innings and striking out 4 while allowing one hit and not walking anybody. Maybe my Astros should sign him.

And as expexted, my homeland team of Venezuela had little trouble in shutting out team Italy 7-0 behind a strong outing by Carlos Silva. Carlos Guillen and Melvin Mora did the most damage by belting out homers to help out in the win. Next up, Venezuela will play the star-studded US team for a spot in the second round.

Then there was free agent catcher Pudge Rodriguez, making a case to be in somebody's team by going a perfect 4-4 with two towering home runs to help out his Puerto Rico team beat Panama 7-0. The Panamenians never threaten, managing 5 hits, all singles, in a losing effort. Javier Vazquez of the Atlanta Braves got the win.

And in the Asian bracket, the Japanese conjured the mercy rule by pounding the Korean 14-2 in seven innings to be the first team to advance to the second round. Ichiro finally broke out of his slump by slashing out three hits and stealing a base to help the Nippon team to victory. Korea can still advance by beating China, who won its last game against Taipei 4-1, and the loser of that game will be eliminated from competition. (Never mind, in a flash update, Korea destroyed China 14-0 to join Japan in the second round)

In today's action from Mexico City, the Cubans face off against their first challenger, team South Africa while the home team of Mexico goes against Australia. Also playing today, Venezuela goes up against the mighty US team while the Dominicans try to avert another shocking loss in facing the Carlos Lee led Panama team.

Random Thoughts of the Day

The Japanese team shutout the team from China 4-0 in the opener of the World Baseball Classic in front of almost 44,000 fans at the Tokyodome. Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish was the pitcher of record after tossing four no-hit innings to open the game. Ichiro Susuki went 0-5 and stranded 5 men on base. Not a good way to start there Ichiro. Nevertheless Japan, the favorite in this group, notches its first victory on what they hope is a return to the finals and a repeat of the title. Up next, Korea, who won the Olympic gold in Beijing, takes on the Chinese Taipei team.

Man, a weird game for me to watch was yesterday's exhibition between the Houston Astros and the team from Venezuela. Who was I suppose to root for? Betray my country or betray my favorite team? Luckily for me the game ended, fittingly, in a 4-4 tie. Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers and Jose Lopez of the Mariners provided the firework with two RBIs each for the Venezuelan team. On the other side, Astros 2005 first round pick pitcher turned outfielder Brian Bogusevic went 2-4 with a run scored and an RBI to pace their offense. He is now hitting .500 this spring. Not bad.

It looks like Alex Rodriguez is going to miss playing in the Classic after an MRI done to his hip revealed an internal cyst on the right side that requires immediate surgery. Apparently the recovery for this kind of procedures is about 10 weeks and that might also force him to miss part of the regular season as well. This is another blow for A-Rod who was hoping to concentrate on playing baseball after having gone through his worst and most contorversial offseason to date.

And finally it's official...Manny Ramirez is back with the Dodgers. The enigmatic outfielder re-signed to the nifty tune of a 2 year 45 million dollars contract. I wish I was on that guy's Christmas list. The contract plays out like this: $25 million in 2009, $20 million in 2010 with a player option after the first year. If Ramirez decides to stay, payment will be deferred over five years without interest at $10 million each for the first two years and $8.33 million each for the next three years. If he opts out, he'll receive $25 million over the course of four years, $10 million, $5 million, $5 million and $5 million. In other words: ka-ching!

Oh and by the way, there are only 31 days until the regular season starts. And then after that 6 months of pure baseball! Can't wait!

World Baseball Classic 2.0

Finally, after a three year hiatus, the Classic is back! I was excited when the inaugural Classic played out with Japan beating Cuba in a thrilling final to take the first Classic trophy. I was finally glad that baseball took the time to incorporate this tournament as a staple much like the soccer World Cup as been since the 1930’s. Although the baseball talent pool significantly thins out after the 16 team assemble here, there is hope that a tournament like this can bring out interest around the world for the game as they look to increase the number of participants for the next Classic. This year teams are the same that came together last time in ’06, the venues in which they are playing this time are slightly different. Let’s look at this year groups:

Pool A- (playing in Tokyo, Japan)
China
Japan
South Korea
Taipei

Pool B- (playing in Mexico City, Mexico)
Mexico
Cuba
South Africa
Australia

Pool C- (playing in Toronto, Canada)
Canada
Venezuela
USA
Italy

Pool D- (playing in San Juan, Puerto Rico)
Puerto Rico
Dominican Republic
Panama
Netherlands

The rest of the tournament will be played out in the cities of Miami, San Diego and the final in Los Angeles. If I have to decide which team is going to win it all this time, I have to be bias and choose Venezuela. The beauty of a tournament like this though, is that every single team (well, almost) has a chance to win this thing. It’s hard to predict. So let’s kick back and relax and watch as this tournament gets under way tonight from the Tokyodome. May the best team win!