Fowler on the verge of going to Cubbies

[chancellor]

Also pretty sure KS deserves all the credit.

Funny how we agree on most baseball stuff.

[revo]

Hold off on trading for Jake Marisnick in your fantasy league! Now the Astros have Colby Rasmus in town for a physical.

[Hornsby]

Well, Rasmus would certainly be a welcome addition to the human wind farm they're assembling in Houston. ;-) Alternative energy rocks!

[joncarlos]

Supposedly the deal is in place. 1yr/4mil. Nice bargain for the Astros, I guess?

[Sour Masher]

Supposedly the deal is in place. 1yr/4mil. Nice bargain for the Astros, I guess?

Rotoworld saying 8 mil. Not such a great bargain imo.

[Davros]

Yeah, Jon Morosi claimed more than $4 million initially, then switched to a $8 million contract claim, then passed the credit of the $8 million claim to Matt Yallof of MLB Network about 15 minutes later (like he is now trying to pass off blame if the report is not legit).

If so, this should be about $1-$2 million cheaper than Fowler's expected contact for the year. It feels like a step down on its own with Rasmus struggling to make even adequate contact most seasons, but being able to platoon or flat out replace Dominguez with Valbuena probably helps the Astros overall in 2015. I am seeing some media flack already about the high strikeout potential of that current lineup.

https://twitter.com/jonmorosi/status/557657967777296384

https://twitter.com/jonmorosi/status/557658490790223874

[fuhrdog]

From a real baseball point of view...I think Rasmus is a an upgrade over Fowler and is a bit cheaper also. I think it is a very solid move to basically get Rasmus/Valbuena and Straily for around 13M instead of just Fowler at 9 or 10M.

[revo]

and it looks like the Astros are also close to signing Ryan Vogelsong. They also DFA'd Carlos Corporan, who they had been trying to trade for a few weeks.

[Kevin Seitzer]

http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2015/01/20/colby-rasmus-on-astros-radar/

“I got to say, based on how Jake [Marisnick] did at the end of last year, he’s going to be strong consideration for a starting spot,” Luhnow said. “But you know, I think part of the theme of how we’re constructing the roster is there’s options at every position. … Based on what Jake did second half of last year with us, yeah, he deserves every opportunity to be a starting outfielder, and he’ll probably get (that opportunity).”

While Evan Gattis, another recently acquired bat, could play some left field occasionally, he’s looked at more as a first baseman and designated hitter, two positions that are themselves getting crowded with Chris Carter and Jon Singleton.

“We don’t know what Gattis is going to look like in left field,” Luhnow said. “If he’s good out there or adequate, I’m sure he’ll get some at-bats out there. Is he going to be our everyday left fielder? I can’t imagine that happening with the guys that we have, but we want to have that bat in the lineup.”

“Guys that have options are going to have to prove to us that they belong in the big leagues. I don’t think it’s just Singleton. Like I said, we’ve got multiple options at every position on the diamond now. So, you know, players may not be playing their preferred position — that puzzle will come together in spring training. We’re only guessing to try to figure it out right now.”

[Moonlight J]

and it looks like the Astros are also close to signing Ryan Vogelsong. They also DFA'd Carlos Corporan, who they had been trying to trade for a few weeks.

Guessing Corporan scoots up to Texas

[Moonlight J]

and my guess was correct

http://trsullivan.mlblogs.com/2015/01/21/rangers-getting-corporan/