houstonastros Page 4 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The A’s lone All-Star was set to fly commercial to LA — until a division rival saved the day
Being an All-Star is a good feeling, or at least I’d think so. Clearly, I’ve never been named an MLB All-Star, but the confirmation that you are in fact one of the game’s best players, getting to line up alongside several legends, and have that star next to your name on your Baseball-Reference page ...

Steph-mania has seeped into the WNBA
If it were not already apparent that Steph Curry is the popular kid who dictates whether 10th graders one- or two-strap their backpacks, fans needn’t look no further than the WNBA for proof. I debated if Sabrina Ionescu hitting a game-clinching 3 and striking the Steph “night night” pose against the...

Mark Appel never gave up, and we should all take notice
Nearly a decade after being selected No. 1 overall in the MLB draft, RHP Mark Appel will make his major league debut at 30 years old for the Philadelphia Phillies today....

It's actually OK to root for the Astros' Yordan Alvarez
I’ll admit it. I’ve done it. I’ve rooted for the Astros post-sign stealing scandal. It’s not a habit or anything. When it’s between blatant cheaters and Atlanta, there’s still too much of me that hates Chipper Jones and the whole racist taunt thing to have pulled for last year’s champs in the World ...

Top candidates fit to manage Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani
Two weeks ago, the Los Angeles Angels were on top of the world. They had the best record in the AL West. Mike Trout was healthy and playing at the level we’ve come to expect. Shohei Ohtani had gotten off to a rocky start on the mound, but he’d lowered his ERA to an incredible 2.82 after his May 18 s...

How is Justin Verlander still doing this?
Justin Verlander served notice to those sleeping on the Houston Astros and their 39-year-old ace: He’s all the way back. ...

Are the Yankees frauds? Will the Angels come down to earth?
Saying “it’s only April” is out, because it’s been May for a few days now. We’re about 15 percent of the way through baseball’s regular season, give or take depending on how many games each team has played, and while that’s not a big sample size, the teams that are in first place now have those wins...

Ladies and gentlemen, we have 'Yankee Letter' news
After months of speculation concerning the contents of the “scandalous” sealed letter that supposedly contained evidence of a previously unknown cheating scandal involving the New York Yankees, the contents were allegedly revealed in a report by Andy Martino, an MLB Insider for SportsNet New York, i...

Whatever is in the ‘Yankees Letter,’ the team and the league didn’t want it made public
A letter containing information about the 2015 and 2016 Yankees’ sign-stealing investigation will be made public in about a week, and Astros fans are awaiting its release like Democrats anticipated the findings of Robert Mueller’s Trump investigation. ...

The White Sox had better hope injuries don’t again haunt them all season
A sweep of the Detroit Tigers would have been the ideal way for the Chicago White Sox to begin the 2022 season, but sometimes the ball bounces off the wall, just over the right fielders’ glove for a game-winning hit. Hey, it’s a 162-game season, there’s going to be some head scratchers....

Beware the Prospect Perverts
As another baseball season is about to descend upon us, there’s a scourge you must be aware of that is partially responsible for the state of MLB today. While the CBA was a small step toward progress, we still are dealing with far too many teams diving for the bottom without worrying about the water...

Brian Cashman making dumb excuses for team’s failures
The best way to keep a job you’re in jeopardy of losing is to insist that the failures aren’t your fault. Occasionally, it’s true. You could’ve been in the World Series had the Houston Astros not sounded the alarm for fastballs in the ALCS. That’s misleading because there’s a decades worth of slacki...

MLB free agency predictions - who will go where?
With over 200 names still facing free agency and less than one month to go before the start of the MLB season, we are in for an absolute flurry of moves. There are still dozens of big names on the table for any team looking to make a game-changing acquisition. Those teams that were right on the bord...

Strikes and Balks: A list of things ailing Major League Baseball
Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire aren’t walking through that door....

IDIOT OF THE YEAR #8: Rob Manfred, who got everything wrong
Welcome to Deadspin’s IDIOT OF THE YEAR festivities! Nos. 50 through 11 are available for your enjoyment here. And our top 10 thus far:...

Rob Manfred is fertilizer
I can’t say that Rob Manfred is bad at his job, at least not entirely. Because his job is to make sure that all 30 owners squeeze the sport for every last dollar possible, and he’s done that. It doesn’t really matter if he kills the league in the process, because his bosses don’t care. It’s simply a...

Yes, Justin Verlander is worth every penny he makes on the open market
The 2022 MLB offseason is filled with outstanding free agents. With studs like Kevin Gausman, Freddie Freeman, Max Scherzer, Marcus Semien, Trevor Story, Corey Seager, Carlos Correa, and Kris Bryant all on the market, the MLB hot stove is sure to overcook the souffle many times over before March....

Zack Greinke saves the Astros
Well, not really, Of course not. We all know that’s a ridiculous notion. But what my book presupposes is...maybe he did?...

The baseball is good at the World Series, but Baseball is horrendous
Once you get past the Astros merely being there again after suffering no meaningful consequences for their cheating, and the racist Chop, and the scheduled attendance of Donald Trump at Game 4, and the idea that losing awaiting-trial-on-felony-charges Marcell Ozuna was some kind of “adversity” that ...

'Analytics understander' A-Rod logs on and fails in October once again
Does Alex Rodriguez know what “analytics” means? You would think he should, being a television commentator for baseball in 2021, but life is full of surprises — such as A-Rod praising the Houston Astros in Game 2 of the World Series for an “anti-analytics inning.”...