HOUSTON -- Astros general manager Dana Brown met with the media prior to Friday’s game against the Angels at Daikin Park and answered questions about a variety of topics, including the recent trade of reliever Rafael Montero to the Braves and the broken thumb suffered Monday by Astros starting pitcher Spencer Arrighetti. When do you think Arrighetti could be back in the rotation? “Very freak accident, very frustrated about that. As far as his return, it could be six weeks -- somewhere in that timeframe. It’s just hard to put a timeframe on it, but we’re hopeful it could be that fast and it could take a little longer, but hopefully it’s six weeks tops. That would be satisfactory for us.” What was the impetus to trade Montero to the Braves? “At the end of the day, we’re trying to create some payroll flexibility. We got stuff we may have to do at the [Trade] Deadline or something like that. This was an area we felt like we could get some payroll flexibility, and we made that deal, and we felt like we got a nice little piece coming back, a young arm [Minor League prospect Patrick Halligan]. It made sense for us.” |
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Were you looking to move him in the offseason? “He came into camp and he made the club and he threw the ball well. Ultimately, him making the club, other teams may have looked at that and said, ‘Look, maybe this guy’s got a little bit more value.’ We gave him some opportunities at the big league level and he threw the ball well and there was some interest there. We felt like we had a good deal there.” Was it weird trading with Braves president of baseball operations and general manager Alex Anthopoulos? (Brown worked with Anthopoulos in Montreal, Toronto and Atlanta before being hired by the Astros) “Very weird. I even texted him back, I was like, ‘This is the weirdest thing ever. I feel like you know what I think, I know what you think and we’re trying to talk to each other about players.’ It’s a very strange feeling.” |
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What do you make of the slow start of some of your key bats, like Yordan Alvarez, Yainer Diaz, Jeremy Peña and Christian Walker? “That’s why you play 162 games. Some of the guys are chasing a little bit. Other guys, they’re just not getting their pitch. You take a guy like Walker. It seems like he’s being pitched tough every time. It’s weird. But look, I think these guys are professional hitters, I think they’ll snap out of it. We did face some really good arms early and now would be a good time for them to really turn it up.” Where are you guys at in terms of what’s best for Zach Dezenzo’s development as far as maybe sending him somewhere to play every day as opposed to being in Houston and rarely playing? “At some point, there’s a chance we could end up sending him out, but right now we want to see if we can get him some at-bats at the big league level. I think [manager] Joe [Espada] is going to try to mix him in a little bit more because he has been sitting a little bit, and so we do realize he’s got to get some at-bats. He’s a young player, but we wanted to see if we could find him some opportunity here. If we can’t find him opportunity here, then we’ll send him back to get more at-bats.” |
How do you assess the play of top prospect Cam Smith so far? “I still think that he’s disciplined at the plate. His swing decisions are still really good. He just hasn’t had some of the fortune he had in Spring Training. He got two hits in a game for the first time the other day, so we’re looking for more of that, for sure. I mentioned this before, when you look at, for example, when [Kyle] Tucker first came up or [Alex] Bregman first came up, some of those guys started off slow, as well. Sometimes, for these young players, it takes a little time. … Maybe this is his time to turn the corner.” |
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MLB MORNING LINEUP PODCAST |
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Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan belted his first career home run in his first game with the Astros on April 12, 1980, vs. the Dodgers. What Dodgers pitcher gave up the home run? A. Jerry Reuss B. Burt Hooton C. Don Sutton D. Rick Sutcliffe |
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The Sugar Land Space Cowboys, who won the Pacific Coast League and Triple-A National Championship last year, received their championship rings on Friday prior to the game against Albuquerque at Constellation Field in Sugar Land. The Space Cowboys also raised a banner in the outfield and had Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer and two-time NBA champion Hakeem Olajuwon throw out the ceremonial first pitch. |
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C. Sutton Ryan swatted a three-run homer off Sutton in the fourth inning of a game the Dodgers won, 6-5, in 17 innings at the Astrodome. Ryan’s only other homer came on May 1, 1987, off Charlie Puleo of the Braves. Sutton signed a four-year, $2.85 million deal with the Astros on December 3, 1980, joining Ryan for two seasons in Houston. |
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