July 1
This month starts with the opening of the international signing period. There's a five-tool centerfielder available, but his bonus demands are above the point at which I'd incur penalties, so I'm going to let him pass and spread my money around a little. There's a workhorse of a pitcher from the Dominican Republic named Esteban Contreras with advanced command for a 16 year old and a free swinging centerfielder with speed and power from Venezuela named Luis Martinez. I'll start with those two and watch the market develop. I'll open the bidding on Contreras at $750,000 and Martinez at $310,000. I can spend up to $3M without penalty, so I'm sure I'll jump in on a couple others as the month goes on.
July 3 (35-51)
It's obvious there's going to be a fierce bidding war for these two guys. I won't update every twist and turn, we'll just see how things shake out in the end.
July 6 (36-53)
Robbie Grossman is ready to come off the disabled list. I know a good bit of Springer's struggles are tied to an absurdly low BABIP, but I'm sending him back to AAA hoping he can get things going, regain some confidence, and come back later in the season ready to succeed. Presley and Grossman will platoon in right field.
July 9 (36-56)
After seeing the Rangers jump into the fray for the two international prospects I was targeting, I made a full push to get them signed. Apparently it worked, as the both signed today. Contreras signed for $950,000 and Martinez signed for $392,000. Knowing I have a little more money to play with, I take another look at the international pool. I find a couple of kids who, while not really projecting to be stars, show some intriguing upside and they're relatively inexpensive. One is Victor Gonzales, a Dominican outfielder with blazing speed but average tools otherwise. Right now we're talking in the range of just $50K to get him signed. The other is Jorge Colon, a Venezuelan LHP who could be a back of the rotation or middle relief option if he meets his potential. He's looking for about $700K. They've been talking with some other clubs already, so I jump into the fray. This may lead to these kids getting bid up a little, but I'm comfortable with that with the money I still have available, as long as things don't get out of control.
July 13 (37-58)
The All-Star rosters were announced today. OOTP doesn't require that every team has a representative, and no Astros were named, though a few were worthy. Oberholtzer could have a case for inclusion, as he's currently 9-5 with a 3.43 ERA. Chad Qualls has done well so far as the closer, with 16 saves and a 2.57 ERA. Villar also has room to complain, as he's hitting .280 with 19 steals and 21 doubles.
The All-Star break is also when I look to see if it's time to make any trades, either to improve for this year or deal some veterans for prospects. Since we're in the cellar, there's obviously no use in improving for this season. Jesse Crain has proven himself to be healthy and effective, with a 1.63 ERA through 27.2 innings. He's on a one year deal so I'll see what kind of return I can get for renting him out to a contender. Toronto's holding a slim .5 game lead in the AL East with a 4.64 staff ERA, so let's target them. I offered them Crain for #90 overall prospect, low-A shortstop Franklin Barreto.
Jesus Guzman is arbitration eligible next year and Jon Singleton is starting to come around. I don't expect much in return with him, so I'll just shop him around and take the best offer once he come off the disabled list in a couple weeks.
July 14 (38-58)
Fast but curious response from Alex Anthopoulos. He's not going for the deal straight up, but he may be willing to make the trade if I throw in Jerome Williams. Williams came into the month with a decent 3.22 ERA, but three straight horrible outings have ballooned that number to 6.75. He's also a free agent at the end of the year, so I'm ok with throwing him in the deal as well. I modify the trade and resubmit for his acceptance.
July 15 (38-58)
Apparently someone told Anthopoulos about Williams' latest outings, so he's not going to stick to our handshake deal. I'm a bit peaved about this, so I make a quick flight to Toronto to sit down with him face to face, documents in hand, to make one last attempt to land Barreto. He tells me he'll make the deal if I replace Williams with either Mark Appel or Marc Krauss. I tell him to kiss my Krauss and storm out of the meeting, hop back on the jet, and get back to Houston.
When I land I see I have a missed call from Detroit GM Dave Dombrowski. He heard about what happened with Toronto and he's interested in getting Crain for the stretch run. I take a look at our scouting reports on his prospects and ask for Cory Knebel, an interesting power arm that just got promoted to AAA. Dombrowski agrees and, just that quickly, our deal is done.
That leaves an opening in the bullpen. Josh Zeid has been dominating at AAA so he'll get a shot to keep his hot pitching going in Houston.
July 23 (40-60)
Jesus Guzman is ready to be activated. I'll play him for a few games to showcase that fact that he's back to full strength, then see what I can get for him.
July 25 (41-61)
Jorge Colon signed today. Milwaukee had bid him up to just over $1.2M and I was about to back out, but Colon took my final offer.
In other news, Guzman homered in his first game back and doubled in the next and teams are starting to call but no offers yet. I'll see if I can get someone desperate right at the deadline.
July 27 (43-61)
Victor Gonzales signed with me after the Phillies late push came up short. In farm system news, Colton Cain threw a 1-hit shutout last night for Lancaster, striking out 8 and walking 2.
July 28 (44-62)
Dexter Fowler was named AL Player of the Week. He hit .526 with 2 home run for the week, bringing him up to .284 with 9 homers for the season. He's had just 218 at bats so far due to his injury earlier this year.
In this evening's game, Dallas Keuchel shutout the A's as the Astros won 12-0. Keuchel gave up 5 hits and 3 walks to go with 6 strikeouts.
July 30 (46-62)
Busy month! Good news, bad news today. The OOTP gods awarded me a bronze achievement medal for winning our 6th game in a row, but Brett Oberholtzer hits the disabled list for 4 weeks with shoulder inflammation. Rudy Owens has been pitching well this year at Oklahoma City and he's already on the 40 man roster so, welcome to the big leagues!
July Wrapup
46-63 overall. 5th place. 18.5 games back. 12-13 for the month.
There ended up being no takers for Jesus Guzman. I'll let him play out the season and either deal or non-tender him after the season.
Dallas Keuchel paced the pitching staff in July, going 2-1 with a 2.56 ERA. Jerome Williams sucked eggs, giving up 16 hits and 12 runs in just 6.1 innings. No one wanted to trade for him, so he's about a half-step away from being released. Harrell also came back to earth, putting up a 6.46 ERA for July, but he's still at a respectable 3.58 ERA for the year.
At the plate, Chris Carter got hot again, hitting .283 with 8 home runs for the month, giving him 24 on the season. Jason Castro struggled, hitting just .169 with only extra base hit, a double, though he did add in 11 walks.
A couple awards were handed out to our minor league guys this month. Lancaster pitcher Colton Cain won the California League pitcher of the month after going 5-0 with a 2.13 ERA. Tri-City pitcher Jandel Gustave was untouchable on his way to the New York-Penn League pitcher of the month award. He went 3-1 with an exceptional 1.09 ERA, holding opposing hitters to just a .161 batting average while striking out 42 in 41.1 innings.
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