Team names Bruce, Valentin as minor league advisers
Former major league players Jay Bruce and John Valentin will join the Astros’ organization this season as minor league special advisers, the team announced Monday.
Bruce, 36, retired in 2021 after a 14-year major league career that included three All-Star selections. The former right fielder and first baseman is from Beaumont. Valentin, 56, was a college teammate of Astros general manager Dana Brown and Hall of Famer Craig Biggio at Seton Hall University prior to his 11-year major league career as an infielder for the Red Sox and Mets.
Houston will carry three minor league special advisors in Bruce, Valentin and Chuck Caufield, who worked previously as a hitting coach in the Brewers’ minor league system.
The Astros on Monday announced their full minor league field staff for the 2024 season. Mickey Storey (Triple-A Sugar Land), Joe Thon (Double-A Corpus Christi), Nate Shaver (High-A Asheville), Ricardo Rivera (Low-A Fayetteville) and Carlos Lugo (Florida Complex League) all return as managers of their respective affiliates.
Thomas Whitsett, the Astros’ assistant minor league pitching coordinator last year, is the new pitching coach at Triple-A Sugar Land, replacing Erick Abreu, whom the Braves hired as bullpen coach.
Micheal Thomas, formerly minor league catching/outfield coordinator, is now field coordinator. Jason Bell, who served last season as field coordinator and assistant director of player development, joined the Astros’ major league staff this offseason as quality assurance coach under new manager Joe Espada.
Matt Kawahara
Strotman, Kuhnel sign minor deals
The Astros signed two pitchers, Joel Kuhnel and Drew Strotman, to minorleague deals with invitations to major-league spring training, the club announced Monday.
Kuhnel returns to the organization after being designated for assignment by Houston earlier this month. The righthander made seven relief appearances for the Astros last season with a 4.66 ERA after being acquired from the Reds in a trade for cash considerations.
Strotman, a 27-year-old righthander, owns a 5.01 ERA over 128 minor-league appearances, including 62 starts. A fourth-round draft pick by the Rays in 2017, he spent the 2023 season with the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate and compiled a 6.47 ERA in 97 innings.
Houston has 24 non-roster invitees scheduled to attend major-league camp, which opens Feb. 14 with its first workout for pitchers and catchers.
Matt Kawahara
Regional network to air exhibition games
The Astros will broadcast a dozen exhibition games on the team’s rebranded regional sports network this spring.
Space City Home Network, which begins its first full season as the team’s flagship network, will air 11 games from the team’s West Palm Beach, Fla., complex beginning with the Feb. 24 game against the Washington Nationals, with whom the Astros share the facility.
The spring schedule will conclude with the March 26 game against the Class AAA affiliate Sugar Land Space Cowboys at Minute Maid Park two days before the season opener against the Yankees.
Here are the spring training games that will air on SCHN (all times Central):
Feb. 24: at Nationals, 5 p.m. Feb. 25: vs. Cardinals, noon Feb. 27: vs. Nationals, noon March 5: vs. Marlins, noon March 6: vs. Mets, noon
March 9: vs. Nationals, 11 a.m.
March 11: vs. Tigers, noon March 15: vs. Phillies, 5 p.m.
March 18: vs. Nationals, 5 p.m.
March 22: vs. Nationals, 5 p.m.
March 24: vs. Cardinals, 11 a.m.
March 26: vs. Space Cowboys, 7 p.m.
Greg Rajan
Gage picked up by Yankees off waivers
Lefthander Matt Gage was claimed by the New York Yankees off waivers from the Astros on Monday.
The 30-year-old had a 2.70 ERA in five big league relief appearances and went 1-1 with a 4.58 ERA in 34 games at Triple-A Sugar Land last season. He is 0-1 with a 1.83 ERA in 16 big league relief appearances over two seasons that included time with Toronto in 2022.
Gage was designated for assignment on Jan. 22 when Houston needed a roster spot to finalize its $95 million, fiveyear contract with All-Star closer Josh Hader.
New York designated infielder/outfielder Diego Castillo for assignment. Castillo was claimed off waivers on Jan. 19 from the Mets, who claimed Castillo from Arizona on Jan. 5.