A Few Updates

Nothing earth shattering, just keeping you abreast of the latest regarding the former G-Stros.

Delino Deshields Sr. is the manager of the Dayton Dragons, Reds low A ball affiliate in the MidWest League. In article today, it was learned that it is not just the boys in the family who are talented. Former G-Stro DeLino Deshields Jr's little sis is making a name for herself.

Diamond, a 6-foot-2 guard who can dunk, was the Georgia big-school basketball player of the year as a freshman. Now a sophomore, she plans to visit Connecticut, Tennessee, Duke and Xavier, among others.

The article also told us that Lino is slated to be heading to Lexington to start the season.

Jordan Parraz is in spring training with the Yankee's this year after they picked him up on waivers from the Red Sox who had claimed him on waivers from the Royals. NJ.com introduced him to the Yankee fans this way.

OF Jordan Parraz, 26, owns a .289 (672-for-2,324) career batting average with 147 doubles, 54 home runs and 325 RBI in 634 minor league games in the Houston Astros and Kansas City Royals organizations. In 2010, he played the entire season with Triple-A Omaha (KC), batting .266 (115-for-432) with 58 runs, 27 doubles, 11 home runs and 61 RBI in 123 games. Following the season, he played with La Guaira in the Venezuelan Winter League, batting .306 (22-for-72) in 25 games. Parraz was originally selected by Houston in the third round of the 2004 First-Year Player Draft.

Fifth starter and bullpen are two hot topics for the Astros in spring training. Fernando Abad is finding himself square in the middle of those discussions. The following quotes are from Brian McTaggart's recent interview with Astros GM Ed Wade:

What do we do with Fernando Abad? He just went 7-1 in the Dominican, a lot of it was as a starter. What's his role on our club? Do we put him in the bullpen? Do we roll him out and let him compete for a starting job? Those are things that we'll have to address...

I just think what Fernando did this offseason, all of a sudden you've got to say, 'Wow, this is pretty significant.' Philosophically, I'm a believer - I've said this before -- I'm a believer that if a guy shows a potential for being a starter you exhaust those possibilities... bullpen guys are far less expensive than starting pitchers, and starting pitchers make a lot of money for a reason 'cause there aren't very many of them around.