We’ve been waiting a long time for baseball. Today Spring Training games begin. Houston Astros NewsGame ThreadsHouston Astros Minor LeaguesAstros Game DayPodcastsGame Thread: Spring Training Game 1 http://www.brewersfanproshop.com/authentic-orlando-arcia-jersey , Feb. 23, Houston Astros @ Washington Nationals, 5:35 CST.New,206commentsWe’ve been waiting a long time for baseball. Today Spring Training games begin. Join the conversation.CSTShareTweetShareShareGame Thread: Spring Training Game 1, Feb. 23, Houston Astros @ Washington Nationals, 5:35 CST.Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY SportsIt’s the first Spring Training Game. The preparation and build-up to another great season of Astros baseball begins today.A lot of old favorites are gone this year, Charlie Morton, Dallas Keuchel, Marwin Gonzalez, Evan Gattis, Brian McCann and others. And although it has been a relatively quiet hot stove season, we warmly welcome some new faces to the fold, catcher Robinson Chirinos, pitcher Wade Miley, left fielder Michael Brantley, and playing today, utility infielder Aledmys Diaz.Pitching in today’s game for the Astros is the former 3rd round draft pick http://www.brewersfanproshop.com/authentic-orlando-arcia-jersey , minor leaguer Brady Rodgers. Once a shining star in the Astros system, at 28 years old is now fighting just to stay on the 40 man roster. Although in 2016 Rodgers was named the Astros Minor League Pitcher of the Year, early in 2017 he required elbow surgery, missing the whole year. He managed to come back for the end of the 2018 season, pitching 41 innings for AAA Fresno with a 5.49 ERA. He pitched 8.1 innings for the Astros in 2016.Opening against Rodgers for the Nats is the redoubtable Max Scherzer.Below is the lineup for the Astros todayThe game is televised out of market on MLB.TV. Tomorrow’s game is televised on the Astros usual network, ATT Sportsnet. We will have a game thread for all in market televised Spring Training Games. Mark on your calendar: Feb 24, 25, 27, 28, March 10, 11, 12, 14, 19 and 20th.For East Texans you can follow the game on KBME radio 790 AM. The National’s feed on TV is at MASN.GO STROS! After a disappointing end to the 2018 season, the Diamondbacks face an uncertain future"WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Scaling the RocksPebble ReportRockpileRockies Game ThreadsRockies Fan ExperienceSB Nation's MLB PreviewNL West ReportRockies Season PreviewMLB preview 2019: Arizona Diamondbacks begin life without Paul GoldschmidtAfter a disappointing end to the 2018 season, the Diamondbacks face an uncertain future MLB preview 2019: Arizona Diamondbacks begin life without Paul GoldschmidtWith the 2019 season just around the corner, it’s time to catch up with the other teams around the division. Instead of trying to figure out what we need to know about them ourselves, we thought it would be a good idea to ask our friends at our neighbors here at SBNation to help catch us up.We asked James Attwood of AZ SnakePit to answer a few questions for us about the upcoming Arizona Diamondbacks season. You’ll find his answers below Domingo Santana Jersey , edited for length and clarity.What went right for the Diamondbacks in 2018? What, ultimately, went wrong?After a disappointing exit from the playoffs at the hands of the Dodgers in 2017, the Diamondbacks spent the vast majority atop the NL West in 2019, even holding the best record in the majors for a few days in the beginning of May. Sadly, this success came by riding those who were performing well to the point of exhaustion. Between injuries and fatigue, the Diamondbacks were doomed by their lack of depth. is still trying to compete. The desire to try and compete in 2019 is a big part of the reason the Diamondbacks chose the particular trade deal they did with the Cardinals. If they were in a full-on rebuild, the Texas Rangers’ offer would have made much more sense. The team has also picked up Wilmer Flores and Adam Jones to help contribute this season. That said, it would naive to think the Diamondbacks are not still focused as much on 2021 as they are on 2019. Mike Hazen was given a mandate at the start of the offseason. Get cheaper, get better, and do it all without trading from the future.The team is in the initial stages of a soft rebuild. They are taking that (from a fan’s perspective) dreaded middle approach, neither committing to a full rebuild, not going all-in. This greatly increases the team’s chances of spending the entire season mired in mediocrity, hovering just below or at the .500 mark.The consensus seems to be that the Arizona farm system is somewhere in the lower half of the league. What’s the current state of the farm system and what will it take to build it up?The bad news is that the Diamondbacks’ farm system is a mess. The good news is that it is no longer a complete dumpster fire, like it was last season. There are only two position players in the system that profile as true high-impact players. Unfortunately, they are both still at least two seasons away from making that impact. The pitching looks a little better, but only barely. After the aforementioned Duplantier, Widener Eric Sogard Jersey , and Clarke, it could be argued the team has no starting prospects above A+ ball.The team needs to do two things in order to improve on this. First, they need to continue to resist trading from what is left of the farm. Second, they need to figure out how to draft, especially in the first three rounds. The Diamondbacks have not had a strong draft since 2009 and it is killing them. The few good names they have picked up since then have all been moved, and there have not been enough of those anyway. This June, the Diamondbacks have seven of the top 80 selections, including two in the first round and two in the following round. If ever there was a time and a way to rehabilitate the Arizona farm system, the upcoming draft is it. BUt the key is, they have to get it right, something they have not yet demonstrated they know how to do.Prediction time: will Zack Greinke finish his current contract in a Diamondbacks uniform?While I would like to see that happen, I suspect that he will not. He may or may not get traded at the deadline this season. It might even take another full year. However, if he is able to remain healthy and productive, the deeper into the contract he gets, the more teams will be willing to absorb the financial hit. If he is still a 4 WAR pitcher with only one year left on his deal, it is difficult to see the Diamondbacks not finding numerous suitors. That could all change of course, if the team finds a way to become competitive while he is still on the roster. If some of the current players bounce back and some of the debuts turn in the sorts of performances that are hoped for out of them, then it becomes much more difficult to trade Greinke http://www.brewersfanproshop.com/authentic-orlando-arcia-jersey , as replacing him will be nearly impossible. I honestly feel it is 50/50 if he finishes out his contract in an Arizona uniform. What do you think is a realistic best case scenario for the D-backs this year? What’s the worst case scenario? What would a successful season look like for the D-backs?I think the realistic best-case scenario for Arizona is to make a push late and to finish at .500. I honestly think the worst-case scenario is that they spend the entire season right at .500, always just on the edges of competing. This makes the team moving higher-priced MLB talent for younger talent with more years of control a difficult proposition. It also makes it hard for the team to start turning over the team to its internal prospects. At the same time, it puts the team in a position to get a middling draft pick at best, while wasting another season of control of the likes of Robbie Ray, Jake Lamb, and Zack Greinke.What will be the best part of watching the D-backs this year? Or, put another way, why should the casual fan (who’s not scoreboard watching) watch a D-backs game this season?This is going to depend entirely on which team shows up. Honestly, the sooner the prospects start arriving, the more likely it is that there will be something special to watch. The one big exception to this could be Robbie Ray. Even in poor seasons, like 2004, fans still tuned in to Diamondbacks games to watch Randy Johnson pitch. Robbie Ray could be the kind of pitcher that people actually tune in to watch. Or, his curve resembles the flatter one he had early last season, and then he becomes a non-factor and fans across the country are waiting on prospect arrivals.