Corey Luebke (credits below) Petco Park is a magical place for pitchers. In maybe its greatest illusion it made a 39 year old Woody Williams look like a competent pitcher in 2006. Williams’ career xFIP was 4.64 and he hadn’t posted an xFIP under 4.00 since 2002. And despite his 5.09 xFIP and 4.46 K/9, Petco helped make Williams a 3.65 ERA pitcher in 2006. The worst...

The Astros have put Woody Williams on waivers, for the purpose of giving him his release. He's owed $6.5 million this season, which the Astros will have to pay him. The Astros paid him $6 million last season, for 188 innings in which he provided an ERA+ of 83. And signing him cost ...

Sampson beat out Woody Williams for the fifth spot in the Astros rotation. Williams was released.

It took more than a month's worth of starts, but Houston native Woody Williams has his first win as pitcher for his hometown team. His key two out single scored Adam Everett (who reached on one of the Reds three errors) and gave the Astros a 3-2 advantage. The score did ...

Alyson Footer, of Astros.MLB.com, reports Houston Astros SP Woody Williams is a candidate for the No. 5 spot in the teamÂ's starting rotation.

The Sports Network reports Houston Astros SP Woody Williams allowed six runs and nine hits in four innings in the teamÂ's spring training game Monday, March 17.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today wrote this article in today's edition about the Orioles' release of Jay Gibbons (whom they owe more than $11 million) and the Astros' release of Woody Williams (whom they owe more than $6 million). I give both teams' credit for making what had to be tough decisions (becau...

Woody Williams VS Kenny Rogers, or Old Guy VS Old Guy. Houston Bourn, CF Loretta, 2B Tejada, SS Berkman, 1B Lee, LF Erstad, RF Wigginton, 3B Cruz, DH Ausmus, C Paulino has a pinched nerve in his arm, looks like he'll be out for about a month. Link

Last night, after 57 ineffective pitches, former ace Pedro Martinez once again found himself gimpy and lame. With this latest injury occurring in just the team’s second game, the Mets are now down two starters, with few prospects or free agents to ease the pain (No, Woody Williams is not a reas...

In the absence of pitcher Woody Williams, Darrell May had stepped up very well in previous starts. He was looking to fight Tim Stauffer for a spot on the starting rotation, but last night against the Arizona Diamondbacks May gave up six runs and eight hits in just 4 1/3 innings that he pitched. With ...

Starting at 6:00 p.m. (EDT), the 2009 MLB First-Year Player Draft, or Rule 4 Draft, will take place with the first round being shown live on MLB Network, and then subsequent rounds being covered on MLB.com. This year, the Draft will be the course of three days, as opposed to two in years prior.DRAFT DETAILS: 30 clubs select players in reverse order of won-lost records from the previous...

Today will be a first for the game of baseball. It will mark the first time that seven pitchers in their forties will start a game on the same day. Roger Clemens, Tom Glavine, Jamie Moyer, Greg Maddux, Woody Williams, John Smoltz and Kenny Rogers are all scheduled to start for their respective teams. The prior record of six was set last Friday when the same group of pitchers - minus...

On this date in 2001, the Cardinals acquired Woody Williams from the Padres for Ray Lankford.  Lankford was useful for the rest of that season, but Williams went on to have an excellent Cardinals career.  Links for Monday... WEEI's Alex Speier runs through Boston's options with Mike Lowell. SI's Jon Heyman lists 31 players he expects to clear waivers. The...

With their eye on the NL Central, the Cubs find a way to create their own scandal by blaming Cecil Cooper and the Astros for starting rookie pitchers against the Milwaukee Brewers..

This week's winner of the Douchebag of the Week Award was really tough to pick. We thought about Andy Roddick because of his lame "it was the Big Mac's fault excuse" but we gave him a pass. Ruslan Chagaev also got some consideration for backing out of his October heavyweight title unification bout with Sultan Ibragimov, allowing Evander Holyfield to take his place...

This morning, Brian McTaggart of the Houston Chronicle suggested the Astros' rotation picture looked like this: 1. Roy Oswalt2. Brandon Backe3. Wandy Rodriguez4. Woody Williams5. Shawn Chacon as the frontrunner, with Chris Sampson, Felipe Paulino, Runelvys Hernandez, Jack Cassel, Mark McLemore, ...

The Houston Astros are coming to town, which means the return of Ed Wade. Corey isn't a big fan of Wade, and believes his face resembles a scrotum; have to agree with you there Corey. Wade did both good and bad while in Philly, but since he never crafted a team that was able to make it to the playoffs his tenure as GM is considered flawed and unsuccessful. In September of 2007...

Of course, it is early, but Jaime Garcia’s 2010 start matches that of a couple of Hall of Famers, including one named “Lefty.” In beginning the season with five outings of six or more innings while allowing two or fewer runs each time, St. Louis Cardinals left-hander Jaime Garcia has done something only three others in team history have accomplished. The three who preceded...

Select the image above to see theall 30 representatives for the 2009First-Year Player Draft (PDF)Hall of Famers Al Kaline, Bill Mazeroski, Billy Williams and Tommy Lasorda are among a distinguished group of baseball figures and front office personnel who are scheduled to be in attendance at Major League Baseball’s 2009 First-Year Player Draft, which will begin live on MLB Network...

The current state of the Astros is attributable to years of neglect of the farm system. In this context "neglect" includes all of these factors: a lack of picks due to free agent signings, poor player selections and an inability to sign drafted players. And the single most crippling period occurred from the off-season of 2006 through the 2007 draft. The confluence of events...

I tuned into the CWS just in time to see Brett Eibner, sophomore from Houston now playing for the Arkansas Razorbacks, hit a homer to break up the 11-0 shutout his team was suffering. And darn if I didn't see a guy named Chad Jones, playing for LSU, smash a double an inning later. And darn if I didn't see him pitching in lefty relief several times and giving up NO runs, in...

With another quality start on Monday night in Philadelphia, the St. Louis Cardinals rotation would establish their longest string of quality starts since 1973. The “quality start” is a stat that is not universally loved. The term is tagged to a starting outing if the pitcher lasts at least six innings and allows three or fewer runs. In reaching the minimum innings with the maximum...

It's time for another installment of Twitter Tuesdays, this time covering the speculation and reactions surrounding Dave Duncan and his future with the Cardinals.Get to da choppa!@bencollins01 The Joel Pineiro Cy Young campaign starts here: http://alturl.com/57bj and if Dave Duncan is leaving the Cards, #Mets please sign him upI'm kind of confused by this fan's allegiances...