this season. The Astros are one of only five organizations that are not holding fall instructs for their minor leaguers. As long as the club continues to hold the Nolan Ryan Elite Camp in January, then it probably makes more financial sense to hold a mini-camp prior to spring training rather than doing a FIL. Although we haven’t heard news specifically about the mini-camp, we’d be surprised if it didn’t happen. Between the Elite Camp and the mini-camp, all the bases should be covered (so to speak) that would otherwise be taken care of in fall instructs.
In other news, the Hawaii Winter Baseball League starts play in its 40-game season on Sunday. Preliminary rosters have been released. As expected, Koby Clemens is on the roster for the North Shore club to be headed up by CC manager Dave Clark. However, we note that Tommy Manzella is not listed even though it was previously reported that he would join Koby on the team. It may be just be an oversight (there is no SS currently listed for North Shore) or the fact the roster is still listed as preliminary.