A busy Wednesday for the Astros

As the start of Spring Training gets closer, news stories about the Astros are suddenly coming at a rapid pace. Here are a few items from the last 24 hours, or so — just in case you missed something.

After the official retirement announcement by Roy Oswalt, the Astros have already put together plans to honor “The Wizard” and his long time teammate Lance Berkman, who is also retiring.

Berkman is also appearing on News Radio 740 AM’s Astroline tonight between 7:00 and 8:00. Lance is never at a loss for words and it should be interesting to hear what’s on his mind.

Astros General Manager Jeff Luhnow appeared on MLB Network’s Clubhouse Confidential this afternoon. With the news breaking earlier today that Derek Jeter will be retiring after the 2014 season, someone had to ask the loaded question to Luhnow — Can Carlos Correa be the next Jeter? Luhnow did a good job of answering, saying “Jeter is in a class by himself.” He went on to say that Correa “will be something special.”

Luhnow was also asked about the recent addition of Nolan Ryan to the Astros’ front office. His response: “There couldn’t be a better person to have in our organization right now.”

The interview took place at Minute Maid Park. Another exciting piece of news was the fact that the billboards had been removed from left-centerfield. Here’s a photo courtesy of the Pecan Park Eagle. Click on the image to enlarge and read the accompanying story.