Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Fast goes Astro
Posted by Dave StudemanThe Internet is abuzz with the news that baseball analyst extraordinaire Mike Fast has been hired by the Astros. Mike will report to Sig Mejdal, who was made famous by Sam Walker's book Fantasyland. They promise to be powerful contributors to the Astros' braintrust.
The press release states that Mike is a Baseball Prospectus writer, which is true. But Mike also wrote for the Hardball Times for three years before moving over to BPro. You can read the archives of his articles starting here. Mike also wrote for several editions of the Hardball Times Annual. Mike's analysis was always interesting, clear and thoughtful. These are attributes that will serve him well in Houston.
With this move, the circle is complete, sort of. Fantasyland also gave my first baseball site some notoriety, when Walker wrote that it was one of the favorite sites of Brian Cashman. That notoriety was one of the reasons I was asked to help found the Hardball Times, where Mike honed his craft.
Mike joins other THT alumni, such as Josh Kalk, Dan Fox and Carlos Gomez, who have gone on to join major league teams. That's a record we're proud of, and we plan to continue to offer you the finest in baseball writing. In the meantime, congrats to Mike and the Astros on the beginnings of a beautiful relationship.
Dave was called a "national treasure" by Rob Neyer. Seriously. Comments about this article can be sent to him through the miracle of e-mail.
Thank you, Dave, very much. And yes, I proudly claim my time at THT, too. I learned and grew a lot during my time here, and hopefully wrote some good things, too.