1)  I think the potential starters are listed pretty close to how I would place a bet on who becomes the 5th starter with the exception of Appel.  I don't think he breaks camp on the active roster -- for at least 2 reasons:  
  I)  I think he'll have to pitch in Fresno for a period of time.  If it turns out he can't pitch anywhere in California he's not going to be much good to the Astros.  Maybe they could trade him to the Cubs for Kris Bryant.
 II)  The Astros probably want to push his ML debut back for the arbitration factors we all fussed about with Springer.

2)  What do I care?  Unless I hear one or more is some super humanitarian or promises me free tickets (are those the same thing?) I don't care beyond the fact that I hope they pick a winner.

3)  See 1) above and ignore all remarks related to Appel.  I suspect that they hope that by the end of the season Fields will emerge as a viable closer and they can forget about the multi-million dollar relievers for a few years.  Is Jesse Crain still around?  Doesn't he owe us some of his time?

4)  See 2) above.


Prediction possibilities:  Number of wins in California by Appel //  Number of saves by Qualls vs. Oakland // Perfecta:  guess the date of Appel win and Qualls save combination in Oakland