Astros lose Rosario, Houlton in Rule V Draft...Marlon Byrd a possible pickup for CF?

[countingcrow]

I'm sure we all remember Rodrigo Rosario in his one start against the Rangers a few years back before prematurely ending his season by getting hurt...he was picked up by the Marlins in today's Rule V draft.

Here's a link to some comments on Rosario...

http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/player_main.asp?sport=MLB&leaguenum=&id=7160

I've never heard of D.J. Houlton, but he seems to have been a pretty good prospect...he was picked up by the Dodgers today in the Rule V Draft.

Here's a link to some comments on Houlton...

D.J. Houlton, rhp, (Dodgers): An 11th-round pick by the Houston Astros in 2001, Houlton has gone 39-23 with a 3.34 ERA and 521 strikeouts in 547 1/3 innings over four minor league seasons. The 25-year-old Houlton, who set a career high with 14 wins in 2002, went 12-5 with a 2.94 ERA in a career-high 28 starts with Round Rock of the Class AA Texas League last season.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=rule5profiles&prov=st&type=lgns

Here's a link to the story on Byrd...

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=knight-philliesbyrdcouldbeontrad&prov=knight&type=lgns

He was highly touted in the Phillies minor league system for a few years and had a pretty good year the season before last...he just couldn't put things together last season...he might be worth taking a chance on as the Phillies apparently aren't asking for much in return...

[RocketFan007]

Houlton had a very good year at Round Rock last season, tough loss. Did we pick anyone up this year?

[countingcrow]

Guys, forgot to mention, that we lost Johan Santana in the Rule V Draft...hope lightning doesn't strike twice with either of the two guys we lost today...

[Nick]

If either of those guys make those team's 40 man rosters, I would be very suprised.

Thus, if they don't make the roster, we get them back.

[meh]

It seems to me that the Astros should not be losing any rule 5 players, simply due to the crappiness of their farm system. I hope we didn't include someone like Palmeiro on the 40 man roster in place of Rosario or Houlton. Sure, there's only a small chance that the moves haunt us like Abreu and Santana. But it's a needless risk if there's a way to avoid it.

[hoopstar]

did anyone else catch that part at the end about millwood pissibly only getting a 1 yr, 3 million dollar deal?
I think that would be a good risk to take as a possible starter (if we encounter any problems with wade, pettite, or clemens).

[bobrek]

Originally posted by Nick
If either of those guys make those team's 40 man rosters, I would be very suprised.

Thus, if they don't make the roster, we get them back.

They actually have to make the 25 man roster and stay at the major league level all year unless a deal is worked out or else they are offered back to their orignal club for $25,000.

[leroy420]

I'm hoping Houlton doesn't have a good spring with the Dodgers and we get him back. That might prove to be a tough loss.

Rosario still hasn't recovered from surgery. He wasn't as good as Carlos Hernandex pre-injury, so I'm not too concerned with that one.

[nWo34Life]

We did pick up some players:

The Astros made minor moves Monday by taking three pitchers in the Class AAA phase of the Rule V Draft. Acquired were lefthander Blake Allen from the Cleveland Indians' organization, lefthander Nick Bourgeois from Philadelphia, and righthanded pitcher Wes OBrien from the Chicago Cubs.

[RocketFan007]

Wes O'Brien put up some nice numbers in A ball last year, and he's only 22.

0-1 1 S 1.33 ERA 16 G 20.1 IP 23 K 6BB


So he has to be at AAA all this year right? The other two guys had decent numbers, but they're lefties, so that's a plus.

[MykTek]

man, we lost Houlton... =)( he was pretty good on my baseball game when i brought him up through the minors.... lol.... I think we'll miss him down the line...especially since our pitching in the minors is becoming thin now....