The Astros farm system was named one of the most improved systems this year. Seems fair given they graduated basically no one, and the pitching was ridiculous.
While the advanced numbers look really nice, he's never handled close to a starters workload and that'll keep him from being a top prospect.
He looks to be on a similar path to Musgrove, Feliz, or Paulino, all of whom made top 100 lists (if not top 50s). If he splits 2019 between High A and AA and does anything close to what he did last year, he'll be in consideration for some lists, even if he only throws like 80 innings. He's also started every season so far in EST, so I'm not sure we have any idea what his innings limit would be.
If he throws 100+ innings across High A and AA, putting up similar stats to 2018, he will be a Top 100 prospect.
Looks like they cut Carlos Diaz as well, the other player in the system suspended for PEDs. I guess between him and Muriel, I should stop just assuming every young Puerto Rican they take will be Correa.
I did not expect Houston to make that list. But I suppose when you think about the positive early returns from the 2018 draft (led by Beer and McKenna) along with all the pitching breakouts (James, the 2017 draftees, Abreu, the international arms in short season), they more than make up for the busts, graduations, and prospects that were traded away, so overall the system is better than it was before. Pretty amazing.
Beer is type of prospect that has to hit, to have any real value because he is so slow defensively. Having said that, the Astros were very impressed with Beer's play last year.
Beer is type of prospect that has to hit, to have any real value because he is so slow defensively. Having said that, the Astros were very impressed with Beer's play last year.
Diaz (14th round) is the highest 2017 draftee to be released so far. I may just be me, but it seems like the Astros are sorting through their prospects more quickly than in years past. Only 6 draftees from 2015 remain in the system. Only 15 remain from 2016, and all but 3 have already reached AA. 6 2017 draftees have already reached AA. Probably most impressive, 9 players drafted in 2018 played full season ball in their debut.
They make some fairly radical organizational changes each year, and seem to make the most changes in player development/minor system. So you are probably right about the Astros sorting through their system faster.
They make some fairly radical organizational changes each year, and seem to make the most changes in player development/minor system. So you are probably right about the Astros sorting through their system faster.
I have wondered if front office turnover might be a market inefficiency. Seems like a fresh set of eyes (especially on prospects) and new set of decision makers (even if working under the same ‘system’ or using the same data) might yield better results than having the same personnel who did the initial evaluation continue to do subsequent evaluations and be in charge of development decisions and timelines. Maybe that is why Luhnow has seen so many guys leave (and not necessarily get hired away to higher positions in other orgs).
Yep. I think it is a combination that Astros staff is wanted, scouts are upset about Astros diverting money from them to video scouts/analysts, and Astros knowing that what was done likely isn't the optimal use of resources with today's technology. Staying the same is likely worse than making the wrong move.
I think it's a combo of things. Nobody (fan-wise) really paid attention to these sort of moves until recently: did we really care that the national crosschecker for HS players or the minor league field coordinator or the assistant to the GM for whatever got replaced? Teams have had turnover in their scouting, evaluation, etc... departments forever, but now with the advent of Moneyball and the NerdCave and Ground Control - plus the added knowledge of the innerworking that we get as fans through the internet microscope - things are magnified. Also, I think it's a double-edged sword: having talented people hired away could be a drain, but having those people be hired away (Luhnow already has 2?, Brewers and Orioles? GMs that got their start under him) is a pretty good recruiting tool for new talent I'd think. Also remember that we raided the Co-ardinals for a bunch of this talent in the first place. Nature of the beast.
I think Alex McKenna impresses next year and makes an appearance in AA by the end of the year. Advance bat and might surprise with his power. Reminds me of Bregman's swing when he was drafted, as it's very flat and contact oriented, but has the bat to ball skills and strength to lace line drives t all fields. Hopefully that will eventually translate to power.
https://www.baseballamerica.com/sto...-pitchers-throwing-100-mph-decreases-in-2018/ Interesting article. Fewer pitchers threw 100 in 2018 than 2019. Houston had 3 guys hit 100: Josh James, Reymin Guduan, and Jojanse Torres. James and Guduan weren’t surprising, but Torres is now on the radar and it will be interesting to see how he does once he gets stateside.
I stumbled across the Roster Resource 2018 minor league power rankings today. I’m not sure how they are calculated; the only insight they provide is that it’s based on weighted stats, including age and level. From what I can tell there are no prospects from short season ball on the list. There also appears to be an innings and AB threshold, since many top prospects who didn’t play much were not on the list (including Whitley and Bukauskas). Anyway, the interesting parts are that their previous lists seem to be pretty prescient (the 2016 list had Hoskins and Haniger in the top 5), and the 2018 Top 200 has 15 Astros on it, including 7 of the top 100 (Tucker, Straw, Reed, Rojas, Davis, Hartman, and Javier). In the 100-200 range were Alvarez, Bielak, Ivey, Jones, C Martin, De Goti, Julks, and Solomon. “Graduated” player Josh James came in at 29th, so Houston technically had 8 of the Top 100 and 16 of the Top 200. It looks like they do rankings up to 900. Houston has 36 of the top 773. www.rosterresource.com/milb-power-rankings/
