https://www.mlb.com/news/prospects-ready-for-big-seasons I’m not particularly high on Matijevic but I do think he will be a big league caliber hitter. Remains to be seen if he can be an everyday guy or just a bench/AAAA bat.
Here are the prospects in Houston’s system I think have a chance to hit more than 25 HR next season: AAA 1B Taylor Jones AA 1B/LF JJ Matijevic AA 1B/3B Jake Adams AA C/3B Colton Shaver High A OF Chandler Taylor A C/1B/OF CJ Stubbs
Here are the prospects I think can post a .400+ OBP next season: AAA C Jamie Ritchie AAA 1B Taylor Jones AAA OF Drew Ferguson AAA OF Chas McCormick AA OF Cal Stevenson High A OF Marty Costes
Anyone care to put a ceiling comp on Lorenzo? Looks and sounds pretty intriguing. I’m sure he will fill out that frame eventually and I’m pretty sure I read that he’s the prized intl. signee of our class this year.
This. It really is hard to say. He is still physically growing and no one is sure how he will fill out.
Disagree. Ceiling is probably more Alex Rodriguez and floor is more like Tim Bogar on offense with Orlando Miller on defense.
Interesting to see Hunter Brown in the top 10, and no Brewer or Barber. Brown will be one to watch as with his stuff if he dominates A ball he will be shooting up lists. Also crazy that 1/2 that list is likely to graduate in 2020.
Jo Adell hits the ball really hard when he hits it. I typically do not like prospects as much as mainstream media that strike out a lot, don't hit a lot of homers, don't steal bases, and don't walk a lot. If he makes contact at majors and gets some lift on the ball, he could be great. Though if his strike out numbers creep up in the majors, it is going to be tough to make up for it with line drives during the game and batting practice homers.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/01/oscar-colas-to-seek-mlb-deal.html I believe Houston has quite a bit of money still leftover from this years pool, would be great if Houston could nab a prospect like Colas. Although I’m assuming Colas will be looking for a team to start him off in the majors and will likely wait until July to sign so all teams can make an offer. Still, I am expecting Houston to make at least 1 more meaningful international signing in this years class, most likely a late blooming pitcher.
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/top-40-prospects-houston-astros/ 1 Forrest Whitley 60 2 Jose Urquidy 50 3 Abraham Toro 45+ 4 Freudis Nova 45 5 Bryan Abreu 45 6 Cristian Javier 45 7 Brandon Bielak 45 8 Korey Lee 40+ 9 Hunter Brown 40+ 10 Jairo Solis 40+ 11 Jeremy Pena 40+ 12 Jose Alberto Rivera 40+ 13 Enoli Paredes 40+ 14 Tyler Ivey 40+ 15 Angel Macuare 40+ 16 Jordan Brewer 40 17 Colin Barber 40 18 Grae Kessinger 40 19 Luis Garcia 40 20 Luis Santana 40 21 Jojanse Torres 40 22 Carlos Sanabria 40 23 Cionel Perez 40 24 Ronnie Dawson 40 25 Dauri Lorenzo 40 26 Manny Ramirez 40 27 Rogelio Armenteros 40 28 Nivaldo Rodriguez 40 29 Garrett Stubbs 40 30 Chas McCormick 40 31 Blake Taylor 35+ 32 Shawn Dubin 35+ 33 Peter Solomon 35+ 34 Jairo Lopez 35+ 35 Brett Conine 35+ 36 Juan Pablo Lopez 35+ 37 Julio Robaina 35+ 38 Bryan De La Cruz 35+ 39 Cal Stevenson 35+ 40 Diosmerky Taveras 35+ Translating these FVs to WAR would yield a slightly below average Farm System. Overall, I think the grades match up with what FanGraphs say the grades theoretically mean, but not necessarily the amount of actual WAR that these FVs typically produce. FanGraphs prospect guys love upside, especially in low level prospects. As 6 of the Top 7 Astros appeared in either AAA or the majors last season, I'd expect the Astros Farm is slightly above average as the these upper levels prospects are graded more on what is expected than "upside". Though, considering most of the value in the Farm is close to the majors..the expected value in the farm will likely drop significantly this season even if Lee and someone else has an amazing year.
There’s a lot of really interesting information in that article: Toro listed with plus speed Nova listed as a 3B Brown slipping to the 5th due to agent blunder Pena putting on 20 lb of muscle last season Ivey busted for foreign substance Macuare much higher than on other lists Torres signed with Milwaukee in 2015 with false ID Sanabria throws 99 Cionel Perez throws 98 Conine throws 96 Robaina on the list at 37 Diosmerky Taveras on the list at 40, throws 98 Luhnow targets exit velocity Luhnow avoids minor league free agents, which leads to fast promotions of fringe prospects like McCormick/Rojas The main ranking/grade I think is off is Barber, who I think they’re way too low on. Otherwise there are a lot of grades and ranks I’d quibble with but nothing major. This list reflects consensus: the system is very deep in pitching and has nice depth all around, but lacks top end position player talent.
I was hoping we would get a Ryan Gusto scouting report. None of the Jucos they signed this year made the list.
Given that Houston obviously does things differently and have been drafting late, evaluating their system is pretty much a crapshoot. These experts’ best bet is to talk to folks within the Org to try to glean which prospects they like. I’m also surprised Nix and Gusto weren’t mentioned anywhere.
