The comments wrt Sig Mejdal caught my eye. Sig obviously saw something in White that others did not. Finding everyday players potentially like White deep in the draft could be a difference maker for the Luhnow regime. If White works out, the Astros will have a cost controlled, everyday player in his prime for 4/5 years. Longshot White Ready To Pay Off For Astros December 30, 2015 by Vince Lara-Cinisomo It’s not lost on Tyler White that—despite being the longest of long shots—he’s on the precipice of the major leagues. Or that a player drafted 971 picks ahead of him now sits side by side on the Astros’ organizational depth chart. He’s just decided to focus on the next step. Coming out of Western Carolina, White said he didn’t hear from any teams and only talked with one scout, a Giants scout whom he knew personally. That he didn’t attract a lot of attention wasn’t all that surprising. At 5-foot-11, 225 pounds, White didn’t cut a figure in a baseball uniform in the way the sleek Byron Buxton or behemoth Giancarlo Stanton do. He played first base and third, but not particularly well, and didn’t profile as a corner hitter, either. Also, despite playing in the Southern Conference—not exactly a baseball powerhouse league—White didn’t dominate. He hit .288 and .289 in his first two years with a combined five homers. He batted .354 as a junior but hit just one home run. He learned to turn on the ball as a senior and hit 16 homers. “As a junior, I tried to hit the ball on the ground,” said White, 24, who is from Forest City, N.C. “As a senior, I worked on getting the ball in the air, learning to hit the inside pitch. I had to learn to pull the pitch and learn to pick the right times to do it.” The Giants said they might draft him in the final 15 rounds in 2013 and convert him to catcher, but it was the Astros who finally took him in the 33rd round. Tim Bittner, the scout who signed White, said the Astros—who appreciate plate discipline and bat-to-ball skills—were keeping an eye on White. “In 2013, Tyler—he had always had good numbers in the past—that spring he put out a bit more power,” said Bittner, who pitched in the minors for 10 years. “He was a guy on our radar, but you’ve got to kind of watch him and see how his game evolves.” Bittner, who covers Virginia and the Carolinas, said he’d seen White, but hadn’t gotten a good look. Astros director of decision sciences Sig Mejdal was very interested in White and asked Bittner to bear down on him. That spring, Bittner was focused on Kent Emanuel, the North Carolina lefthander the Astros drafted in the third round, and UNC third baseman Colin Moran, whom the Marlins drafted sixth overall, but whom the Astros traded for in 2014. Still, he made sure to check in on White, catching him a second time in a game at UNC Greensboro. “I remember calling Sig and I remember I didn’t get much out of that day,” Bittner said. “He didn’t do much at the plate. Sig said, ‘Would you mind going back?’ “I was able to double-up one day and (White) had a couple of hits . . . hit the ball hard. But looking back at that day, and seeing him in the past few years, never did I think he’d do what he’s doing.” What he’s been doing since he turned pro is hit—and he hasn’t stopped hitting. In 2015, he slashed .325/.442/.496 at Double-A and Triple-A, a performance that got him noticed despite a glut for the Astros in third basemen, first basemen and DHs. That includes Moran, who played the entire season at Double-A Corpus Christi, but reached Triple-A for the playoffs. Moran was drafted sixth overall in 2013 by the Marlins, the same year White was drafted 977th overall. Moran got a bonus of $3,516,500; White got $1,000. Yet after three pro seasons, White is closer to helping the big league team—not that he has a chip on his shoulder about the disparity. “To me, the round and money isn’t important,” White said. “Colin is a friend and great player. I had an opportunity to move up and play first base and DH in Fresno and did my best to take advantage of it. “(Colin) got the opportunity to come up and help (Fresno) win a ring while doing a great job in the playoffs for us.” The ever-modest White failed to note that he posted a 1.085 OPS in the postseason as Fresno won the Triple-A National Championship. And imbued with that success, he went to play winter ball in the Dominican Republic for Estrellas de Oriente, where, in 44 games, he slashed .290/.419/.525 with eight homers and 31 walks and won the league Most Valuable Player before heading home to North Carolina for the winter. And White understands he’ll have to keep hitting like that to reach his ultimate goal: the majors. “I just tried to take my high school approach into college, and the same thing into pro ball, making it work with a wood bat,” he said. “I’m just trying to take every opportunity to make the best of it. My best tool is hitting. I’ve always been an on-base percentage guy. I’m pretty good at taking walks,” said the man with 174 walks and 164 strikeouts as a pro. As much a long shot as White seemed to be when drafted, he’s on the precipice of the big leagues, even if his ultimate position is in question. “It’s to the point Tyler White has to prove he can’t do it in the big leagues,” a scout said. “But I do think he has a place on the roster. (But) where is he going to play?” Another scout compared White to Matt Adams, the Cardinals’ hefty power hitter, but Bittner says White has improved his conditioning. “He wasn’t in the best shape, but he’s done a complete 180,” Bittner said. “There are not very many guys who can go and get in shape in minor league ball with the schedule they’re on and with some of the places they have to eat. “He’s gotten his body in tremendous shape. It’s a different player.” He’s changed his body, but as far as White is concerned, he won’t change his game. “I’m just trying to take every opportunity to make the best of it,” he said. “I feel that I have put myself in a position to help the (Astros). I can only control what I can control as far as the decision-making process goes. “I plan on working very hard up until spring to put myself in the best position to force the issue and make the team out of camp.”
He's no longer a prospect, he and Reed etc... have to prove it with the big boys, they've earned their shot.
While most of them don't project as much more than good bench players, we have a lot of depth of players that seem ready to help the big league club in AAA. C Gonzalez/Heineman 1B Reed/Duffy 2B Sclafani SS Fontana 3B Moran/Duffy LF Aplin CF Kemp RF Kemmer DH White/Duffy They won the AAA title last year, gonna be fun to follow that group again this year.
Yeah, we still have another 6 weeks before Spring Training and 3 months before Opening Day, so most of my posts in this thread between now and then will be preview-ish in nature. The Rockets being underwhelming doesn't really help, so... just something to keep my mind off them. First up, are the players who I think will turn some heads in 2016. Albert Abreu was my #19 prospect on my (amended) pre-season top 20 in the OP. He's one of the many intriguing arms that the Astros have amassed in the lower minors, but I think that he might be someone who could vault into the top 10 conversation in 2016. After the 2015 season, Abreu was ranked by Baseball America as the #6 prospect in the Appalachian League, which was his first season in the US after signing in 2013. He would have ranked 4th in the Appy League with a 2.51 ERA had he thrown enough innings to qualify for the league ERA title. Abreu, whose fastball was 87-91 when he signed, now sits "comfortably" at 93-96 and he's even touched 99. He also has a changeup that flashes plus, a curveball, and a slider. From reading the report on him (link above), the curve is his better breaking ball (shows power), as Hudson Belinsky noted that he recently started throwing the slider. I think he'll start the season in extended spring training, but he'll take the same route Francis Martes did in 2015. Spoiler <script type="text/javascript" src="http://widgets.sports-reference.com/wg.fcgi?css=1&site=br&url=%2Fregister%2Fplayer.cgi%3Fid%3Dabreu-000alb&div=div_standard_pitching"></script> As for my breakout position player.... Kyle Tucker. Yes, he's already rather highly-regarded to begin with, and I'm likely getting too far ahead of myself here, but I really do believe that he is a perennial All-Star in the making. (Eh... probably not going to fulfill Peter Gammons' Ted Williams ceiling.) The Astros might have drafted the best high school bat in the class of 2015 with the #5 pick. Tucker was ranked as the #1 prospect in the Appalachian League and the #3 prospect in the Gulf Coast League by Baseball America following the 2015 season, and they, along with Baseball Prospectus and other prospect pundits, will likely rank him as a top 3 prospect in the system overall. His athleticism is described as being "more graceful and balanced than it is explosive." This, to me, suggests that his aptitude for the game is strong. His hitting ability has drawn positive reviews ("has shown the bat control to make contact at a high rate"), and he already has plus raw power. As he matures, there is, of course, the potential for even more. Kyle Tucker capped off his introduction to professional baseball by helping Greeneville capture the Appy League crown. He'll likely spend 2016 in Quad Cities, with a late-season cameo in Lancaster. Spoiler <script type="text/javascript" src="http://widgets.sports-reference.com/wg.fcgi?css=1&site=br&url=%2Fregister%2Fplayer.cgi%3Fid%3Dtucker001kyl&div=div_standard_batting"></script>
Tucker will be there as well unless someone is traded. Just two years ago, the Astros were trotting out an MLB team with position players similar to the Fresno team outside 2-3 guys.
Baseball America Top 10 http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/houston-astros-top-10-prospects/ 1. A.J. Reed, 1b 2. Francis Martes, rhp 3. Alex Bregman, ss 4. Kyle Tucker, of 5. Daz Cameron, of 6. Joe Musgrove, rhp 7. David Paulino, rhp 8. Colin Moran, 3b 9. Derek Fisher, of 10. Michael Feliz, rhp Knew Paulino was getting more pub, but surprised he's that high on list.
Yeah, me too. I thought our prospects had a clear top 9, and then it got fuzzy with some possible breakout prospects. So I figured he was in the 10-15 range. After the year Moran had, I'm surprised to see Paulino ahead of him, Fisher and Feliz. I'm not sure if Paulino rose, of if they don't like the others as much. That's as low as I've seen Feliz ranked in a while. It's fun to play with and throw around, but I typically don't have too much concern with the order in which they are ranked, I'm more concerned with how they are viewed in general. It's easy to point out their misses, but these prospect ranking services typically do a pretty good job of identifying guys with major MLB potential. Having him that high despite so little evidence above rookie ball, says the people at BA really must like his stuff.
David Paulino has a very good arm, great size and at times can be flat out dominant. I am not shocked he is that high. He reminds me a lot of Jose Valverde.
On Moran, Kiley McDaniel (now with the Braves) once paraphrased an Astros official that said guys like Moran are not going to get any credit until they do what they do at the MLB level.
Yes he was in the Veras trade. The only reason he hasn't been ranked higher is because of injury issues. The Astros have been patient and it might be starting to pay off. The Astros scouts CLEARLY know pitching.... they insisted on a young Martes from the Marlins and Paulino from the Tigers. Also some of these international signings are going to start making prospect lists.
I'm guessing that BA will give Reed a 70 grade. Martes, Bregman, and Tucker will get 65s, Daz and David Paulino get 60s, Musgrove, Feliz, and Fisher will get 55s, and Colin Moran is a 50.
Those all seem like aggressive grades for the 60's and up. They'd have to be on the high side all of them in terms of prospect graders. BP has two guys calling Reed 2nd division starter upside or even just power bench bat. I think 50% grades are closer to 60-65 on Reed with 70 upside (90th percentile result). Especially guys like Cameron and tucker, they can slap at 60-65 grade but it's way too early to call that their middle projected outcome.
It's been mentioned in a couple of articles that when Luhnow brought Kevin Goldstein onboard as director for pro scouting, he asked Goldstein how he'd want the department constructed. Goldstein told him he preferred a flat structure with an equal amount of scouts devoted to the low minors as high minors. Luhnow agreed and that's why the low minors scouting is really good. Most teams scouting departments are skewed towards the upper minors, which makes better sense for evaluating close to the majors talent for trades.
Martes has the highest upside of the group. He has 2 elite pitches, one above average/good pitch and a very deceptive repeatable delivery. He has two things working for him.... #1 type stuff and also has a higher likelihood of hitting his potential than most pitchers. He just turned 20 years old, he will be a top 2-3 prospect in baseball if he repeats what he did last year, but in AA/AAA.
Already 23-24 years old.... limited power and questions about his defense. He is very similar to Bill Mueller as upside.
It's funny how both Tucker and Moran are both top 6 overall picks but Tucker is going to get the benefit of the doubt until he busts while Moran has seemingly had to prove it all the way after his mediocre pro debut.
Tucker is 19 years old and has projected pop. Moran has consistently slid down the prospect charts because it has been confirmed that he has limited pop, and defense has been an issue. Doesn't mean that Moran won't have a Hal Morris/Bill Mueller/Lyle Overbay type career.... but there is limited upside unless Moran starts hitting 320-330.
Right. Projected pop. But that may not develop or turn into game/functional power. But my point remains; he gets the benefit of the doubt. Moran was never supposed to be a high power guy and gets penalized for not being what he never was.
