We jumped 13 spots on ESPN's power ranking to 12th. Seems someone outside Houston finally noticed we are playing well.
Kemp can play 2B, 1B, and OF. Lowrie, Gonzalez, and Correa can play SS and 3B. As Kemp has a better bat, I'd rather he or someone like him be the OF/IF swing guy.
I know Fontana can tolerably play any infield position, and I know Kemp can play 2B/LF/CF, but I hadn't heard about Kemp playing anywhere that his arm is a requirement (ala 3B/RF/SS). Did I miss something?
Kemp doesn't need to be able to play 3B or SS if 3 other guys can play those positions. Other OFs can play RF so he can effectively back up RF by playing CF or LF. Effectively, Kemp would be better at 5 of the 7 positions. The other two positions, Fontana would be the 4th option.
I am getting the impression that MLB is going to be filled with ex Astro minor leaguers, and a few likely playing prominent roles. Not enough roster spots on Astros team, for the quality of depth in organization.
Im just happy that I wont be counting down the hours until football season starts. After these last few years, I can finally, thoroughly, enjoy baseball season. Feels so good.
I was thinking that exact same thing. That's cover seems like such petty expectations for us now LOL.
Updating my original thoughts 2012 Draft...Wow is all I can say at this point. Correa has gone from having the "look" of a guy who could be the real deal, to a guy that is the real deal. I know there will be bumps along the way, but this kid has the looks of a true superstar. The biggest difference in this draft class from before the season to now though is McCullers. We obviously still don't know how this story will be told, but he certainly is showing the "stuff" that could make him an Ace. Before the year a large majority of people still viewed him as a BP arm, but he looks like he could be much more. Then we have what has been a pretty consistent mlb bat in Tucker (ahead of the schedule most thought for him) and the guy who after all the promotions, might be our #1 prospect in Phillips. I gave this draft an A before the year, it's clearly an A+ and honestly has the potential to be one of the top draft classes of the draft era, any team 2013 Draft...Gave it a C before the year, probably leave it at that now. Appel really hasn't changed much. He still has the "stuff" and potential, but still hasn't gotten it done. The guy that most thought would be the fast mover, hasn't moved fast. Many guys have taken a while to get to the bigs and still made a big impact, and he could be one of those. But for the #1 overall pick and a 4 year college senior, disappointing. Kemp is having another good year though, and he seems to be climbing the charts and could be a bigger piece that what we thought coming into the year, and Nottingham has gone from a guy very few ever mention to a guy that just might have the look of a big league player. With the top overall pick though, and really just those three right now, a C is as good as I could give it 2014 Draft...Didn't give a grade before the year, but was disappointed because of the whole Aiken situation. Well, the more I see here the more I like. Fisher, Reed, Davis, Mengden ALL have the look of future mlb players. Now i'm sure not all of them will make it, but to lose your top pick and another high one tied to it, and still come out with 4 solid prospects a couple of which show very good upside, that is outstanding. I won't even consider the fact that losing the top pick contributed to this years draft, and i'll give it an A anyway 2015 Draft..Won't give a grade as these guys haven't started playing pro ball yet. Seems like the pundits like our class though, and they usually don't initially. I'll leave this without a grade, but say the potential is there to be another really good one Drafting overall, I have to say Luhnow deserves a solid A even with the 2013 class not looking overly strong. This front office is showing a strong ability to find talent. Yea, I know we wouldn't have gotten Correa without picking at the top...but all of the other guys were drafted in places we could have gotten them anyway. The return on the initial deals that Luhnow made really hasn't changed, so no need to rehash that part The offseason deals, in my opinion, look very good now. I liked Fowler, and he is doing in Chicago what he did here. But the youth we gave up in those deals isn't doing anything of note this year, and several have looked really bad. While some here don't like Gattis and Valbuena, I think they have contributed greatly to us being in the lead in AL wins. Still don't necessarily understand the Conger deal, but also don't think we will ever miss anything we gave up there. I'd give the three main offseason trades an A Roster Building...This gets an A+. Gattis, Valbuena, Lowrie, Rasmus, Gregerson, Neshek all have made contributions to a team that has the second most wins in all of baseball. Enough said on this one, A+ The further we get into the Luhnow era, the more he has the look of a guy who will build a consistent championship caliber team. I was solidly on the fence coming into the year, and we haven't won "anything" yet....but i'm definitely on the side of Luhnow is gonna get it done now
2013 draft also has a couple of lottery ticket pitchers in short season, Emanuel recovering from TJ, Gregor and White not doing horribly, Martin putting up decent stats in A ball, and Thurman as third piece of Gattis deal. At this point, a "C" is probably an appropriate grade at this time, but that grade will likely change a lot one way or the other once guys start getting to the majors.
It almost feels like an "A-" when you stack up the 2013 draft to some of Drayton's past drafts where picks went unsigned and guys like Jiovanni Mier and Max Sapp languished in the minors (props to Mier for doing 'better' though)...I was never as enthused with the Astros draft classes in the last 10 years under McLane as I've been with 4 under Luhnow. Still early? Yes, but the early results say the Astros Scouting/Drafting team is a keeper. (yes caveats that Drayton never picked 1st, but we are seeing solid results in later rounds too--and also this Astros club emphasizes growing from within much more)
