Can he play 3rd? If so I'm sold. Say no to appel. <iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/bstnvEcTXbQ?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
If Mark Appel separates himself from everyone else and is the unanimous #1 pick, will he demand the full slot amount, or will he come at a discount since he has no leverage (college senior)? I would have no problem with him getting full slot amount if hes the unanimous #1 pick, but it would be nice to have some money left over like last year.
Competitive Balance Lottery What do these mean? Hoe are they obtained? Why are the Reds and Orioles here?
Drew Ward, the #1 rated hs junior by perfect game, is saying he is 95% sure he will graduate early to enter the 2013 draft. Ward is currently a hs shortstop but at 6'4 and 200+ projects to be a 3b. One drawback is he old for his grade. He's 17 now and will turn 18 next month. To out that in perspective he's only two months younger than correa despite being two classes behind in school. He has of course been playing against older competition, and excelling, in area code games and the showcase circuit. He should be in the mix for a top ten overall pick if he's able to come out this draft. Here's snippet from a perfect game profile on ward from June: At the conclusion of the event, one of those PG scouts noted in his report that the left-handed hitting Ward possessed an "open stance, rock back load, good hitting rhythm, aggressive swing with present bat speed, easy low effort actions, ball jumps hard off the barrel, can handle velocity and turn it around, very high-ceiling hitting tools." The scout gave Ward a perfect 10.0 in PG's grading scale. http://www.perfectgame.org/Articles/View.aspx?article=7207 Heres an Espn article from march http://espn.go.com/blog/high-school/baseball/tag/_/name/drew-ward His pg profile: http://www.perfectgame.org/players/playerprofile.aspx?ID=287017
IIRC, it is for the 10 smallest markets and the 10 lowest revenue teams. Odds of winning based on winning percentage. 2nd set of competitive balance lottery picks included the eligible teams that did not win a pick, and any additional teams that receive revenue sharing.
Amusing that 3 of the "competitive balance" picks between the 1st and 2nd round teams are going to playoff teams.
Do we know if the Astros' poor attendance this season caused them to drop into the 10 lowest revenue teams? Would be nice to grab a Competitive Balance pick before the CSNHouston money officially starts rolling in.
Fwiw, in this post about middle IF draft prospects, the writer mentions that he heard the "Astros really, really, really, like [JP] Crawford. Really." http://baseballdraftreport.com/2012...ound-mlb-draft-2013-middle-infield-prospects/ JP Crawford is generally regarded as the top 2013 SS prospect in the draft. He's a HS player from California and is rated by BA as the 5th best high school prospect in the class: http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog...kers-will-travel-to-unique-locations-in-2013/ Here are some other links: Perfect Game profile http://www.perfectgame.org/players/playerprofile.aspx?ID=268473 Recent Baseball America blog on him: http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/draft/2012/11/j-p-crawford-stands-out-at-jesse-flores-game/ Big league futures scouting report: http://bigleaguefutures.net/1/2012/09/08/scouting-report-jp-crawford/ Baseball prospect report's video and scouting report: http://www.bbprospectreport.com/2012/11/14/jp-crawford-video
I just realized... the high school class of 2010 will be college juniors this upcoming season. Here's what the unsigned high school players from the 2010 draft did in the 2012 season. Lot of Googling, and a lot of delving into the Astros County archives for this. Well, except for Plutko and Jones. All stats are from the 2012 season unless otherwise noted. So.... where are they now? 6. Adam Plutko, RHP, UCLA: 12-3, 2.48 ERA, 18 starts (2 CG, 2 SO), 119.2 IP, 91 H (7 HR), 35 R (35 ER), 47 BB, 99 K, .215 average against, 2 wild pitches, 6 hit batters 19. JaCoby Jones, CF, LSU: 64 games (62 starts), .253/.308/.363, 13 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 29 RBI, 15 BB, 47 K, 11 SB (5 CS) 21. Aaron Blair, RHP, Marshall: 2-8, 3.98 ERA, 14 starts, 83.2 IP, 76 H (3 HR), 46 R (37 ER), 28 BB, 82 K, .238 average against, 12 wild pitches, 7 hit batters 29. Broughan Jantz: No longer playing baseball 32. Austin Chrismon, RHP, East Carolina: 0-2, 9.00 ERA, 9 appearances (3 starts), 11 IP, 15 H, 13 R (11 ER), 7 BB, 12 K, .306 average against, 5 wild pitches; It appears that he's no longer playing. 35. Esteban Gomez, 1B, San Jacinto College (not sure where he is now): 57 games, .327/.390/.399, 11 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 41 RBI, 22 BB, 29 K, 3 SB (2 CS) 36. Ryan Halstead, RHP, Indiana: 4-2, 2 saves, 5.01 ERA, 22 appearances (4 starts), 46.2 IP, 47 H (5 HR), 29 R (26 ER), 17 BB, 28 K, .258 average against, 4 wild pitches, 5 hit batters 38. Ryan Ford, 1B, Texas: No longer playing baseball. Played in 1 game in 2011 and went 0-1 in his only plate appearance. That was his entire UT career. 43. DeMarcus Henderson, IF, Mississippi State: 36 games (29 starts), .245/.342/.345, 3 2B, 0 HR, 10 RBI, 13 BB, 25 K, 6 SB (3 CS) 44. Alexis Garza, RHP, New Mexico: 2-2, 1 save, 4.72 ERA, 10 appearances (2 starts), 26.2 IP, 32 H, 22 R (14 ER), 10 BB, 17 K, 5 wild pitches, 4 hit batters 45. Ian Vaquez, SS, Wagner: No longer playing baseball. 2011 stats: 36 games (28 starts), .217/.234/.250, 1 2B, 1 3B, 0 HR, 11 RBI, 2 BB, 17 K, 3 SB (3 CS) 46. Lawrence Pardo, LHP, Appalachian State: No longer playing baseball. 2011 stats: 2-3, 6.54 ERA, 12 games (8 starts), 42.2 IP, 46 H (3 HR), 38 R (31 ER), 27 BB, 26 K, .275 average against, 3 wild pitches, 6 hit batters 47. Joseph Carcone, SS, Bryant: According to AC, he was originally committed to Le Moyne. (Sidebar: IIRC, college baseball's commitment rules are a little different. I had a friend that signed a LOI to attend San Jac, then he switched to UTSA.) 29 games, .185/.254/.215, 2 2B, 0 HR, 7 RBI, 3 BB, 17 K, SB 48. T.J. Pecoraro, RHP, Vanderbilt: 2-4, 3.40 ERA, 12 appearances (8 starts, 2 CG, 1 shutout), 53 IP, 46 H (4 HR), 21 R (20 ER), 18 BB, 34 K, .236 average against, 1 wild pitch, 5 hit batters 50. David Donald, CF, Spartanburg Methodist (SC): 49 games, .399/.497/.790, 14 2B, 6 3B, 10 HR, 53 RBI, 18 BB, 26 K, 12 SB (2 CS) Not sure where he is now, as his JUCO eligibility has expired.
I don't know, he's being mentioned as a potential first round pick next year. Mayo, at MLB.com, has him rated as the #27 overall prospect for next year. http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/prospects/watch/y2013/
I'm mostly posting to get this on the 1st page, and in response to the State of the Astros thread. Let's not forget we still have a pick to make for 2013. Here are my choices for 1-1: Manaea Stanek Appel Austin Meadows is the top HS, and has a chance to make it. 2013 NCAA season starts in less than a month. Be prepared to catch these potential future Astros.
That's one of the frustrating parts about being a big college baseball fan like I am. Because I watch a ton of college baseball, and thanks to ESPNU's SEC package and having Cox Sports on my cable, I see more LSU than almost anyone else, I can see that JaCoby Jones has been pretty mediocre. But that really doesn't matter. He has tools scouts like and he will drafted based on those. And to be clear, I'm not necessarily saying there's anything wrong with that. There have been tons of players that have been big-time prospects that failed to impress in college that have gone on to nice careers. It's just that sometimes I wish what they did in college mattered a little more I guess.
Today was a lazy Sunday and I spent a lot of time reading scouting profiles and watching YouTube videos on the top 2013 draft prospects. My current top 5: *1) Clint Frazier* 2) Sean Manaea 3) Mark Appel 4) Austin Meadows 5) Kris Bryant I see Clint Frazier as a poor man's Mike Trout and a potential fast track prospect despite his age due to a (suggested) combination of work ethic and ability to realize his tools. A scrappy player with all the tools, I think this kid is a can't miss. Sean Manaea's stuff is just pure nasty and projects to a frontline #1 stater, which bumps him up over Appel in my eyes. However I don't think he would reach the majors as fast as Appel, which is worth considering. I could see the Astros picking Manaea since the system is devoid of power LHP prospects. Mark Appel would be my safe pick if the Astros farm system was stocked with high upside guys, which it's not. I think he has the stuff of a #2/3 SP at the highest level, which is outstanding but the Astros already have a few of those in Lyles, Folty, Woj.. Austin Meadows looks to be this years Byron Buxton. Toolsy high upside guy who will take 5+ years to reach the ML club. I would be excited if the Astros took him, but I value Frazier's work ethic over Meadows' raw talent. I may have gotten the wrong idea of him, but I feel he has coasted off of supreme natural ability thus far.. Not sure how he will respond to adversity. Kris Bryant looks to be a pull hitting power 3B, with a lot of swing and miss in his game. I think he's at the top of the 2nd tier of 2013 draft prospects along with Stanek of Arkansas. He fills a need of the Astros, but with 1-1 a team shouldn't draft based on need.
We'll likely get a local look at Appel in short order, as Stanford kicks off their season @ Rice the weekend of 2/15.
