Round 37, Pick 1117: Anthony DeFrancesco, 3B, Red Mountain High School, Mesa, Arizona Son of Fresno manager Tony DeFrancesco. Doesn't look like he's committed to any school.
Round 38, Pick 1147: Chaz Pal, OF, South Carolina-Aiken 53 games, .336/.412/.552, 10 HR, 52 HR, 51 R, 24 BB, 37 K, 7 SB, .964 OPS
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">LHP Ryan Hartman from Tennessee Wesleyan, taken in the 9th round by the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a>, has agreed to a deal with the team.</p>— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkBermanFox26/status/741749111561412608">June 11, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Round 39, Pick 1177: Tyler Wolfe, IF, Kansas State 57 games, .284/.366/.377, 3 HR, 37 RBI, 32 R, 22 BB (7 HBP), 38 K, 2 SB (3 CS), .743 OPS
The Astros finish off the 2016 MLB Draft with.... Round 40, Pick 1207: Lucas Williams, RHP, Central Missouri 25 appearances (1 start), 4-1, 4 saves, 4.00 ERA, 45 IP, 44 H (5 HR allowed), 22 R (20 earned), 14 BB, 42 K, 1.29 WHIP, .260 opponent average Starting the Draft Tracker thread right now; it should be up soon.
Pretty crazy only 1 player from this draft remains in the system (Whitley). Rogers (3) and Toro (5) provided value via trade, and Dawson (2) reached the majors with Houston. De Goti (15), Brian Howard (17), Chuckie Robinson (21), and Darius Vines (32) remain active in other teams systems. Pretty weak draft overall for Houston. Of course Whitley still has a chance to single handedly make that draft a huge success for the Astros.
Since Rogers was THE #1 piece in the JV trade I would already grade this draft a win, but if Whitley turns into a TOR guy then this draft becomes one of the all time best between JV bait (and Montero bait which wasn't nothing as it turned out) and a stud TOR guy. That is 2 guys who played an integral role in 2 world series championships and maybe an ace. That's a great draft if that happens.
I’m pretty sure at the time of the JV trade Rogers was the least valued prospect going to Detroit. Franklin Perez was a Top 50 MLB prospect and Daz Cameron was a fringe top 100 type, while Rogers was more of an org top 10 grade 45 prospect. Not that it changes your point. I agree Whitley holds the key and it’s good that 2 draftees helped bring rings.
I guess since Rogers was the only guy to make the show and the guy I least wanted to lose at the time (my kingdom for a good catcher) I Misremembered it
I think Taylor jones is still kicking around in the Angels system too. He's now a third baseman (and looks pretty decent there).
I always liked Taylor and thought, for a time, he would be Yuli's replacement. He played quite a bit of 3B in AAA for the Astros too but they viewed him as a 1B/LF mostly. He could never run, but can do about everything else. He was always a guy without a single plus tool but ok across the board. He is making a living playing baseball. Nothing wrong with that. Especially now that minor leaguers actually make a little bit of money. And let me add - got himself a WS ring.
I liked what I saw from him when I watched him play 3B last season. He is a very good athlete. That certainly gives him a little more chance to be a big league bench bat. But he will still have to hit a little more than he has in the majors; .234/.260/.395 won’t cut it even if you can play decent defense at 3 corner positions. LHP Ryan Hartman (9) also reached the majors from that draft class; I missed him in my previous comment.
