After running the numbers, projections, permutations and wags through WOPR, Whitley will be the 13.467th best prospect in baseball this offseason. You're welcome.
Houston announced Greeneville will no longer be their Rookie league affiliate. Anybody know what the plan is?
Unless he mistweeted, Tags said they were leaving the Appy League totally. The Pioneer Lg is the sister league, and they're way out West so moving there doesn't make sense to me. Only thing I can think of is that they'll double up in SS-A (NWL), A (Sally) or Hi-A (FSL). But I dunno.
Pioneer League could be a possiblity, or they could field another team in the Gulf Coast League like the Tigers and Yankees. Don't think they can get another team in any of the leagues you listed.
I never noticed that they were doing that. Makes sense logistically, I was just brainstorming with the other leagues.
Couldn't they take over another Appy league team or replace Greeneville with another team? I want to say I recall seeing something about them wanting to own their team but I could be confused with High A.
That's certainly one angle I didn't think of. I'm sure we'll hear more about the reasoning at some point. Wonder what's SOP around baseball wrt the number of affiliates.
I think most teams have 8. Houston has an extra DSL team. But I don't see how having less teams means a better farm. I suppose if they place a very high value on winning culture, and knowing they won't have the prospect volume to sustain 9 winners, then consolidating down would result in more wins for each remaining team, but that logic seems like a stretch to me.
Edit: looks like I'm wrong. I didn't look up every team but it looks like most teams have 7 affiliates. Other than the Rangers (who have 8), all the teams in Houstons division have 7. The only team I looked up that had 9 were the Yankees. I could see them adding a 2nd GCL team. There's not much difference in talent level and being able to keep everyone in one place would lower the cost.
Kopesch is a great prospect. Certainly has Thor-like SP potential. I've always found him a tad overrated. I suppose that could be due to his BOS/CHI connections, but I digress. The kid is good. He'll be 22 by the start of next season. He has a promising future, health permitting. Whitley's next season will be very telling. Let's see how he handles a full year of AA. Whitley turns 20 in 6 days (!!!). Sometimes the ages of prospects gets overlooked when comparing them. Whitley's mental approach is impressive, even more so for someone that young. That's partially why I'm so ecstatic about the Verlander pick-up. JV's presence is not unlike Baggy or Biggio. You need a mind like that for the younger fellas. There is value in having those guys in the dugout. Regardless, let's see how both of them play in 2018. Two very interesting arms for the future. Hell, maybe we'll see them square off in 2019 ALCS.
My guess is that Astros view having a team at that level as unnecessary and that they just don't want to stock team with players and coaches. Less teams means personnel (prospects and coaches, not organizational filler) are more consolidated which should give more coach to prospect interactions (or Astros could just fire coaches to use money elsewhere).I've gotten impression from several teams that sometimes they feel extended spring training is more helpful than the chaos in some short season leagues.
The Astros released 4 players following the conclusion of this minor league season. All of them had been with Greeneville. C Martin Figueroa was drafted in the 32nd round out of Rhode Island this past June. He slashed .273/.392/.348 with a homer and 6 RBI in 21 games. LHP Francisco Villegas signed on July 2, 2015 out of Mexico. He spent most of this year with Greeneville and also had a short stint in the GCL. In 11 games (3 starts) between both levels, Villegas was 3-1 with a save and a 2.35 ERA. In 30.2 total innings, he allowed 21 hits (3 HR), 13 runs (7 earned), walked 8, and struck out 31. His WHIP was 1.04 and opponents hit .214 against him. IF Reiny Beltre signed in 2014 out of the Dominican. He slashed .208/.289/.258 with a homer and 7 RBI in 36 games. LHP Maikel Sepulveda signed in 2015 out of the Dominican. He spent much of the season in the GCL until moving up to the Appalachian League in the final month of the season. In 13 appearances (6 starts), Sepulveda went 4-5 with a save and a 3.40 ERA. In 47.2 innings, he allowed 47 hits (3 HR), 25 runs (18 earned), walked 19, and struck out 32. He had a 1.38 WHIP and opponents hit .253 against him.
