Gustave was traded to the Royals, fits their mold of flame throwers in the pen. Still would be surprised if he doesn't return
Looks like the Astros selected Luis Flores from the Cubs in the AAA phase of the Rule 5 draft. Career backup who's thrown out 36% of potential base-stealers in his career. He has Texas ties... born in Del Rio, went to high school in Corpus, and then he went to Oklahoma State, where the Cubs drafted him in the 7th round in 2008. <script type="text/javascript" src="http://widgets.sports-reference.com/wg.fcgi?css=1&site=br&url=%2Fminors%2Fplayer.cgi%3Fid%3Dflores003lui&div=div_standard_batting"></script> Also, here's a breakdown of the draft, and the odds of the 3 players the Astros lost to the Rule 5 draft sticking with their new clubs. 3. Rangers: Delino DeShields Jr., of/2b, Astros Scouting Report: DeShields has top-of-the-scale speed and more power than most speedsters. He’s shown solid on-base skills throughout his career. His speed should make him a solid defender in center field one day, but so far it’s been a rocky transition from second base, where he was below average as well. DeShields will serve as a speedy backup outfielder if he makes the Rangers, but unlike most speedy Rule 5 picks, he has everyday starter potential if he comes close to tapping into his potential. Some scouts are skeptical he ever will, as they have been turned off by his consistent lack of effort. Chances To Stick: Low. 6. Royals: Jandel Gustave, rhp (Astros; picked by Red Sox, sold to Royals for cash) Scouting Report: Gustave’s fastball has touched 100 mph on a regular basis even when working as a starter. As a reliever, he can junk his bottom-of-the-scale 92 mph changeup and focus on throwing a plus-plus fastball and a potentially average slider. The Royals already have a ton of depth in their bullpen, but Gustave has at least a chance to go from below-average low Class A starter to a pitcher who can blow-and-go for a few batters at a time in the big leagues. Chances To Stick: Low. 12. Mariners: David Rollins, lhp (Astros) Scouting Report: The Mariners have now drafted Rollins three times. They couldn’t sign him as a 23rd-round pick in 2009 or a 46th-round pick in 2010 when he was at San Jacinto (Texas) JC. Rollins ended up signing with the Blue Jays in 2011 in the 24th round, then went to the Astros in August 2012 in the nine-player deal that sent J.A. Happ to Toronto. Splitting his time between the rotation and the bullpen, Rollins had a solid 2014 campaign at Double-A Corpus Christi, posting a 3.81 ERA in 78 innings with a 77-22 K-BB mark. He’s a strike-thrower whose fastball has jumped since college, getting up to the mid-90s at times, with a solid slider and changeup. Chances To Stick: Low.
Rhiner Cruz Marwin Gonzalez Josh Fields Aneury Rodriguez We also drafted Nate Freiman, but he was waived and claimed by the A's, so he did stick. We returned Lance Pendleton to the the Yankees. Those are the Rule 5 picks that I can recall the Astros making.
Wesley Wright says hi. Wright played for the Cubs last year and is currently a FA. Rhiner Cruz is playing in Japan. Aneury Rodriguez may still be playing in Korea. Both MarGo and Fields are Luhnow picks and have exceeded expectations.
Chances to stick might be slightly greater than 50/50. Rollins is the most MLB ready of the three picks.
MLB-wide total for the past 8 drafts (not counting this year of course, and not counting the AAA portion of the draft) is the 130 number. 41 of the 130 players stuck in the bigs in the year they were drafted, so you could possibly expect the Stros to get 1 of the 3 back.
I got you. I just thought it was interesting how we had so many stick. Astros have picked 7 guys in that time span, and 6 stuck.
Ah ha. Cool. How could you forget Lou Palmasano? He was so good that when we tried to give him back to Minnesota(?) they said no, and we didn't want him either, so he became a FA and signed with an independent league. Looking back at notable guys, I love the fact that the Cubs did something smart: took Josh Hamilton from the Rays. Then they immediately Cubbed it by trading him to Cincy for cash.
In the same draft we lost Johan Santana (drafted 2nd, Florida traded him for the #1 pick, Jarred Camp, plus cash, a brilliant move), a scrappy, highly-motivational OFer named Bo Porter was taken 12th. Mark Johnson, former Stros 1st round pick, part of the amazingly awesome Barrios/Henriquez/Johnson for Moises Alou trade, was picked 7th. Shane Victorino was drafted once, stuck for part of a season then sent back. Drafted again the next year by Philly. Philly tried to send him back, LA said "no", so Philly kept him in the minors. He was starting in Philly 2 years later and won a WS 2 years after that. Ricky Williams, that Ricky Williams, was a Rule 5 pick in '98. 7 picks later the Stros took Glen Barker. Scott M*(&*#$%$@#g Podsednick was also picked that year.
