Interested to see who is moved from AAA to make room for Bregman and Teoscar. I assume they will just release/demote/inactivate Moon and Mayfield, but also wouldn't be surprised to see Singleton traded this week.
The Astros knew at some point they would need 40-man roster spots this season. Being the last guys added is usually a sign that you need to move up in the pecking order quickly so as not to meet Sword of Damocles when the inevitable prospect call ups happen. Exception would typically be the emergency catcher which was lost when Gattis became the backup. The last guys added getting cut indicates that the Astros valuations on the last players added hasn't changed much as they didn't impress the Astros enough to move up in the pecking order.
So, what's the big deal with Bregman staying in AA a week or two extra to participate in the all-star game? I doubt it stifles his development.
I never said it would, and its not that big of a deal... but you also don't see many major league cities' lead reporters tweeting about intra-minor league promotions as much. I get it... Luhnow is a minor league guy at heart, and there's plenty of quality/interesting prospects thanks to his hard work. His eyes light up when he discusses the farm... vs. the vague/dry go-around speeches he gives when having to discuss struggling MLB players, stalling for super-2 deadlines, etc. I also remember that circa 2000, diehard/30-year season ticket-holding Astros had no clue who Roy Oswalt or Carlos Hernandez were. Of course, more information is rapidly available now, but there's no doubt that a chunk of the fan base (especially here) got very farm-centric during the suckage of 2011-2014, and its going to take more big-league winning to make worrying about AA all-star games an after-thought. Anyways, I merely made a throw-away comment... didn't mean to incite any sort of ill-will or animosity, but clearly it rubbed people the wrong way, and I apologize. Yes, this is the anti-castratejero method of squashing things.
The extra week or two to participate in all-star games adds a lot of morale and breaks up the daily grind of cutting one's teeth in the minors. Two weeks in an upper level really doesn't matter much from a development standpoint as you mentioned. Considering the Astros have a reputation as being heartless calculators, doing something to benefit morale on the personal level without sacrificing development that much if at all should be applauded.
Nah, everyone just knew those guys were going to look good in the rotation behind Tim Redding. Those few starts of Hernandez in the bigs were a lot of fun. That was such a terrible way for a pitcher's career to fall apart, diving into 2nd base.
I remember him being neck-and-neck with Oswalt in 2000... but Oswalt clearly had the higher ceiling, and proved it so. I've gotten over the Hernandez thing.... plenty of pitchers have stormed the scene on first promotion, only to eventually get figured out. He was healthy in 2002... had plenty of good high strikeout games... but ultimately wasn't as special as predicted. Also, if he was that fragile that a fluke slide "ruined" him for life... then chances are, he wasn't going to hold up to be a 200 IP/year starter anyways.
I think Luhnow likes his guys staying for All-Star games because he wants them to experience the appreciation and the fun that hard work can provide you.
He hurt his shoulder in 2001. He was damaged goods and still pitching reasonably well in 2002 as a 22 year old.
He needs to improve his control just to be a starter. To become an ace he'd have to make 3-4 grade jumps in both command and control. Heck maybe more than that. He's probably currently 20/80 command (double minus) and your average ace is probably 3 plus to double plus pitches with plus-double plus command (60+/80). I will grant you that his raw stuff is real nice though.
he was a lefty that threw low 90's with very good curveball and ok change up, also used his slider. He had problem with walks, but i think he would had been a good pitcher if not injured, at least a dependable number 3 starter.
I don't disagree that his command and control need a lot of improvement (especially control; his command isn't as bad). However his raw stuff is spectacular. Last I checked he was giving up 5 or 6 hits per 9 with 14-15 strike outs per 9. He has walked as many as he has given up hits. I suspect they will be patient with him because his raw stuff is spectacular.
Since 2010, only pitchers younger than 23 with more than 50 IP in Lancaster and an ERA <3.50 are Tropeano and Hader. If Armenteros keeps up what he is doing he should get some good hype going into AA next year.
