Astros prepare for Rule 5 Draft added 11/16/2016 by Greg Thurston Friday is the deadline for adding players to the 40-man roster in order to protect them from December's Rule 5 Draft. In recent years the Houston farm system has been loaded and a number of talented prospects have been left unprotected. For instance, last year Chris Devenski and Teoscar Hernandez could have been lost to the draft but, luckily, both players went unclaimed. In addition to Devenski and Hernandez, the Astros had 14 players make big league debuts last season. That leaves only a few hot prospects in the system who could be lost to Rule 5 this year. With Wednesday's signing of right-handed starter Charlie Morton, the roster currently stands at 38. That leaves two open spots that could be filled by prospects that Jeff Luhnow and company want to protect from Rule 5. However, Luhnow has openly stated that he is looking to add veteran players through trades or Free Agency sooner rather than later. That means the likes of Kevin Chapman and Brad Peacock could be outrighted from the 40-man to make more room. The Astros have approximately 30 players in the minors who will be eligible for the Rule 5 Draft, but only a few should be in danger of being selected by another club. Lefty Kent Emanuel and first-baseman Conrad Gregor were selected by Houston in the third and fourth rounds, respectively, in the 2013 draft. But both collegians have had their struggles and do not appear to warrant a spot on the 40-man at this time. Right-handers Kevin Comer and Kyle Smith, both acquired in trades, have also seen their stock drop and probably don't figure into the Astros' immediate plans. Starting pitchers Mike Hauschild and Brian Holmes seem closer to being ready for the big leagues. Hauschild is 26 and has pitched to a 3.50 ERA in 565 minor league innings. Holmes is a 25-year old lefty with a career strikeout ratio of more than one per inning. Starting pitchers aren't typically targeted in the Rule 5 Draft and the Astros may take their chances and leave both unprotected. Right-hander Edison Frias is another hurler who fits into this category. Angel Heredia, originally signed as a shortstop but converted to reliever in 2012, is a bit of a wildcard. A 5-foot-9-inch, 170 pound right-hander with only a handful of games above A-ball, Heredia is unlikely to garner much attention. But the 24-year old has posted stellar strikeout numbers and a low batting average against in his 156 innings of minor league work. Catcher Tyler Heineman was left unprotected last year and his .690 OPS in 129 games at the AAA level may not be enough to warrant being protected this time around either. The Astros seem more likely to look outside the organization to add help at what has become a thin position. The two Houston prospects who seem most likely to be drafted, if available, are reliever Jordan Jankowski and outfielder Jon Kemmer. Jankowski, a 27-year old righty, enjoyed an outstanding 2016 season at Fresno and has career marks of 10.8 strikeouts and 2.9 walks per 9 innings. Kemmer, 25, wields power from the left-handed batter's box. Jon owns a .282/.355/.493 slash line in 1465 career plate appearances. If the Astros decide to protect a player (or two) these guys seem to be the most likely candidates. Unlike years past, the Astros don't figure to be shopping for talent in this year's Rule 5 Draft. But, you never know. If the right player becomes available, that $50,000 price tag might be worth the risk.
Springer (RF/CF) Bregman Altuve Correa Reddick (LF/RF) Gurriel McCann Gattis Marisnick/Aoki (CF/LF) So this is cool. Still would like another RH 1B type bat.
http://www.espn.com/blog/the-gms-of...n-blasts-off-with-additions-of-mccann-reddick The Houston Astros were my pick to win the American League West last year. In fact, I thought they would be the team losing to the Chicago Cubs in the World Series. However, they were hampered by a dismal 7-17 April and went on to go just 4-15 against the Texas Rangers. If you take away their 11-29 combined record between that slow start and their struggles against the Rangers, they were an impressive 73-49 the rest of the year and against everyone else, one of the best records in baseball. They did that despite defending Cy Young Award winner Dallas Keuchel dealing with shoulder soreness on the way to posting a 9-12 record with a 4.55 ERA, and despite top pitching prospect Lance McCullers Jr. being limited to just 14 starts because of his own shoulder problems. Both Keuchel and McCullers are expected to be healthy and back to their dominant selves in 2017. That’s already going to make a big difference. But in the meantime the Astros made three impressive moves this week to bring them closer to the Rangers, at least on paper: They hired Alex Cora as bench coach, agreed to terms with free-agent outfielder Josh Reddick on a four-year deal and then traded for catcher Brian McCann of the Yankees. All three of these moves are significant, both on and off the field. The Astros needed to improve what they got from the catcher slot, and with McCann they get a catcher who has hit at least 20 home runs for nine consecutive seasons with a respectable career slash line of .266/.340/.459. The seven-time All-Star has won six Silver Slugger awards, including his last one just a year ago. Just as important, he also does a good job of calling a game and handling a pitching staff. The only reason the Yankees dealt McCann was to make room for rookie phenom Gary Sanchez, who’s ready to take over in the Bronx and is a better all around player with more upside than McCann at this point. The Yankees have been stockpiling pitching and they get two decent arms in return in Albert Abreu and Jorge Guzman, but both are low minor leaguers who have control and command issues. To acquire the two fringe prospects and move McCann’s inflated contract they had to agree to pay approximately $5.5 million of the $17 million that the Yankees owe McCann over the next two seasons, so the Astros didn’t take the full payroll hit in this trade. The Astros also agreed to terms with outfielder Josh Reddick, paying him a market deal of $13 million per season and were able to get it done this early because they were the only team that offered him the fourth year of the contract. Reddick has won only one Gold Glove award, but is still an above average defender with a shut-down arm, is a good makeup player in the clubhouse and he destroys right-handed pitching. This past year Reddick slashed at a .322/.386/.485 clip against right-handed pitching. Although he hit only 10 home runs, he belted 20 the year before with Oakland. Reddick had a great first half with the A’s last year, but had a tough time adjusting after he was traded to the Dodgers, with both the new league and having to platoon after being used to playing every day. Reddick will replace the recently departed Colby Rasmus, who just became a free agent. Reddick will make close to $3 million less than Rasmus did last year, and is a much better player in most facets of the game, including defense, throwing arm, speed, base running and hitting ability. Rasmus might have had a little more power but it’s close. The McCann and Reddick acquisitions do a lot of things for the Astros at once: It improves the bottom part of the lineup, improves outfield defense, what they’ll get from the catching position on both sides of the ball and improves the clubhouse with two great people. Finally, the hiring of bench coach Alex Cora will be significant in so many areas of the team’s coaching, developing and training, including but not limited to the development of shortstop Carlos Correa, improving the team defense and being a strong wingman and sounding board for manager A.J. Hinch. So, what’s the net? Trading two fringe pitching prospects for an All-Star catcher, making a market signing to get an upgrade in the outfield, and making a great addition to their coaching staff. It looks like the Astros’ offseason is off to a tremendous start.
Perfect position to trade for Sale now. All the cards are on the table. Just my opinion, but I think we should resign Valbuena as a platoon 1st/DH rather than go after another big bat by trade or free agency. The problem with the lineup was not the front end. It was the middle and back-end. 3B Bregman 2B Altuve SS Correa 1B Valbuena RF Springer CF Reddick LF Gurriel C McCann DH Gattis That gives you 9 pro level hitters, and you haven't given up any picks or significant prospects in the process. It would be a mistake to trade prospects for a big time hitter on a big contract, or spend huge money in free agency on one. The only exception would be for a guy like Trout, who clearly isn't on the trade block. Sale makes the most sense by far. He's signed to a very favorable contract for the next 3 years, which allows you to make a bigger deal later on if necessary.
I like both moves. I'd be fine if Houston didn't acquire any other position players, as I consider Aoki/Marisnick a very good potential platoon in the outfield and I like the idea of having another position player roster spot available to break in a young player, since Houston has such a large crop of young players still trying to break in (Singleton, Reed, White, Kemp, Tucker, Teoscar, etc.). The defense is good, the lineup doesn't have any holes. The only thing Luhnow has left to do now is get that ace. I'd like them to add another lefty reliever or closer, but if they don't they'll still have an extremely good, deep bullpen. But getting an ace is a must at this point. They've got the prospects, they've got the money. SO excited for next season.
I like Quintana more than Sale. I've got big questions about Sale's drop in velocity. Quintana is younger and has more years in his arm. Would it take more or less to get Quintana? How much would it take?
