Since 2019 Preseason (a.k.a. Last ranking prior to Greinke Trade).... Notable Subtractions Beer JBB Martin Rojas (though he's sucked for Arizona) Alvarez Tucker Urquidy Javier Whitley's stock Toro Framber James Straw Paredes Notable Additions Lee Brown Santos Barber Brewer Kessinger Notable adds then subtracts Taylor Scrubb Raley
A lot of the guys on your “subtractions” list were never very highly thought of as prospects. I did forget Alvarez hadn’t graduated yet, so he counts. So maybe 3-4 prospects difference instead of 2-3. I just looked at 2017. At the end of 2017, when Houston’s farm was still widely viewed as one of the 10 best in the league, here was their top 10: Tucker Whitley Bukauskas Alvarez Paulino C Perez H Perez Stubbs Davis Nova I tried matching up their current farm and came up with something like this: Whitley = Whitley (stock has dropped but he’s the same prospect) Nova = Nova Paulino = Abreu H Perez = Solis Stubbs = Lee Davis = Pena I think on balance those 6 match up pretty equally. That leaves: C Perez = Santos? Perez was a more advanced prospect, but was limited physically; Santos has a much higher ceiling. I’d say it’s close enough in terms of value. Tucker = Barber? No way Barber can be argued as currently as valuable as Tucker was when he was the #8 prospect in baseball. Barber is probably a better athlete than Tucker and has a better chance of sticking in CF with more defensive value, but for now he has nowhere near the offensive upside of Tucker. Alvarez = Leon? Keep in mind that in 2017 Alvarez was not even a Top 100 prospect. Leon is BA’s #1 intl prospect for this year. So I think overall 2020 Leon is worth roughly the same as 2017 Alvarez. Bukauskas = H Brown? Brown has a higher ceiling than Bukauskas, with higher velocity and spin as well as better physique and less injury history. Bukauskas came with more pedigree. Bukauskas in 2017 was mlbs #76 prospect and it’s really difficult to argue Brown can be ranked anywhere close to that high. From all that, my point is that if we assume massive breakouts from Hunter Brown and Colin Barber, Houston’s farm is roughly on par with what it was in 2017 when it was widely recognized as above average.
Rojas, Straw, Framber probably compare well with Brewer, Barber, and Kessinger in prospect ranking. Maybe Rojas is a little light as he went from unknown to bad major leaguer very quickly. Paredes compares well with Lee. That leaves 9 subtractions (not counting Whitley) rated at one time higher than the top addition's ranking.
Though you get a 3-4 Top 100 prospects that are solid with production instead of just flash...and that makes almost any farm look good.
Wouldn’t be surprised at all if Jose Alberto Rivera was picked in the Rule 5 draft. I will also be looking at which OF prospects other teams left unprotected. Probably not an ideal solution but if they find a CF prospect they like they would have Straw as backup and could always add a Cameron Maybin type as insurance.
Yep. Someone has to have a spot to stash him and use him as relief in low leverage. Though, I'm glad Astros kept Ivey. Thought something health or personal may have been wrong with him keeping him from instructs this year.
Full article here: https://www.mlb.com/news/peter-solomon-preparing-for-2021-with-astros Solomon’s best pitches are his four-seam fastball, curveball and slider, and he has a changeup used to keep lefties off balance. Walks have been an issue in his career, but Solomon believes he’s emerged from Tommy John better in many ways. His average fastball velocity is up to 94-95 mph, and the spin on his offspeed pitches has improved.
Former affiliate ValleyCats sue MLB, Astros for $15M https://www.chron.com/sports/article/ValleyCats-sue-Major-League-Baseball-Houston-15874082.php
