About time. He will probably hit well there. But we won’t know if he’s a real prospect until he gets to AA (same with Q Hamilton).
Murray, 25, was drafted by the Rays in the 23rd round out of Division II Dixie State (now known as Utah Tech) in 2019. He was just promoted to AAA.
Rays #21 prospect. Good get. From fangraphs: It looks as though Murray is going to turn out to be one hell of a senior sign, as he’s poised to either pitch at the back of Tampa Bay’s rotation or work multiple innings out of the bullpen relatively soon. The ultra-loose and athletic right-hander has remarkable release consistency and works east/west with his tailing fastball, which sits 93-94 mph, up a tick from his 2019 pro debut. The drop-and-drive nature of Murray’s delivery means he can run his heater up the ladder even though it isn’t of the backspinning variety. Hitters’ timing seems disrupted by the odd cadence of Murray’s mechanics, which start slowly and then accelerate like the end of a whip, causing his fastball to jump on hitters. He has a plus slider in the low-80s that he commands at will, and his athleticism and looseness allow for continued changeup projection, a rarely-used pitch that flashes average. Murray’s 25, but remember that he is coming out of an extremely small program and missed a year of development due to the pandemic, so it makes sense to project additional refinement in this area. This, plus what might be consistent, precise execution of his slider gives Murray a shot to be more than just a backend starter even though his stuff, on its face, has that vibe.
Utah is pretty far down the list of states I think of when I hear Dixie. Either way, Murray being Rule 5 eligible means he'll probably spend the next couple years as the first starter up from AAA, unless they think he can be an impact pen arm. He probably makes Solomon and Bielak expendable bringing in a fresh set of options.
So, with the trades of Abreu and Valdez, what does this mean in terms of Minor League promotions? If Colin Barber is healthy, and not traded, he needs to get some time in AA. Quincy Hamilton has also earned a promotion to AA. With Valdez no longer on the Space Cowboys, I want to see Dirden finally get his much-deserved promotion. Even though Dirden plays only OF, he can still replace Valdez's at bats in LF (he has played there some), and should also at least be tried at 1B, another place Valdez has played. Perhaps Julks and/or Brinson get moved as well. I expect to see more call-ups in the coming days, also factoring in our picks signing and receiving their first assignments.
All in all the Astros added 2 postseason contributors for a net loss of 2 top 30 prospects and no top 10 guys. Although admittedly, the Valdez trade make me nervous.
All the guys they gave up have pretty high upside (Siri included) so there’s always a chance one or more trades end up looking really bad. But in terms of overall value they are not projected to be high impact MLB players. The most likely outcome for all of them is bench players or middle relief.
Deadline pick ups are always costly. So far I do not think Click has overspent at all and most of the teams weaknesses have been resolved. If the team can get it done in the play-offs his moves will look genius no matter how good the prospects spent turn out to be.
Click has played in a pretty narrow band so far. Going back to last deadline he hasn’t made any major moves. He’s sent out mostly upper level prospects with relatively low ceilings whose most likely outcome was as bench/complementary players. Straw was the most valuable asset he’s sent out and even his ceiling is fairly low. But with that has come fairly low upside acquisitions; he hasn’t acquired a multi-year star player yet. Of course, they went to the World Series last year so it’s hard to argue with his results.
Astros prospect Juan Soto has thrown 3 hitless innings with 2 walks and 8 strikeouts against the Astros other FCL team. Life is kind of weird sometimes.
