2013 Astros Minor League Thread

My thoughts on the minor league rosters:

QC: I love the aggressive placement of Correa, Ruiz and McCullers. It's awesome that the big three from that class are staying together but its borderline shocking to me that McCullers is going to full season ball one year out of high school. He'll definitely be on strict pitch/inning limits. The pitching staff is mostly college (older), lower upside pitchers other than McCullers and Vincent Velasquez. The starting outfield are all intriguing sleeper prospects (T. Hernandez, Joyce and Ovando) that could make huge jumps.

Lan: Very balanced roster with good prospects in all areas. Folty, West and Rodgers lead a strong rotation which is paramount in the Cali league. There's not a ton of power in the lineup but the top of the order (DDJ, Fontana, Aplin) should easily set the table for Preston Tucker. Brandon Meredith is an intriguing power/speed combo whose numbers could rocket in a full season at Cali; he had 15hr and 12sb in a little over half a season worth of PAs last year.

CC: It's basically the same roster as Lancaster last year, which kind of sucks because Lancaster was kinda boring once you got past Springer and Santana. CC also had the most talent in the system last year and was very fun to watch. Wojo and Trope are the only pitchers I'll follow. Stoffel and Seaton should probably be at AAA already. Carlos Perez and Jio Mier are prospects in make-or-break situations; a bad or mediocre year and they're basically just organizational depth.

OKC: Not particularly laden with high-upside talent, but I expect 10+ guys on this opening day roster to be called up over the course of the season. There's an overabundance of starting pitching that can fill in at the ML level (Keuchel, Lyles, Owens, Ely, Cosart, etc...). Johnny Villar is the highest upside player here; I'd love to see him continue to develop and refine his glove at SS. When Singleton comes back this will be a much more interesting offensive team.

A few things stand out to me:
-The entire top prospects list is in full-season ball. That's surprising but bodes well for arrival time.
-Every level has at least 2-3 top 20 prospects on each side of the ball. This means the talent will come in waves consistently every year from here on out.
-Every level has a few breakout candidates too.
-There's a huge glut of pitchers right now. Most people know about Luhnow's tandem pitching plan. Hopefully this sorts itself out.

Said it before but it bears repeating: it'll be an exciting year for the minor league teams!

 

I know the tandem system will allow pitchers to pitch almost as much as a normal setup, but I wonder if the Astros can use it in the low levels to keep young pitchers to low pitch counts.

 

Whats the tandem experiment is over and we pick the best 5 out of 8 (not sure this is how it wil work), what happens to the 3 guys on the outside looking in?

Cant send them down, because the clubs downstream will probably be full. So do they just get waived? Released? Turned into long relievers?

 

If a guy can't win a rotation slot at his given level, it's probably not a great sign for his future prospects. If he's young for his league and want him to get regular work, you probably send him down. Otherwise, turned into a mid/long reliever.

 

My guess is they become relievers, but there will be injuries to take care if some of it, but on flip side could also gave promotions.

I think they will stay tandem longer in the lower levels hoping to limit the innings pitched by the younger guys.

 

I think a pitcher will get the same numbers of innings (max 180) either way.

 

Who's Still in Florida?
TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

I just got done updating the Farmstros database, including assignments with full season affiliates. With only 100 slots available, quite a few players aren't going to be playing on Thursday. Some players will be taking part in extended spring training. Others are injured, I've indicated those that I know of.

Following is a list of 30 players who are apparently still in Florida for one reason or another. This list is NOT comprehensive. I have noted the highest level the player reached in 2012.

Jack Armstrong, RHP- DNP
Jean Batista, IF- Tri-City
Brian Blasik, IF- Greeneville
Bobby Borchering, OF- Corpus Christi
Tanner Bushue, RHP- Lexington
Kevin Comer, RHP- Greeneville
Jamaine Cotton, RHP- Tri-City
Lance Day, RHP- Tri-City
Austin Elkins, IF- Tri-City
Sergio Escalona, LHP- DNP
Michael Feliz, RHP- Greeneville
Jose Fernandez, SS- Lexington
Ernesto Genoves, C- Lexington
Justin Gominsky, OF- Lexington
Murilo Gouvea, RHP- Lexington
Evan Grills, LHP- Lexington
Grant Hogue, OF- Lancaster
Adrian Houser, RHP- Greeneville
Chia-jen Lo, RHP- Lancaster
Kenny Long, LHP- Lancaster
Chan Moon, IF- Lancaster
Joseph Musgrove, RHP- Greeneville
Telvin Nash, OF- Lancaster
Luis Ordosgoitti, RHP- Lexington
Andrew Simunic, IF- Oklahoma City
Jon Singleton, 1B- Corpus Christi(Supsended)
Max Stassi, C- Oakland organization(Injured)
D'Andre Toney, OF- Greeneville
Kyle Weiland, RHP- Houston
Brandon Wikoff, IF- Corpus Christi(Injured)

 

Does Jonathan Singleton's suspension start when the redhawks play their first game or when the Astros started last Sunday?

 

Does anyone know if there are any sites that show live streams of minor league games? I am aware of sites that show MLB games.

 

If you're willing to pay, there's an minor league equivalent to MLB.tv (MILB.tv)

Otherwise I doubt it. MILB radio is free though.

 

But against a community college...

 

Not like it really matters, but TAMU-CC isn't a community college. Del Mar is the CC in Corpus.

 

My bad. Even though I knew it was in Corpus Christi, I still see CC and think community college.