Mark Appel (Houston): Did the Astros make a mistake by choosing me over Bryant and Gray? Ben Badler: I can't call it a mistake, but I liked Gray more on draft day, and based on what they both showed in pro ball, Gray only increased the gap between them.
Clayt (McPherson, KS): Would you rather have Correa, McCullers Jr., and Ruiz or Buxton? Ben Badler: I love Correa, but Buxton, easily.
I already resigned myself to having to listen to the Buxton knob slobbing for a least the next few years. Time will tell, but this is like the Amare vs Yao debate back in the day. I find myself rooting for Buxton to fail simply because of what other people are saying.
WTHB has a really insightful interview with Enos Cabell about his job evaluating the Astros farm system. Some interesting revelations and encouraging comments. Plenty more in the full article: http://whattheheckbobby.blogspot.com/2014/02/an-interview-with-astros-special.html
I actually hope its a lot more like Prior vs. Mauer (vs. the comparison to two basketball players who never became as "big" as people thought they would). Mauer was picked #1 just as much for signability issues as for his talent (much like Correa). Prior was expected to be #1, but his price was going to be steep (much like Buxton). He eventually rose through the ranks fast, and after his stellar debut, people said the Twins had missed out on the best player in the draft.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>What has surprised Carlos Correa about major league camp? The food. Wheres he going to start year? Luhnow explains. <a href="http://t.co/cbHDJ2OlRY">http://t.co/cbHDJ2OlRY</a></p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/statuses/441428714279014400">March 6, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
MLB.com: Astros Top 20 Spoiler 20. Danry Vasquez 19. Kyle Smith 18. Nolan Fontana 17. Nick Tropeano 16. Andrew Thurman 15. Josh Hader 14. Asher Wojciechowski 13. Teoscar Hernandez 12. Max Stassi 11. Rio Ruiz 10. Michael Feliz 9. Vince Velasquez 8. Domingo Santana 7. Delino DeShields 6. Mike Foltynewicz 5. Lance McCullers 4. Jonathan Singleton 3. George Springer 2. Mark Appel 1. Carlos Correa
Wow... very similar to my list (which I didn't have Springer considered as a prospect, thus bumped up Ruiz to my top 10). 1. Correa 2. Appel 3. Folty 4. McCullers 5. Singleton 6. Deshields 7. Ruiz 8. Feliz 9. Santana 10. Velazquez
Yes... I remember scratching my head when the Twins took Mauer over Prior. I knew signability was an issue, but Prior was about as close to a sure thing as you could get. At the time I thought they were crazy taking the local boy (Mauer), because he was a high school catcher, and the odds were stacked against them. Prior came out like a Hall of Famer for a short while, and I remember shaking my head..... then Prior and the steroid whispers started, and he just literally never could stay healthy.... and Mauer turned into a Hall of Famer and best non juicing offensive catcher since Bench.
I spent several days with the baseball operations people recently - lots of terrific insight. One of the bigger takeaways: they are IN LOVE with Carols Correa. Mad, deep love. Ideal projection (per someone who would absolutely, positively know): second half of 2015. That's the ideal - long way to go. BTW, same person (who, again, would know) said the 2014 Lancaster roster could very well be one of the best-ever in terms of future ML representation.
Jack Armstrong converting to 1B If you remember, Armstrong was originally drafted as a LHP in the 3rd round out of Vanderbilt in 2011. As a hitter at Vandy, Armstrong was 2-4 with an RBI in 09 and 2-3 with 2 RBI in 2010.
That puts this quote in perspective... It's good I was a two-way guy in college so I was always swinging...
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Expect to see Carlos Correa begin the year in high Class A Lancaster. Do not expect him to finish the year there.</p>— JJ Cooper (@jjcoop36) <a href="https://twitter.com/jjcoop36/statuses/445608007083524096">March 17, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
I'm picturing him like a young Pedro Cerrano; will crush a fastball a mile but needs work on the offspeed stuff now.
Correa is the man <iframe src='http://m.mlb.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=31565065&topic_id=26666930&width=400&height=224&property=mlb' width='400' height='224' frameborder='0'>Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe>
