Would be awesome. Let Marwin head down there with him over the winter. And obviously that means there is a clear plan as to who our 1B will ultimately be.
I was looking at some of our old top prospects from 2010 and yikes 1. Jordan Lyles, RHP (AA). Lyles has significantly increased his stock this season, performing very well against Class AA competition after skipping a level. 2. Jason Castro, C (AAA). Plus on-base skills and plus defense are enough to rank Castro highly, but the power hasn't shown up yet outside of the hitter-friendly California League. 3. Tanner Bushue, RHP (A). After a solid performance in the first half of the season at Lexington, Bushue will look to follow the Lyles path in 2011 and possibly skip straight to Class AA. 4. Mike Foltynewicz, RHP (Rk). "Folty" has the most upside of any pitcher in the Astros farm system, and he has a solid floor as well, but he hasn't thrown a professional pitch yet. 5. Jay Austin, OF (A+). Great tools and a solid performance as one of the youngest players in the California League have quickly vaulted Austin up the rankings among Astros prospects. Keuchel and Altuve: 10. Dallas Keuchel, LHP (A+). Keuchel doesn't blow hitters away, but his above average strikeout rate is impressive when you couple it with his good command and high groundball rate. 12. Jose Altuve, 2B (A). If he were a few inches taller, Altuve would rank much more highly as a speedy second baseman with plus defense, contact skills, and more power than you'd expect.
He's coming. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a> manager A.J. Hinch announces RHP Josh Fields, LHP Joe Thatcher and Jonathan Villar will be recalled tomorrow.</p>— Houston Astros (@astros) <a href="https://twitter.com/astros/status/638551362364551168">September 1, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The top five looks bad in retrospect, but, if you think about it, that group produced three star level players (altuve, keuchel, and JD) and a mlb average starting catcher (castro). Can't imagine many 2010 systems doing better.
Three minor league teams have reached 80 wins: (80-56) Grizzlies [AAA] (83-50) Hooks [AA] (85-47) River Bandits [A] Outstanding!
And why fans can not get enamored with prospects. A good system is one that has quality in numbers. All world prospects are great, but they can hold franchises hostage. Astros are doing great hoarding players and dangling them in trades. And if one thing the Astros have built is a professional frame of mind team, which allows the team to succeed.
One kid who has had an outstanding year in the complex leagues is Juan Robles. He is a 17-year-old from Mexico who spent much of this year with the GCL squad and the DSL Orange team in his debut year. Robles was recently sent to Quad Cities, where he did walk 5 in 1.1 innings, but he might be an arm to watch for the future. He'll turn 18 in November. <script type="text/javascript" src="http://widgets.sports-reference.com/wg.fcgi?css=1&site=br&url=%2Fminors%2Fplayer.cgi%3Fid%3Drobles003jua&div=div_standard_pitching"></script>
Interesting. The fact that they've promoted him so aggressively tells you what the org thinks of him.
It seems that this organization is going outside the box. It's not just going after Venezuelan, Puerto Rican, or Dominican players. They've made quite a few attempts to give Mexican origin players a chance in their Minor league systems. They even traded for Oliver Perez, the left handed specialist on the Astros (though he's been pretty bad so far). I can't think of another regime which gave Mexican baseball players the chance to show their talent on a MLB minor league platform. I think Luhnow after living in Mexico knows that in Mexico there are two team sports, Soccer and Baseball, though baseball is a distant second, but miles ahead of any other sport......
I don't know if it has been posted before, but I just saw that AJ Reed is the #2 1st base prospect according to MLB prospect listing. The way he's been playing, I can see him darting up higher than the current #98 overall prospect he's listed at! A Left handed power hitter that is difficult to find. Who has a canon for an arm at 1st base. He's an average fielder who can play either 1B or DH. I wonder what he Astros have him working on? I know that some of these mashers in the minors get a reality check when they meet the Master pitches of the MLB. The way they thread the needle with the offspeed and heater. http://m.mlb.com/prospects/2015?list=1b
I would take Reed all day everyday over Josh Bell. I don't understand how Bell has a higher hit tool grade than Reed? Anyway, maybe I'm a little drunk on Reed, but these lists and continuous overlooking as an elite level prospect has to be secretly pissing him off. Or, maybe he doesn't care and will just continue to rake no matter the circumstance. Anyway, I'm happy he is ours.
Is there a more useless skill than arm strength for first basemen? Maybe the hit tool for AL pitchers? Bagwell got by without a right shoulder for years.
Probably so... But arms strength for a first baseman might come into play on a handful of plays in a year. It can be considered a cherry on top of the whipped cream. But yeah, probably not as integral to a 1st baseman's repertoire to be successful in the MLB's. I'm thinking that Singleton made out royally! His season at AAA has been unspectacular. He is proving he was probably another of the AAAA players! He got himself a good reward for having talent and potential, in a 10 million dollar guarantee. But, AJ Reed has probably surpassed him on the pecking order.
"Got by" is generous. I feel like he only played about 1.5 seasons with a dead shoulder, and then his final season was mostly non-existent.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a> headed to Arizona Fall League: A.J. Reed, Chris Cotton, Albert Minnis, Aaron West, Keegan Yuhl, J.D. Davis, Chan Moon, Derek Fisher</p>— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) <a href="https://twitter.com/Chandler_Rome/status/638800089448890370">September 1, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
AJ Reed isn't the 98th best prospect, those lists are old. All you have to know is that the Astros didn't make him available at the deadline. He has worked really hard on his conditioning this year and his bat speed has improved. He is a little stiff at first but he has very good hands and a strong arm; he is a good fielder.
Reed, Bregman, and Martes are all top 50 guys next preseason most likely. Nice to still have a good system after the two big trades.
