2022 Astros Minor League Thread

Obviously the front office doesn’t think Enmanuel Valdez is going to hit anywhere close to as well as Jose Abreu. They probably see him as a guy whose ceiling is as a good bench player who is a slightly above average hitter but doesn’t have any defensive value; they already have a plethora of those guys in Matijevic, Y Diaz, Jones, Perez, and maybe others.

 

Big assumption that he will prove himself instead of being exposed and becoming worthless in a trade. If the Astros thought he was gonna hit he would still be here.

 

September callup has to be Leon and Brown? Right? Atleast Brown as a pitcher gets call up for sure.

 

I believe they can only call up 2 players, and my guess is Lee (so he can get more exposure to big league pitcher management and game calling) and Bielak (as a 14th pitcher who can eat innings in blowouts).

I do not think Leon will be called up until next season and Brown will only be called up if there is a serious injury to multiple starting pitchers, and maybe not even then.

 

Yep. His offensive numbers aren’t really materially different than Abraham Toro a couple of years ago — Toro was a .900+ OPS guy in AA at age 22. Toro had similar defensive position flexibility, but actually had upside to be a plus defensively.

Unfortunately, it’s 3 years later and he hasn’t broken out. He could still turn it around, but he just wouldn’t have a spot on this team today.

Unless you think Valdez could come in and light it up (in which case, why trade him), taking a run the next couple years is more important. Hopefully Vazquez both contributes and gives Maldy more rest.

 

I think there are 11 players who should play regularly in AAA over the next 7 weeks to see who might deserve to be in competition for one of the open big league position player spots following the expected departure of Vazquez, Gurriel, Mancini, and Aledmys Diaz:

C Lee
1B Jones
2B Leon
SS Hensley
3B Perez
RF Julks
CF Dirden
LF Matijevic
DH Diaz
With Brinson and Costes mixed enough to see what they can do.

Any of those guys could reasonably snag at least a bench role to start next season, and several of them could potentially take over an everyday role.

 

Valdez might not end up making it, but he has a lot more thunder in his bat than Toro ever did. A full .100 points higher ISO consistently. Abreu is pushing it but I can see a poor man's Kyle Schwarber.

 

The Astros are stacked with pitchers. Even if they call up Brown this season, they can send him down at start of next season unless he is just lights out in the majors. If he's lights out in the majors, a year of control is worth getting a non-Lidge lights out pitcher in the postseason.

 

He's an easy guy to root for. Total longshot, but stranger things have happened.

 

Huge, although the sample size from the next 4 weeks will be too small to draw any conclusions. But if he still strikes out <20% of the time over the 50-100 pa he will get over the rest of this season in AA, that will be a great sign and evidence he might be more than a potential 4th OF. He has plus plus defense and baserunning, so a more balanced version of Myles Straw might be in play for him.

 

Just looked it up, I thought he was older but he just turned 24. Had great OBP skills but minimal pop outside of Asheville. We'll see.

 

He hit 6 HR in 36g in Fayetteville, so he’s not a pure slap guy; 10-15 HR in the majors should be possible if he hits his ceiling. A Lorenzo Cain caliber player with a little less defensive value might be an ultimate ceiling comp.

 

Yeah, but it was his 2nd year in low-A and he was about 3 years older than the average player.

Make or break in the next year+ in Corpus

 

Andralton Simmons anyone for inf depth?

 

You don't have a time machine, do you?

 

Now we need Justin Dirden to be promoted to AAA.