I listed Gordan as the best prospect the Astros drafted in 21 and added him to my Most Valuable Prospects list immediately thereafter. On the Aug 22 update he is at #7. Very excited about this one.
It entirely depends on the opinions of the player development group. The Astros have proven to be excellent at player development, if they think he needed more time before he is promoted, I don’t have a real issue with it. It used to be a mark of death for a player to not make the big leagues by 22-25 years old but that really isn’t the case anymore. There are players developing over a longer period of time and minor league success tends to correlate stronger with major league success now compared to even a decade ago.
Huh? Don’t look at the dregs of the first round and look at the top guys in the second round? That makes no sense at all. The Astros are doing the same thing they did under Luhnow, they are looking at value and in this draft the best value in the range the Astros picked early in the draft was college outfielders so that is who they targeted. Also, Melton will likely end up capable of playing CF but probably will be in RF. Gilbert projects as a good CF and will likely stay there… in the international draft the top two CFers they signed are expected to stay there. The Astros like CFers because they can usually play anywhere in the outfield and can often be transitioned to the infield. They are good athletes. There is pitching in the systems lower levels from the international signings and they dealt for Murray, have Brown and a few others. So they don’t have any pressing need to draft a lot of arms, but they still drafted some.
Marty Costes has an ops >900 since June 1st. He is still probably not a major prospect because he’s limited defensively but he can hit and it wouldn’t surprise me if he ended up playing a few years as a league average hitting bench bat.
Interesting developments right now. David Hensley and Justin Dirden are really pushing for a dark horse september call up right now. They both strike out a lot but hard to ignore that they are mashing AAA pitching.
Who would Hensley or Dirden replace on the major league roster? There’s no room. Hensley will be added to the 40 man this offseason and might be in the mix for a MLB bench role next spring. Dirden will likely have to post another month or two of big numbers next year to be considered for a promotion. That is if they aren’t traded first. Dirden has a 35% k rate in AAA so until that comes down he’s not going anywhere.
Dirden's SwStr% in AAA is only 11% though so that K% might be a little inflated. It's crazy, but would he be a worse option for LF in the post-season than Diaz assuming Yuli and Meyers continue to suck? Dirden might suck but at least with him you can take Yuli out of the lineup with Mancini at 1B and keep your utility fielder/bench bat on the bench. I just really don't like the idea of penciling in a replacement level player at 1B in the post-season when such an outcome was avoidable.
So, they didn't pick anyone who could/ will help the organization? They weren't aggressive in drafting Clifford in the 11th round and signing him for over 1 million? They weren't aggressive in taking a flyer on Jackson in the 18th round?
What are the chances Diaz is able to lock in at least a platoon role next year at 1B? 33%? He seems to be hitting his way to the point where we can’t ignore him. Idk who the FA options are, that could impact Diaz’ chances, or if we trade for a 1B this off-season, but I find that somewhat unlikely. I would like to keep Yuli as a bench option in the clubhouse…man, I wish we won out on the Goldy sweepstakes a few years ago. What other MiLB players in our farm have a chance at getting >150 ABs next year? Seems like we have a lot of good players…just little opportunity.
The Astros are almost certainly gonna add/keep a proven bat for 1B to play it safe (Mancini makes almost too much sense), but that still leaves a ton of PA with LF/DH/1B being unoccupied opposite Yordan and whatever person we sign. I genuinely think there will be an open competition in camp for which rookie gets that gig, with Diaz being the frontrunner. If there's not a rookie being given the chance to run with the job early in the year I will be shocked. I think Dirden has hit his way into the conversation. Matijevic will likely get another look. David Hensley has some infield defensive flexibility and will probably get a long look. Pedro Leon could be the everyday centerfielder early next season.
I like Diaz as a bench and role player bat but he simply can't play more than 2 or 3 times per week over the course of a few weeks without getting hurt. He will want more money as a proven productive veteran than he is really worth considering that. If he goes for a 2 yr/ $5-6M deal then maybe it's worth him coming back in the same role ( not what you are asking) but I think he will get more than that.
The DSL clubs are playing each other today and there are three people with the last name "Colon" playing: Blue: Andy, Luis Orange: Rabel
Maldy, Altuve, Bregman, Pena, Alvarez, Tucker, and McCormick have all earned their spots for next year. The way he has blended and with Diaz moving on, I am pretty confident Dubon returns also. That leaves 5 position spots and 1B, CF, OF, b/u C, and 1 more bench spot. I think the Astros will sign a proven all star or potential all star level 1B or OF to hit in the top 5 of the lineup and solidify 1 position. ( money is on 1B) I also think they will bring in a veteran b/u catcher to compete w/ Korey Lee - winner gets Houston, loser gets Sugar Land. Meyers and Leon battle in the spring for CF with Jake winning if he can throw and hit for power like before the injury. That's ideal so Leon can get another couple of months at AAA. otherwise it's very similar to Pena winning SS job last spring. That leaves 2 spots and biggest need is b/u 1B and an OF who can platoon/spot start with Chas and Yordan along with infield versatility. Very RHH heavy, so lefties like Matijevic could get an advantage, though I prefer Jones as b/u 1B for his better hit tool and versatility.
Is that $5-6m total or per season? I think he gets paid more than $3m per year for sure. Something in the 2 year/$12-16m total wouldn't be crazy.
