Just saw that I missed this update from back in August. This writer is extremely knowledgeable and thorough about Houston’s prospects; the best I’ve seen. Some of the comps he gives are either wildly optimistic or downright odd, but all in all this is an excellent write up. https://apollohou.com/2022/08/03/astros-top-40-prospects-midseason-2022-update/
Interesting reading at Leon's proclivities to swinging at low breaking pitches. Not typical of what you would expect in the minors where players can hit FBs but not the "ungodly breaking stuff" as Crash Davis would put it. Since there is generally more filth in the majors than the minors, I would think, it would be interesting if his skillset hitting translates BETTER to the show than it does in the minor leagues with lesser talent pitching to him.
Was looking through the LIDOM stats in the early going. There aren't too many Astros prospects playing. I found both Ronel Blanco's and Enoli Paredes lines interesting. Ronel Blanco has been literally unhittable. He's thrown 6.1 innings and has only surrendered a single walk with no hits and 5 strikeouts. He played really well in winter ball last year too I think. Enoli Paredes has been very hittable surrendering 14 hits and 9 runs (8 earned) over 7.2 innings. On the flip side, he's struck out 11 with only 1 walk, so hopefully he's harassing the ability to throw strikes.
Any word on what happened with Oz? We just brought him back into the fold. Seems odd that he’s already gone.
I saw that. Am just shocked we didn’t do something to retain him. Especially considering the recency of his rehire and the situation with Click.
Its definitely concerning, but Oz’s ambitions have always been above his station. In the business world this usually requires moving to another organization. I know his talent in scouting. I don’t know his talent in running a team and being a primary decision maker. Not saying I wouldn’t have been interested in retaining him - I absolutely would. Just saying Crane has earned my trust with his decision making process and ability to fill the GM role.
I'm not sure when it was released, but here is mlb.com's top international prospect list for this coming January. They're linked to 2 of the top 25 prospects: #17 SS Camilo Diaz and #21 OF Emil Valencia
https://www.mlb.com/news/rule-5-draft-prospects-protected-on-40-man-rosters I didn’t know Cristian Gonzalez was Rule 5 eligible. He is a high upside prospect but I would be very surprised if he was protected. He struggled offensively in High A this season so there’s almost no way he could be passable in the majors even on a rebuilding team. I do expect Jayden Murray and Corey Julks to be added to the roster.
I looked at this same issue yesterday and concluded that in years past I would not have been concerned enough to protect Gonzalez, Julks, or Murray because there were higher priority players at risk. Murray may have enough value to protect but he is barely on the bubble. Gonzalez and Julks are highly unlikely to be picked up. Most systems have far more upper level talent than the Astros do. Houston is a championship team with no place for players that are not likely to make an impact. I think I would rather have the open roster slots to take advantage of opportunities that may come up over the winter.
The Astros didn’t add Murray at the deadline to leave him unprotected. Of course now that the GM is gone who knows. Julks hit 31 HR and stole 22 bases in AAA while being a decent defender in RF, LF, and 3B and being viable in CF; he can probably play 1B and 2B as well in a pinch. He is the exact type of versatile, high ceiling, late blooming prospect that I would be looking for in the Rule 5 draft if I were a rebuilding team or a fringe contender with a shallow bench.
A simple solution to finding out if there are teams with a real interest in these guys is to quietly make them available for trade. Hopefully Click was a good enough GM to have done his due diligence on them but we will probably never know. We do have plenty of roster space to protect all three, so my opinion is even less meaningful than usual.
