Hope they're right. I expect Melton to be a part of a trade package at the deadline. I wonder how other orgs view Melton. Can he headline a package for say Eflin type pitcher?
Guys outside of like the top 20 prospects in baseball are viewed really different from organization to organization. Melton is someone that I am sure some teams view as a top 50 prospect and others may view as a top 200 prospect. it is all about finding a match. His tools are loud, and that appeals to some teams more than others. I know that the White Sox for example have some interest in him. It is hard to know what Eflin will cost at the deadline because we don't know who the sellers will be yet. Eflin is a solid middle of the rotation starter, but the Rays do want to move him. Maybe Eflin is all they can get, but I would rather they try and package Melton with another prospect to try and get someone better.
According to mlbpipeline and fangraphs, 12 OF are on their top prospects lists. I changed Whitcomb to an OF and added Kenni Gomez (shocked he's not on either list) to give us 14 prospects. It's impossible to use most stats to compare between levels, so I just used 3 - K%, BB%, and wRC+ (which is adjusted for league/park) K% - BB% - wRC+ Melton: 7.2 - 22.3 - 105 Baez: 5.5 - 26.0 - 114 Cole: 9.1 - 31.5 - 141 Corona: 9.5 - 23.9 - 69 C.Hernandez: 6.3 - 20.7 - 95 Barber: 7.2 - 32.8 - 79 Fisher: 17.2 - 43.7 - 102 Leon: 8.7 - 26.3 - 120 E.Valencia: 3.1 - 17.5 - 94 Whitcomb: 11.7 - 20.0 - 122 L.Rives: 7.6 - 20.5 - 68 C.Gonzalez: 13.7 - 17.9 - 53 Y.Encarnacion: 12.7 - 15.4 - 92 Gomez: 10.0 - 23.5 - 115
There are concerns about whether Kenni Gomez will ever be strong enough at the higher levels. I am a believer in the hand/eye coordination and hitting instincts of him, but he needs to stay healthy, focused and avoid other problems.
Loperfido and Cabbage are no longer considered prospects. And Whitcombs fielding metrics on the infield are less than stellar.
If you take out his 1st 2 appearances of the season, Whitley has allowed only 1 earned run in 14 innings in 13 AAA appearances this season.
At this point I think the Astros are hoping some team buys in on Whitley during this little hot stretch and we can actually get some decent trade value for him. I imagine not many in the organization have even a little faith in him holding it together. If he isn't traded I bet he gets called up Wednesday.
But Whitley is not closing games ... yet. There is still huge value in having a rock solid late inning reliever like Bryan Abreu. I suspect that Whitley is a short list for being called up ... that is if he is not traded at the deadline ... given his recent performances making that trade more likely ... :shrug: ... I do not know that the Astros trade the next Bryan Abreu if that is how they grade him. We will see.
Trey Dombroski threw 5 innings with 0 er tonight. In his 4 July appearances he has 2 er in 19.2 ip. I’m very anxious to see him in AA.
