If he doesn't have a Mike Lamb-esque cast iron skillet as a glove, that's a plan I endorse. If he does, then it's OF and maybe he hits enough to play there.
Rodriguez: Cuban, FG Giants #22 prospect in 2022, up to 97 at that time. Pinto: Venezuelan FG Baltimore #43 prospect last year, recovering from TJS Bido: RP prospect great k/bb #s Blomgren: 2020 5th rd pick (COL), always hurt but really productive hitter when he played Swiney: FG Giants #10 prospect in 2022, comp pick out of college with $1.2M bonus, lefty P
In looking at the transaction log, I see the Astros signed 33 year old C Joe Hudson to a minor league deal. AAA depth but interesting as it potentially points to a Caratini trade being more likely.
- Rodriguez probably gets another crack at AA as he struggled there after doing well at High-A to start. - Pinto is probably the one to watch from this haul, especially if he can rediscover his pre-TJ form. - Bido looks like useful depth in AAA, good-not-great strikeout numbers but has gotten better at limiting walks as he's progressed through the minors. - At 26 with minimal time above Class A, Blomgren is probably just a guy. A guy with a nice skill set when available, but he'll have to show out in Corpus to even get on the radar. - The knock on Swiney has been whether he could ever throw harder to complement an excellent changeup. At the very least, he's an interesting project for the player development team. Intriguing haul, probably out of necessity to add some guys to a barren system. Of course, it's much more likely that these guys end up being JAGs, but I'm probably most interested in Pinto, Swiney, and Blomgren.
If the Astros are serious about competing in 25 they need a credible bench catcher to carry the load in case of injury. I like Caratini for that reason. Hudson is not that catcher.
Remind me, what makes a player subject to the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft? And what must the Astros do with these players now that they've selected them (as opposed to any other of their own minor league players)?
Basically guys who aren’t in the upper levels by a certain time are eligible for the minor league phase; I’m not sure the details but really it boils down to their current team not really caring if they get taken by another team. All Houston has to do is keep these guys on their AAA roster for the rest of the offseason. They can be assigned to any level at the beginning of next season.
I believe that the Astros have a 40 man that protects from the MLB portion, then are able to designate an additional list of those protected from minor league portion. I don't know anything about who is required to be protected or how many can be.
Brice Matthews will change the Dynamic and Black Community being into Baseball. Very Athletic Kid but undersized that can play baseball instead of Basketball. Hopefully more Players are grown in Houston. More young kids will want to watch Astros Games. Even Football, Soccer, Track Stars Multi sport stars playing CF, SS in Baseball.
I have some skepticism about Mathews based upon Brown's prior relationship with him. Mathews was not the best player available but he was a pet project of Brown's long before Brown came to the Astros. As a result I am left with some skepticism about Brown too.
Scouting reports at the time said it was a reach, but many many teams loved his ceiling and he would not have lasted until the Astros picked again. I am still fine with the pick. And we won 't know for at least 2-3 years how he turns out.
