Bogusevic had an OPS of 1.003 in a whopping 124 Double-A ABs and you think that is worthy of a ML call up? Let's not forget that after Bosusevic was finished AA he only had 149 minor league ABs. Bogusevic went to AAA and he didn't produce like a real prospect. That is why he never got a shot to play regularly at the major league level. The only thing I will say in defense of Bogusevic is that he has always hit righties well, so he could be a platoon OFer but nothing more.
I think you are arguing something that I am not arguing. I don't think Bogusevic is any good. I don't think he will ever be any good. The point is that we should have found out when he was 25 instead of 28. Kody Hinze may be good or he may not be good at the major league level. He's way, way too damn old to spend another day in High A ball. If he were in a more aggressive organization, he would have started this year in Double-A and been moved to Triple-A by now. 23 year olds in A ball SHOULD be mashing the crap out of the ball if they are any good. It does no good to let him sit there and rake against this inferior competition. Hell, let's let him suit up for The Woodlands next year and see how he can do against 14-5A pitching.
Dude. Your point would be very valid if that was all there was to the story. They *did* find out whether Bogey was any good by the time he was 25--as a pitcher. Rather than just cut him, they tried him in OF as he was good in college at both positions. The Astros are certainly open to much criticism with how they handled development over the last ten years, but on this one particular issue I can't criticize them too harshly.
In 2010 (aka last year) Hinze had a good year at bat in low A, his third minor league year and his first full season at low A. You are arguing that the Astros should have started Hinze in AA, skipping high A. I do not see that Hinze's 2010 season warranted that. No doubt that Hinze has raked this year ... but the high A team has a hitter's park in a hitter's league. No doubt that Hinze will be in AA shortly and he may do very well there but ... that is not a given. Koby Clemens completely raked in high A and has not been able to keep that pace in AA and AAA, especially in AAA where he is strugglingly this year.
A Koby Clemens solo homer was the only offense for OKC in their 3-1 loss to Memphis. Only one of 4 hits in the game, as Nelson Figueroa only lasted 1 2/3, allowing 2 runs (on 1 homer) and 3 hits, walking 1 and striking out 1. Corpus scored a run in the top of the 6th to take a 2-1 lead over Tulsa, but the Drillers scored 3 in the bottom half to take the lead. The Hooks got 1 back but were unable to tie, and therefore lost 4-3. J.D. Martinez, Chris Wallace, and Jacob Goebbert drove in the runs. Martinez went 2-3 and scored twice. Jonnathan Aristil held Tulsa to an unearned run on 2 hits in 5, striking out 4, but Pat Urckfitz got pounded for the 3 runs in the 6th to get the loss. After allowing 13 runs in the 2nd to High Desert, Lancaster allowed 6 in the 4th on the way to falling 10-6. Rene Garcia had a solo homer and drove in another run. Jay Austin also drove in 2. Austin Wates went 4-5 and doubled twice. Zach Grimmett allowed 8 runs (2 earned) on 8 hits in 3 2/3 to get the loss. He walked 1 and struck out 5. Lexington led WV 4-3 entering the bottom of the 9th, but Jason Chowning allowed Rogelio Noris to tie the game with a homer. It was the only run Chowning allowed in his 2 innings of relief. He also allowed 1 other hit and fanned 3. The Legends would go on to lose 5-4 in 14, as Murilo Gouvea allowed the winning hit, but Gabriel Garcia was charged with the run and the loss. It was the only run charged to him in 4 1/3 innings of relief, as he allowed 3 hits, 1 walk, and struck out 2. Enrique Hernandez, Telvin Nash, and Emilio King drove in 3 of the runs; Ben Orloff scored the other on an error which allowed Delino DeShields to steal 2nd in the 3rd inning. Speaking of DeShields, he went 2-7, scored a run, and struck out twice. His average now stands at .201. Tri-City was blanked 8-0 by Lowell. The ValleyCats have not scored in 16 innings. Miles Hamblin and Zach Johnson each had 2 hits. All 7 of their hits were singles. Euris Quezada allowed 5 runs on 4 hits in only 2 innings to get the loss. He walked 2 and fanned 2. And once again, Greeneville's bullpen failed miserably, as they allowed Danville to score 7 in the 8th, turning what was once a 6-4 lead into a 11-6 hole. The G-Stros got 4 back to draw within 1, but sadly, they stranded the bases loaded to end the game, an 11-10 loss. Chase Davidson led the way with 3 RBI. Jose Monzon drove in 2, and 4 others drove in a run apiece. Tyson Perez allowed 1 run on 4 hits in 4 innings, walking 1 and striking out 2. 3 relievers combined for the epic fail in the 8th: first up was Brad Propst, who got the loss. He got the 1st out in addition to pitching the 6th and 7th. In 2 1/3, he allowed 3 runs on 3 hits, striking out 3. Scott Zuloaga allowed 2 runs on 2 walks without recording an out or allowing a hit. And finally, Paris Shewey got the final 2 outs in the 8th, 1 via strikeout, but not without sprinkling in 2 runs and 3 hits. The Gulf Coasters fell to the Marlins 4-1 in Jupiter. Javaris Reynolds had an RBI groundout that constituted the 1 run. The Marlins scored all 4 runs in the bottom of the 6th. Enderson Franco allowed only 2 hits in 5 innings, walking 2, and striking out 3.... but he was on the hook for 2 of the 4 runs. He split them with Zach Hardoin, who also allowed 2 runs on 2 hits, but only got 1 out in the 6th, via strikeout. The academy was ransacked by the Red Sox 20-4... and they didn't play the bottom of the 9th. Probably for the best. Andru Sierra homered, and the other 2 RBIs were made off outs. Geronimo Franzua allowed 3 runs on 3 hits without getting an out. But he did get the loss...
This. Rationally I know that wins and losses in the minors are an end-all, be-all but ... One would have to think that the Astros minor league teams should be doing better than this, after the last few drafts.
The Astros have acquired pitcher Mickey Storey from the Oakland A's for....... a player to be named later, I guess. Astros County: http://www.astroscounty.com/2011/07/astros-acquire-pitcher-mickey-storey.html
OKC scored 2 runs in the top of the 1st, thanks to Robinson Cancel's 2-run single. That's all they got, as Memphis ran off 5 unanswered and ran away with the win. The Astros claimed Luis Durango off waivers from the Padres and inserted him into the lineup as the CF and leadoff man. He went 1-5. All 5 Memphis runs came off 2 homers, a solo and a granny. Both were served up by Andy Van Hekken, who allowed 1 other hit in his 5 2/3 innings of work. He walked 5 and struck out 4. Durango is a 25-year-old outfielder from Panama. He stands 5'9" and weighs 155. In 61 games with Tucson this season, Durango hit .243, with no homers and 15 RBI. He has scored 36 runs, walked 19 times, struck out 31 times, and was 10-15 on steal attempts. He has a .328 OBP, a .294 slugging percentage, which translates to a .622 OPS. In 514 games in the minors, Durango is a .313 hitter who has 1 more walk (259-258), a .398 OBP, 138 steals, and a .762 OPS. Also, all 18 of his hits at the major league level have all been singles. Obviously, homers are not a part of his game, as he has 3 in his professional career. He hasn't hit one out in 3 years. Entering the 5th, Corpus found themselves trailing Tulsa 4-1. They proceeded to put up a nickel to turn that into a 6-4 lead, then Chris Wallace provided the icing with a 2-run homer in the 8th, then Jimmy Paredes added some salt with an RBI single in the 9th. The Hooks came out victorious, 9-4. Jose Altuve cleared the bases with a double in that 5-run 5th and came home when J.D. Martinez singled. Ross Seaton allowed 4 runs (all unearned) on 6 hits (1 homer) in 6 innings. He walked 1, struck out 5, and added an RBI single in the 5th. And what do you know.... Lancaster allowed another huge inning to the opposition. Make that two. They allowed 7 runs in the 4th and 6 more in the 5th as they got decimated 17-3 by Modesto. Jonathan Meyer drove in 2, and Kody Hinze drove in the other run. Robert Donovan lost his 11th game, allowing 7 runs (6 runs) on 5 hits in 3 2/3, walking 3 without recording a strikeout. Colton Pitking allowed a 3-run homer before recording the final out of the 4th. Wander Alvino allowed 6 unearned runs while recording 2 outs in the 5th. Once again, Lexington couldn't close the deal in the 9th, and their inability to close once again cost them the game. The Legends scored 2 in the top of the 9th to break a 3-3 tie. However, Hagerstown answered with 2 of their own, then walked off in the 11th 6-5 winners. Ben Orloff doubled and his 2-run triple in the 9th gave Lexington the lead for the time being. Adam Bailey, in his first game back from suspension, went 1-4 with an RBI. Alex Sogard got the bare minimum quality start, allowing 6 hits (1 solo homer), walking 1, and striking out 5. David Martinez allowed the winning hit for the Suns, so he gets the loss. Tri-City's scoreless streak has now been extended to 25 innings as they lost 2-0 to Lowell. The ValleyCats were held to 3 hits, with Zach Johnson having 2 of them, and Drew Muren with the other. They have not scored since the 2nd inning of the series opener, which was Wednesday. A real shame, as Kyle Hallock held the Spinners to 2 runs on 3 hits, striking out 11 in 7 innings. But he took the loss, thanks to the complete shutdown of the offense. Greeneville lost 6-3 to Danville. Jose Vargas and Josh Magee drove in a run apiece. Chase Davidson went 2-5 with a double and scored when Luis Alvarez reached on an error. Jose Perdomo pitched much better in this one, compared to his first two starts (where he was destroyed), allowing 3 runs and fanning 7. Problem was, he only went 4 1/3, allowing 7 hits and 3 walks as well. So, a loss for him. The Gulf Coasters were back in Kissimmee, where they handcuffed the Cardinals, until the Cardinals pounded them for 4 in the 5th. Then, the rout was on, as the Astros were blasted 9-2. Adrian Houser held them to 1 hit, striking out 7 in 4 innings. After Houser, the Cards feasted on Brandon Culbreth, who faced 4 batters and allowed 4 runs (3 earned) and walked 2 without recording an out or allowing a hit. The Academy put up 5 in the 3rd, which spurred them on to a 9-5 victory over the Royals. Juan Santana went 2-5 with 2 RBI and scored twice. Franny Polanco went 2-4 and also drove in 2. 4 others drove in a run apiece. Ambiorix De Leon only lasted 1 1/3, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits, walking 3. Kelvin Santana came in and shut down the Royals, holding them to 2 hits in 6 2/3 shutout innings, walking 4 and fanning 10 to get the win. Juan Santana might be a guy that the organization will be paying close attention to in the future. Here's his line: .316, 2 HR, 10 RBI in 25 games (95 ABs). 12 walks, 6 Ks, 3 SB, .385 OBP, .421 slugging, and an .806 OPS as a 16-year old. He'll turn 17 on August 16. I resisted the urge to blurt out something dumb, like suggesting that they bring him stateside to try his hand with the GCL guys or even Greeneville. Whoops
By the way, I'm guessing many of you are extremely fortunate that I'm not the one running the show when it comes to the minor league system.
Today is the first day of the international free agent period. The Pirates, Royals, Mariners and Rangers have already signed players to 7 figure bonus deals. The Royals got arguably the top OF for 3 million and the Rangers got another top OF prospect for a record 5 million bonus.
http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/mlb/news/story?id=6732843 Here's an interview with one of the organizers of the International Prospects League, which is looking to allow the best prospects to come together to show their skills. http://www.iplbaseball.com/index.ph...cts-league-principal&catid=81:news&Itemid=403 Spoiler The vital stats for the prospects were bunched up together, so I spaced them out to prevent any confusion. Per MLB Trade Rumors (http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/), the Rangers just signed Ronald Guzman, who was mentioned in the IPL interview, for $3.3 million.
Hats off to the Rangers, they are taking some big time chances today. These signings are huge risks but great organization are willing to lose on some just for the chance to hit on a few. Hopefully Stros can get on these guys and sign another high upside guy rather then worrying about the Hall and Barmes types.
Ariel Ovando doubled in his first plate appearance since Opening Day for Greeneville. He was subsequently stranded when Chase Davidson struck out to end the top of the 1st. Ovando is serving as the DH and is hitting 3rd tonight.
Him and Altuve... we could probably just make a thread about their progress, and it would be the most interesting thread in the Astros message board.
The above players don't excite me. Some are either too old (JD Martinez), too raw (Nash, DD Jr), and too "ordinary" (Keuchel, Bushue) to excite me. Ovando is raw too... but really could actually be something special if he lives up to his contract.
I wonder if the ownership situation if hindering them going after these intl free agents? I know that they say it's business as usual, but it has to be an awkward situation. I just hope it's cleared up before the trading deadline.
