The talent we had waiting in the wings in the late 90s was amazing. To have a true prospect ready to take over at virtually every position.
It looks to me like Wade it taking a page from the Pirate playbook and trying to align all his prospect together on the same track so that they all arrive around the same time and form the team's nucleus moving forward. I'd wager that's why they've been slower to promote guys like Hinze, etc.
To be a legit contender year in and year out while having the best farm system in the game was pretty special. Helped us stay in the hunt for so long, directly with Oswalt and Berkman and by trade with the Johnson and Beltran trades.
Eight best players period I guess lol The fact that we don't have a prospect in the system now that would have cracked the top 10 back then is baffling and pathetic at the same time. I look back at the last few drafts and see guys like Mier floundering and Deshields hitting below .200. Then I see a guy for the Angles like Michael Trout, being ranked the top overall prospect in baseball...I go check where he was drafted, sure enough, four spots behind Jio Mier. Maybe that was just an anomaly I thought. Then I look at the guy drafted directly behind Mier. Kyle Gibson, now in Triple A, a pitcher, ranked #34 overall by Baseball America coming into this year. Brett Jackson and Tim Wheeler, the last two picks in the first round, both in Double A, both bashing the crap out of the ball. It's just amazing how poorly the Astros have selected, starting with Robert Stiehl. Burke never did much. Grigsby, Sapp, Bogusevic... Making me tear up just thinking about the spinning of the tires and wasted years. I have no faith that they will pick correctly next year with the #1 overall pick. I can see either the Stanford shortstop or the ASU shortstop. What a waste.
The MLB draft is a pretty complicated beast. There's a lot that happens in between a team having X spot and Y player impacting the major league club. There's no denying the minor league system had a dark period starting at the end of the Astros contention years. Poor talent evaluation is just one piece of that puzzle. Sticking to the draft slot guidelines was just as lethal to the club. the Astros routinely had to pick lesser talents because Uncle Drayton wouldn't go above slot to sign a better player. That's why guys at the ends of the rounds (who go to the red sox/yankees) end up performing well. They were better players to start with but fell for money reasons. The most bothersome aspect for the Astros minor league system right now is talent development. We now have reasonably talented players with high ceilings. They're just not being developed. We haven't developed a decent hitter since Berkman, who was coming off a college player of the year season anyway. I have faith they'll draft a good prospect; I have zero faith that he'll develop properly.
Yeah I guess it's a chicken or the egg type thing. Are they really misjudging the talent or are they not developing it. Everyone says they have turned a corner. I am still not seeing it honestly. Besides Lyles, where are the ultra-talented prospects? Altuve maybe.... A couple of guys that are pretty old to be in the minors in the first place. I guess with Hinze there is some home there. Ryan Howard had a similar track record at the same age throughout the minors. Hinze just needs to follow it up in Double A now. Deshields, Folty and Kvasnicka are all extremely underwhelming after being drafted in the first round last year. I hear rumors of the Giants trading with us, and we would get Gary Brown. We passed on the guy twice just last year. Could have had him already.
Not that I completely disagree but DD Jr and Folty are teenagers and it's Kvasnicka's first full minor league season...they need more time. I do think we are missing that can't miss, super stud prospect but hopefully Springer, Ovando and next years #1 will change that.
It's not totally a chicken or the egg argument. Like I said, it was a multi-factorial screw job. I think you're confusing talent with production. The consensus on Lyles is that he'll be a great middle of the rotation pitcher. But he produced in the minors like a top 20 talent. The players you listed: DDJ and Folty have top notch talent but aren't producing. It diminishes their prospect star a bit but the talent and skills are still there. Kvasnicka I happen to think will end up a weak power 3B in the Chris Johnson mold. We are missing a can't-miss, high ceiling prospect. One so good even our ****ty development couldn't stop him. I don't tend to get to angry about guys we "passed on". In your example, we passed on Gary Brown twice. That means the entire league, including the giants, probably passed on him at least once.
Trailing 5-4 to Omaha, Robinson Cancel launched a 3-run homer in the bottom of the 8th to give OKC the lead, and eventually, a 7-5 victory. Koby Clemens had a solo blast in the 4th. J.B. Shuck, Drew Locke, and Tommy Manzella also drove in a run. Brad Hennessey allowed only 1 run on 2 hits in 5, striking out 2. Dan Meszaros couldn't get out of the 6th, as he allowed 4 runs on 5 hits (1 homer). Douglas Arguello got the win in relief, going 2 1/3, allowing 1 hit, walking 1, and fanning 3. Mickey Storey got his 1st save with OKC, and 5th overall (4 with Midland), walking 1 and striking out 1. Storey was drafted in the 31st round out of Florida Atlantic by the Athletics. He jumped 4 levels in 2009, beginning in low-A and ending with 2 appearances in AAA, registering a 2-1 record, a 1.22 ERA, allowing only 27 hits and 8 walks in 51 1/3 (0.68 WHIP), striking out 71. Opposing batters hit .150 off him that year. Last year with Midland and Sacramento, he was 6-5 with a 3.64 ERA in 84 innings, including 1 start. He allowed 73 hits and 27 walks (1.19 WHIP) and struck out 77. He allowed a .232 average against. Epic fail from the Corpus bullpen tonight as they transformed a 7-3 lead on Tulsa into a 9-7 loss. They allowed 1, 2, and 3 in the 7th, 8th, and 9th. Pat Urckfitz allowed a 2-run homer in the 8th, and Henry Villar allowed the Drillers to get the go-ahead 2-run homer in the 9th. Jimmy Paredes hit his 7th homer of the year, a solo shot in the 6th. Kody Hinze went 0-2 with a walk and an RBI in his Hooks debut. Ross Seaton allowed 3 runs on 7 hits (1 homer) in 4, walking 1 and fanning 2. Austin Wates drove in 4 to spur Lancaster on to a 6-5 victory over RC. Jonathan Meyer and Jose Thompson drove in the other runs. Jake Buchanan ultimately allowed 3 runs (2 earned) on 3 hits in 7 1/3, walking 1 and fanning 3. Chris Hicks got the win despite nearly blowing it, allowing a 2-run homer in the 9th. Lexington traveled to Hickory in order to begin a series with the Crawdads, but they were rained out. Doubleheader tomorrow. Tri-City fell 2-1 in 10 to Hudson Valley. Not much offense here, as the VCs only had 3 hits tonight. Ryan McCurdy scored the only run off a Renegade error, as Justin Gominsky reached 1st. Nick Tropeano went 5, allowing only 1 run on 2 hits and struck out 5, but that came along with 4 walks. Ryan Cole got wild in the 10th and allowed Hudson Valley's Chris Winder to score the winner. The Gulf Coasters' game with the Mets was suspended with the game tied at 3 in the bottom of the 8th inning. Jean Carlos Batista has 2 RBI, and Javaris Reynolds has the other. Adrian Houser went 4 innings, allowing 3 runs (2 earned) on 5 hits, walking 1 and fanning 3. The Academy got blasted 8-3 by the Indians, as they allowed 6 runs in the 8th for the loss. Juan Solano, Mesac Laguna, and Mario Gonzalez drove in 1 each. Geronimo Franzua allowed an unearned run on 2 hits, walking 4 and fanning 2. Samil De Los Santos got the loss, as he allowed the 2 runs that gave the Indians the lead. Actually, he didn't. Manuel Sanchez allowed them to score.
OKC gets a 4-3 win over Omaha on a walk-off.... sac fly from Tommy Manzella which scored Anderson Hernandez. Robinson Cancel tied the game at 3 with an RBI single scoring Luis Durango. Brandon Barnes and Drew Locke drove in the other runs. Sergio Perez allowed 1 run (off a solo homer) on 6 hits in 6, walking 1 and striking out 2. Sammy Gervacio pitched the 9th to get the win, walking 1. Corpus also walked off winners, taking this one over Tulsa by a count of 3-2 in 10. Jacob Goebbert went 3-4 with an RBI single in the 1st and a solo shot in the 5th, his 5th with the Hooks and 10th overall. The homer tied the game at 2, and it would remain that way until J.D. Martinez singled home Jimmy Paredes for the winner. Kody Hinze went 1-4 with a strikeout. Erick Abreu went 7 strong, allowing 2 runs (on a 2-run homer) on 4 hits, striking out 7. Alas, he couldn't get the win, as Kyle Greenwalt pitched the 10th to get the win, allowing 1 hit. Well, it's Friday. I think I'll be able to recap Lancaster's games on the same nights on weekends. Jose Thompson had a 2-run homer in the 2nd, but he wasn't done yet. He unleashed a grand slam in the 5th, giving him 7 homers on the season. Adam Bailey made his debut tonight at right field. Batting 5th, he went 3-5 with a double, an RBI, and scored twice. Thompson finished the game with 7 RBI. Austin Wates had the exact same line as Bailey did. David Flores, Jordan Comadena, and Miguel Arrendell drove in 1 apiece. Andrew Robinson allowed 3 homers in 2 innings, for a grand total of 5 runs. David Berner got the win in relief, pitching 3 innings, allowing 1 run on 2 hits, walking 1 and striking out 1. Oh, right. Lancaster topped RC 12-8. Well, Lexington was supposed to play a doubleheader with Hickory today, but they only got 1 game in, as the Legends fell 3-1. Telvin Nash drove in the lone run. Mike Foltynewicz went 5 1/3, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits, walking 3 and fanning 3. Game 2 was suspended with Hickory leading 2-0 in the 3rd with runners on 2nd and 3rd. Jay Austin made his return to the Legends in game 2; he's struck out both times he's been at the plate, however. Tri-City's game with Hudson Valley was postponed. It will not be made up unless playoff implications are at stake. They'll head home to begin a series with the Aberdeen Ironbirds starting tomorrow. Greeneville topped Elizabethton 9-4 on the strength of Ariel Ovando's night, as he went 2-4 with a triple and 3 RBI. Ruben Sosa pitched in with 2 RBI and scored 3 times. Chase Davidson, Ronald Sanchez, and Luis Alvarez drove in 1 each. Jamaine Cotton went 5, allowing 4 runs (all in the 4th, 3 on a homer) on 7 hits, walking 2 and striking out 3. Steve Martin and Paris Shewey pitched 2 innings apiece, retiring every Twin they faced. Random: Jamaine Cotton is from the Virgin Islands, and although Steve Martin was raised in Brenham, he was born in Swaziland, a small country which is surrounded by South Africa. Not making this up. In before the "not sure if serious" pic. The Gulf Coasters had the day off. The Academy beat the Mets' 2nd squad 9-7, as Mario Gonzalez drove in 3. Reymin Guduan allowed only 3 hits in 5 innings, walking 3, and fanning 9 to get the win.
Anyone get the MILB.TV package? Is it worth it? How often do they show each of the Astros affiliates? Good video quality. The price is so low, it is very tempting to get it. But I would want to be able to watch Ovando and the guys down there, not just CC and OKC.
Don't have it. I have been listening to Lancaster's radio feed for the past few days, though. I'm looking at the schedule for the weekend and next week, and it looks to be slanted towards the upper levels. Looks like the rookie leagues are shown once in a while, a little more so with the short season ones. The next time Lexington is on the schedule will be Wednesday. Have not seen Greeneville or any of the other Appy League clubs on the schedule. I did see a couple of teams from the other rookie league, the Pioneer.
I don't have it, but when I looked into it in the past, this was the number one complaint that I saw with the service. Also, if you are used to the MLB.TV feed and expect the same quality, you will be disappointed with what you are getting in many cases.
So I'm imagining what the 2012 Lexington rotation might look like and I came with a couple of outcomes: - Kyle Hallock - Nick Tropeano - Vincent Velasquez - Luis Ordosgoitti - Adrian Houser or.... - Hallock - Tropeano - Velasquez - Houser - Juri Perez or - Hallock - Tropeano - Houser - Lee - Ordosgoitti or - Hallock - Tropeano - Ordosgoitti - Jonas Dufek - Houser There's 4 possibilities right there. That also assumes Jack Armstrong stays at Vandy and no one repeats. Of course, the latter hardly ever happens, and Armstrong's chances of signabiliy are 50-50. The first possibility is my dream rotation. However, the rotation will be centered around Hallock and Tropeano. I don't even expect Houser to skip the short-season leagues unless he lights up the Gulf Coast League.
