2014 Astros Minor League Thread

Andrew Thurman has thrown back to back duds to open the season. Gotta say I'd expect more from a polished college draftee in low A.

 

Good to see Jio having success in the early going. Game winning HR today.

I still believe he'll make it to the majors.

 

disappointed aswell

 

luhnow....

 

He'll never be more than a journey-man utility-type.... but he'll always have the label of being the guy drafted 4 picks ahead of Mike Trout! (granted, 24 other teams passed on Trout as well).

 

I think I remember him being a reach at the time he was drafted, but that everyone knew the Astros were hot for him. Bobby Heck (former assistant GM) was just gaga over him.

 

For newbies, one can see the minor league box scores for a given day at Astros Farm. The site owner also has added the MLB box scores this year, making his site a one place stop for Astros box scores.

 

Awesome! Congrats to you.

 

Congrats! Well deserved.

 

CSN should really look into simulcasting or broadcasting some Astros minor league games (presuming that the CSN-Astros relationship is great, and the network is thriving as the Astros are the majority owners, and can use it as a venue to really give the fans the best insight to the overall organization!)

 

Why should Houston watch this Astros team?

I don't know that there's gonna be a ton to watch this year. The reason you watch is A) you're a baseball fan B) you will see some young players come up during the season. You got Cosart, who is a building block going forward, Castro was an all-star, Altuve is fun to watch, you'll see Springer/Singelton as some point. You'll see the guys who are building blocks of the future. Not only do they have the best farm system, I do believe some will start to surface in Houston this year.

O/U 62.5?

I would take the over but not sure I would bet that. They will get better. I don't think they'll be as bad but Vegas is trying to put the number where they can split the action both ways. I'd take the over but could they lose 100+ games again this year? They could.

First overall pick?

It's gotten more muddled. The big front runner was Carlos Rodon. Rodon was so good at the end of last spring, dominant in the summer and just merely good this year. Fastball not as over powering, slider not as consistent, command inconsistent. He's come back to the pack some. Big strong left-hander with two wipe out pitches, if he can put together a few starts where he was as dominant as he was, I think he's the logical guy. If not him, I think the most most impressive guys have been HS pitchers: Brady Aiken and Tyler Kolek. Those guys are in the mix. All things being equal, my gut says they prefer a college guy who can help quicker You can't keep telling guys we'll be good 3-5 years from now but at the same time, if they think a HS guy is the best guy, I think they'll take the best guy. You have to take who you think is the best guy.

George Springer - what to expect and his weaknesses right now?

Only real knock, the tools are tremendous. The question is, will he make enough consistent contact? That said, he does draw walks. I think because of the Ks, he may not hit for average when he comes up. Maybe around .250 as a rookie. I think if he came up, you want to play this game with his service time and eligibility, there is no reason he shouldn't be up right now, and if he does come up quickly, 20/20 might be too much but I can see 15/15. Maybe the best way to put it, I wouldn't be surprise if he came up early in the season and was the best position player on the team when the season was said and done.

Carlos Correa?

Buxton is a better prospect but Carlos is not far behind at all. He's almost underrated because you don't hear much about him. If they left him at Lancaster, he might have a ridiculous season this year. My guess is he hits his way to Double-A around mid-season or so. The one thing that a misconception is, if they didn't take Correa, they wouldn't have McCullers and Ruiz in the system. If they had taken Buxton number one, I think they still would have had money for Buxton and McCullers but not Ruiz. When people try to defend the move, "it wasn't only getting Correa but getting these other two guys", well it was really Correa and Ruiz vs Buxton and I think McCullers would have been an Astro either way.

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Astros Rule 5 pick Ravel Santana has his visa and is slated to arrive Friday, Luhnow said. He'll go to extended ST <a href="http://t.co/21ox4CLin3">http://t.co/21ox4CLin3</a></p>&mdash; Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/statuses/454059862029127680">April 10, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>