The system has a lot guys like Feliz with huge upside, but also appears to be loaded with guys that have high floors with less upside. Sometimes those low upside guys have more upside than thought (Altuve, Keuchel, McHugh has been surprising me this season). Fontana and Torreyes both look like they can be second division starters or bench guys at 2B/SS. Stassi looks like he'll be either a starter or a bench catcher. Tucker, Aplin (despite recently falling off a cliff), and DeShields look like decent 4th OFs with a little upside. Astros pitching depth should equate to a very good bullpen for the future. There are 30 teams which equates to 150 starters in a 5 man rotation for the majors. Astros currently have 6 of the best 120 starters and all under friendly club control for this and following two seasons at least. Depth should not be an Astros problem in near future. Astros need star power. Hopefully, some of the high upside guys (Singleton, Santana, Correa, Ruiz, Appel, Feliz) pay off. Getting media rights back would also help get a FA or two.
Are they going to streamline this through the entire minor league system or is it just quad cities? Maybe they're experimenting in quad cities and then implementing it throughout the minors. I like the concept of this system a lot better. We'll see...
I agree that the PERCEPTION is that the Astros have a lot of depth with high floor, low ceiling... however I think it is just impossible to tell. Hader, Feliz, Ruiz, Folzy and a number of others have real upside. Sometimes when you have players that are not boom or bust, people look at them and limit their upside. Our system is a lot like the Cardinals system, there are a number of guys labeled C+ B- prospects that very well could turn into very good players.
Hence the hiring of Jeff. The Astros farm system is loaded with talent at every position... getting the right mix of players running our Major League team is what is key for Jeff now.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Feliz avg 95 high 98 yesterday... then Gustave took over, avg 97 high 99... <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23heat&src=hash">#heat</a></p>— Jeff Luhnow (@jluhnow) <a href="https://twitter.com/jluhnow/statuses/472386619962826752">May 30, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
agreed. Domingo Santana is really the biggest name there, I guess. I would like to see him up in September
Wouldn't surprise me at all. I would bet that you'll see a couple of plus power types taken within their first 6 or so picks. I have no idea how high they are on Alex Jackson, but I guess that's not out of the realm of possibility. I wish there was a Kris Bryant in this draft.
I'm hoping they call him up sooner. He and Singleton are already on the 40-man roster so they may as well call them up after the Super-2 deadline.
Santana's still so young and still strikes out so much that an extra couple hundred AAA bats won't hurt. (Of course, he's listed at 21 years old, but he is Dominican, and he looks a hell of a lot older. I worry about Michael Feliz in the same way.)
Given his age it wouldn't surprise me if he spends the whole year in AAA then get a call up similar to when Springer did this year.
Keith law has an updated top 25 prospects on ESPN. Can anybody post the astros related prospects? (Correa is #2) http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/stor...byron-buxton-no-1-top-25-prospect-ranking-mlb
Agree with IF. I think Springer stays in right and provides speed and power. I think Santana and Tucker give Astros good odds of having decent power production from left. Singleton seems to be the only 1B/DH prospect and he seams very risky (drug use and contact issues) Dominguez is solid. Ruiz is really only option that has more than slim chances to unseat him.
2. Carlos Correa | SS | Houston Astros (age 19) Current level: High Class A (Lancaster) Preseason ranking: 4 Correa's always been a top offensive prospect, but he's continued to make believers out of scouts who see him at shortstop, and if he doesn't outgrow the position physically there's no reason he can't remain there at least into his mid-to-late 20s. His performance so far has been excellent given his age, although I'd caution anyone looking at the raw stat lines (.305/.370/.458 through Tuesday) to bear in mind that Lancaster is a great place to hit, as are several other southern California League ballparks. 16. Mark Appel | RHP | Houston Astros (age 22) Current level: High Class A (Lancaster) Preseason ranking: 11 Appel's inability to adjust to Houston's four-day tandem rotation scheme isn't at all his fault, nor is it any kind of demerit toward his prospect status; the tandem system has its merits, but I wouldn't want to experiment like that with the first overall pick in the draft and my top pitching prospect. He's been out of action for five weeks already, and while he's reportedly throwing very hard again in extended spring, I'd like to see him do it on a mound again -- preferably in Double-A, outside the tandem system entirely.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>RHP Mark Appel has rejoined Lancaster from extended Spring Training and is slated to make start on Saturday in Lancaster.</p>— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) <a href="https://twitter.com/brianmctaggart/statuses/472180218627895296">May 30, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
