2014 MLB Draft

1-1 is in our pocket! Glad we finished out the year to clinch this b****. It would have sucked to lose it at the end.

 

You sure?

 

If the Astros front office has the statistical gurus to build a perennial playoff contender( the line that we have been sold). Could they not build a team that appears to try to win, but has been built to lose? This is obvious to people that have closely followed this whole debacle in my opinion. Have they created an atmosphere at Minute Maid that will be impossible to turn around it can it be turned easily? Fan wise , I believe the casual fan will turn slowly , but the bandwagon will not fill for a while.

 

Name a Pitt/Tampa team that was worse. This is the most pathetic collection of MLB talent since the 60ish Mets.

 

So true!! I am happy we clinched 1-1 before the Rangers series, so we can possibly win & knock them out of the playoffs without sacrificing our draft position.

 

Detroit and their 120 loss club?

 

The 2014 draft likely will test Houston because for the first time in three years, the class has a clear front-runner in N.C. State lefthander Carlos Rodon, who would have been atop most draft boards in 2012 and 2013 had he been eligible. Neither Correa nor Appel received the largest signing bonus in their drafts, but Rodon, if he pitches as he has the previous two seasons, would not be the kind of player to sign such a deal.

Considering the physical lefthander’s talent, which is on par with past No. 1s such as Price and Strasburg, the Astros likely will have to pay Rodon the largest signing bonus of the new bonus-pool era of the draft.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/draft/astros-set-to-clinch-11-spot-in-2014-draft/

 

Buster Olney

[rquoter]Let’s make one thing very clear at the start of this conversation about what is so wrong about the Houston Astros: It’s all but impossible to find someone who believes they will struggle in the years ahead.

"They’re going to be good," said a rival official, "because they’ve getting access to the best talent and [GM Jeff] Luhnow is a really smart guy."

In the minds of many rival evaluators -- many -- the Astros are playing baseball’s current system to perfection.

So the problem with what the Astros have done really isn’t about the Astros. The problem is the system, which can reward calculated failure, and this should be a serious concern for Major League Baseball. Everybody has seen what Houston has done, and as one GM said before the season started, with a hint of jealousy, "They’re doing it exactly right."

By losing. A lot. Because that’s the best way to exploit the current system.

The payoff will start to show in two or three years, as all of those top draft picks begin reaching the big leagues, and some team officials note that already, some clubs appear to be angling to follow the Astros’ example.

By losing. A lot. Because that’s the best way to exploit the current system.

"The NBA figured out that you can’t have that," said another evaluator. "That’s why they put in the lottery system, so you’re not rewarding teams for losing."

With Major League Baseball, the evaluator noted, "there is clear incentive to lose."

This didn’t sneak up on anybody; it was written here before the year began that the Astros appeared to be designed for failure. Next summer, they will become the first team in the history of baseball to have the No. 1 overall pick for three consecutive seasons, and officials with other teams expect they could contend for that spot again next year.

They got what they paid for. They began the year with a projected payroll of little over $20 million, with a small handful of players with more than a year of major league experience. One by one, most of them have been removed from the roster. Carlos Pena and Rick Ankiel were cut because of performance; Bud Norris, Jose Veras, Wesley Wright and Justin Maxwell were flipped for draft considerations or prospects. What remains is a roster almost completely stripped down, with only one player making over $1 million is Erik Bedard, at $1.15 million.

Rival scouts, players and coaches have talked about how hard they think the Astros’ players compete. But some of the best talent has remained in the minor leagues through their brutal regular season.

George Springer is the Astros’ most developed prospect, at age 24, and he reached Triple-A this year, and finished with a .425 on-base percentage. He is, in the minds of at least some rival evaluators, ready to play in the big leagues, and at the very least, he’s better than a lot of players on the team’s major league roster.

But the Astros didn’t promote him. Nor did they promote one of their most developed pitching prospects, Asher Wojciechowski, who had 21 starts in Triple-A.

A lot of teams will hold prospects in the minors, for the sake of the service time clock. But the Astros have been non-competitive, and haven’t spent the necessary dollars to field a representative product.

And, look, there’s something wrong with that. Because fans are paying major eague prices to watch major league competition, to watch organizations that are theoretically doing everything within their power to win that day -- because a fan who pays $30 or $40 for a game is there to watch the that day’s competition. That fan is not buying a ticket because he knows Houston is positioned to pick North Carolina State's Carlos Rodon in next June's draft. There needs to be some basic level of integrity to the product, which MLB recognizes in spring training, when it nudges teams to start lineups comprised of at least four or five recognizable regulars.

Earlier this year, the Astros vehemently denied a report that they are making a massive profit this year. No team has ever opened its books to reporters -- which is the prerogative of any private business -- but rival executives say that given the various revenue streams available to all clubs, it’s indisputable that the Astros are taking in a lot more money than they are spending in player payroll.

They could have spent more, in an effort to be more competitive; they chose to not do so.

The Astros were blown out 12-0 by Texas Monday, and have lost 10 straight games, with a run differential of -45. To repeat: The Astros have been crushed by an average of 4.5 runs per game in the midst of the pennant race. This is not an outlier. This is their season. Houston is now the first team since the 1962-1965 Mets to lose at least 106 games in three (or more) consecutive seasons.

What should scare Major League Baseball is that the Astros are admired for this dogged, disciplined strategy.

Think of MLB’s current draft rules as a casino: Because of how Houston has played this, everybody knows how to get to the vault of future prospect riches.

It’s the responsibility of MLB to protect the integrity of its product, and it would be devastating for the sport if four or five or six teams systematically stripped down their rosters and payrolls and endeavored to follow Houston’s path to success.

And with MLB's new draft rules -- which tie draft budget to draft position and force you to foreit a first-round pick outside the top 10 for signing free agents who receive qualifying offers -- we're seeing more and more teams with incentive to tank. Frankly, you can't blame any team for wanting to finish in the bottom 10, which means there are roughly a dozen teams with good reason to lose as much as possible this September, and that's a major problem. [/rquoter]

 

With the Astros payroll, you could build a super team in about 3 years.

Let the young guys come up the ranks

Core- Springer,Correa,Singleton, Folty,Woj,Appel, Rodon

Sign some big time FA-

And then you potentially have a

Altuve,Correa,Springer,FA,Singleton,FA,Castro,DDJ,FA

with a pitching core full of power arms

We are the new Tampa Bay Devil Ray Squad

 

Yup, this offseason/draft can very much catapult us into legitimacy. 3 picks within the first 50 in a deep draft class will be huge. If we hit on 2 of those picks, then we are in serious business. I think most of us (I included) are assuming Rodon will be the 1-1. Teaming him up with Appel will be a formidable 1-2 punch.

However, I think we need to be more aggressive than that. I say we shock the world and win the bid for Tanaka. He's young and whichever team signs him will get his prime years. And we wouldn't necessarily need him to be our ace, which could lead to a smoother transition. From a purely financial aspect, you also open up a huge new demographic of potential Astros fans. If we were to offset the bid/contract of Tanaka from the additional revenue stream we can expect, then it almost becomes a no-brainer, as it makes sense both financially and makes our team better. A rotation led by Rodon/Appel/Tanaka is playoff-ready.

Add in the plethora of intriguing arms behind those 3, and after moving those that don't make the final 2 spots to the bullpen, then we all of the sudden could have one of the deepest pitching in the entire league. In 2-3 years, we could be looking at:

Rodon
Appel
Tanaka
McCullers
Folty/Wojo

All 5 of those should at least keep us in the majority of the games, and the biggest dilemma we'd have is to figure out our playoff rotation!

 

Blah blah blah. Bull****.

Springer and Wojciechowski both started their 2013 season in AA and finished in AAA. Its not like they were ready to go out of 2013 ST.

And the Astros brought up the following prospects from AAA: Oberholtzer, Cosart, Peacock, Clemens, Chapman, Grossman, Villar, Elmore, Barnes, Lo (AA), Stassi (AA).

 

For what little it is worth ...

Appel was rated higher than Rodon by scouts in 2013 and likely in 2012 as well.

 

The Astros as it is have so many top prospects, it is hard to project where they can fit. We are not talking about run of the mill minor league players either. Frankly it is a deep system with plenty of talent in the pipeline to step in if a guy falters.

As it is, the Astros have been keen on trading minor leaguer who no longer figure prominently in their plans too. Another way of keeping the talent in the minor in top shape.

And having the first pick and 3 total within the first 40 selections in the 2014 draft which figures to be the best talent pool in a while, and with a clear #1 talent. The astros are poissed to be the envy of all baseball with talent.

With Springer, the Astros have their first major addition to the talent pool on offense. And with him on board the 50 win Astros will win 10 to 15 more games.

With Woji, Cosart, Peacock, and Oberholtzer the Astros add another 5 to 10 games.

It is not far fetched to see the Astros win 70 to 75 games next season.

the sucess this year was identifying some building blocks. The big foundation guy in Springet debuts next season. He is one of the Core guys the team is counting on, though not the only one.

 

Sure, but he does have a point that they're charging major league prices to see minor league talent.

 

Not if you came to see the opposing team

 

The NBA still sees teams tank. MLB has seen teams follow somewhat similar strategies before the new rules. In the history of baseball? Amazing since the 1st 100 years were impossible to have 3 straight #1 picks. The draft format we have has basically only existed since 1985.

We didn't call up our minor leaguers. Jarred Cosart and Jonathan Villar are still sitting in the minors. So is Max Stassi, Chia-Jen Lo, Zeid, & Chapman. Oh, they all got called up? While I certainly think Springer earned a promotion, I wouldn't necessarily say the same for Woj. Springer was held up for reasons outside performance, Woj probably not as much.

The Astros didn't really sell something different. They basically said from the outset that they were going to go this direction. They didn't cheat anyone out of their money.

Our 10 game losing streak is a substantial outlier. Our longest streak had been 6 games, IIRC. I guess the team should have let Cosart keep pitching, keep Castro from hurting his knee, and keep Rangers pitchers from hitting their other catchers in the head.

I do think baseball has a problem. They need salary caps and floors to help maintain a competitive balance. Article just goes about it in the wrong way.

 

This is a great idea. Springer will provide some excitement this season but after three years of low payroll why not do this? What I would love to see is for the next three years the front office go all out for 1 big FA each offseason. Each of those years a top talent or two should also be coming up from the minors. You would have a great mix of expensive veteran stars and young cheap talent leading playoff runs for the next 5-10 years. That would be a great reward to the fans and an ideal way to set up a potential dynasty