Cool. My son and I were talking about making a trip down there to see him pitch, assuming he started out there. Thanks!
https://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/astros-top-10-prospects-2018-222724/ BA Top 10 Astros prospects for 2018. They think highly of the international guy’s lower in the system; Nova, Alcala, Solis are all in the top 10 and aren’t ranked nearly that high by others. I love Nova and have been very high on him from the beginning, he’s my pick for next breakout prospect and imho has the highest ceiling of any position player prospect in the system.
1. Forrest Whitley, RHP 2. Kyle Tucker, OF 3. Yordan Alvarez, 1B/OF 4. J.B. Bukauskas, RHP 5. Freudis Nova, SS 6. Jairo Solis, RHP 7. Hector Perez, RHP 8. Jorge Alcala, RHP 9. Colin Moran, 3B/1B 10. David Paulino, RHP
Luhnows track record of having an annual competitive advantage in acquiring amateur/young talent is pretty incredible. He’s had at least one extra draft pick in the top 2 rounds of the June draft every year except 2013 and 2016. In 2013 he was still rebuilding, so was able to add more prospects relative to other teams by trading away veteran players. In 2016 the Astros were positioned to go well over their international bonus pool and added 3 of the top 30 international prospects. Starting next season, Houston should have at least 1 additional draft pick as players begin reaching free agency. They will certainly get one for losing Keuchel, and Morton and Marwin will receive QOs if they duplicate their 2017 production (although I expect Morton to retire after 2018 and Marwin to regress). In 2019 Verlander and Altuve will be QO candidates along with potentially McHugh. And the stream continues in the out years. So I for one will not be worried at all about Houston trading away really good prospects like Perez, Cameron, Rogers, Martes, Fisher, etc. as the pipeline of those types should continue to flow for at least the next 5-6 years.
So what you are saying is that the Astros shouldn't worry about trading lower level guys as they can be replaced before MLB club feels the difference.
Not exactly. I’m saying I’m not worried about trading any prospects who aren’t on the Whitley/Tucker/Bregman/Correa level regardless of where they’re at in the system, since there should be a steady pipeline of those back-end Top 100 types like Fisher, Martes, Paulino, Moran, etc.
Drafts can't replace guys on 40-man immediately that are needed as up and down players. Fisher and Martes are likely the only guys outside the top prospects and the lower levels that have significant trade value. Considering the rumors about Astros wanting an OF, it seems that Fisher's time with the Astros is almost up if they can get a trade done. Moran and Paulino are likely viewed as depth options/cheap players that aren't guys a rebuilding team would rebuild around (i.e., they aren't viewed as shiny prospects any more and are likely not close to a Top 100 list). They may be fine as a second or third piece in a deal, but I doubt teams Astros would be trading with would need them as much as the Astros. I look forward to many more trades with Martes + other trade speculation throughout this year. I am hopeful we've seen the last of the Tucker + Martes trades.
Really wished we traded Martes before the beginning of last year. Great stuff, but I don't think he'll ever reach his potential unless his command takes a big step. With that being said, I think a trade of Martes and Fisher should be more than enough for Cole, but might need to add in Moran or JD Davis to get it done.
Martes struggles are the kind of struggles you would prefer to have. The list of guys whose control wasn't quite there at the beginning of their career, but figured it out is a mile long. Will Martes commit to making the necessary changes, we don't know, but the tools are clearly there.
The guy put up an 11.4 K/9 in the majors in his age 21 season. He's still a huge prospect. It seems like other people are dismissing him already.
He was 21 and one of the youngest players in the major leagues last year. He was also one of the youngest in AAA at the start of 2017.
Martes' coachability issues concern me more than his weight issues. The ability to accept and potentially integrate criticisms and suggestions on a franchise that wholly invests in data and statistics is critical to his success in Houston. I see the raw "stuff". I hope he is willing to allow the org to help him harness it.