Yeah fangraphs ratings are pretty strict. FV 55 would mean a top 30-40 overall prospect and it’s hard to slot Lee that high for now. I think he will be a 50 grade. Unless Leon has a monster next 6 weeks he will probably be a 45+ grade. Meyers would likely be a 40+ grade.
Hopefully. The Astros would be an ideal trading partner for the Angels (i.e., upper level depth for rentals with Astros sending more prospects to cover Angels paying the rentals salary), though I doubt the Angels would trade Trout. I'm not expecting the Angels to do the fire sale of rentals (Both Iglesias's, Heaney, Cobb, Cishek plus Quintana, Claudio, and Bundy if anyone will take them) they should be doing this deadline. On Meyers, I should say either he or Chaz are unlikely to be in the Astros organization by the end of the year. It seems excessive to me to have Chaz, Meyers, Siri, Dawson, and Leon as 4th OF depth.
If they had a total value stat like war for AAA, Meyers may very well be the AAA leader. He’s 14th in AAA in wRC+ among all qualified hitters, and he’s easily one of the 5 best defensive OF at that level. He’s going to graduate before he has enough time to really generate prospect momentum to be highly rated. But he is probably one of Houston’s better trade chips heading into the deadline.
On the farm, the organization released Hector Velazquez from the Sugar Land Skeeters. There wasn’t a clear cut reason why the veteran pitcher was cut, while he posted a 1.46 ERA through 24.2 innings this season. The right-hander is on Team Mexico for the Olympic Games, but since he isn’t a 40-man roster player, he wouldn’t have had to be released to play. It’s a weird move honestly, and since we don’t know the terms of his deal, there could be another reason between the lines. He was never added to the roster in 2020 or 2021, even with the pitching staff struggles. It also looks like he has found a new job with the Acereros de Monclova. https://climbingtalshill.com/2021/07/15/astros-3-recent-roster-transactions-know/
Home runs today Sugar Land Bryan de la Cruz (12) Miguelangel Sierra (5) C.J. Hinojosa (4) Corpus Scott Manea (8) Asheville Matthew Barefoot (14) Shay Whitcomb (11) Fayetteville Luke Berryhill (10) DSL Carlos Arcila (1) Luis Encarnación (1) Encarnación signed for $210K on July 2, 2019. He was described as having an unconventional swing but somehow made it work in games. He was supposedly converting to catcher but has seen most of his playing time at 1B. Arcila is a Venezuelan catcher who is currently the second-youngest player on the DSL Astros' roster.
Berryhill has conquered A ball. He needs to be in Asheville which is exciting because he would profile to crush in that park/league. Good pickup by Click in that trade for Cionel Perez.
He's allowed 29 stolen bases this season to only 3 runners thrown out. He's also gotten a lot of time at 1B, where he's played mostly error-free ball. I expect him to get more time at first given the dearth of true first basemen in our system and the abundance of catchers. I have no idea what his framing is like but if you have a weak arm and can't throw out base stealers your future is probably not behind the plate. Still, he's been a pleasant surprise so far and could end up being a great acquisition by Click.
I don’t know about his defense, the notes I have seen indicate it’s at least average. But he’s been playing more 1B than catcher lately due to the presence of Perry and Nerio on the roster.
This is just me, but the first thing I look at is how he sits behind the plate and catches the ball. The second is how he blocks/smothers balls in the dirt and then outside/upside/inside. The third is how he gets up and rifles a ball to any of the bases...guys don't run that much anymore, arm cannon is still great but not all that important. Again, that's just me though.
… I like big bases and I cannot lie You other runners can't deny Edit: I believe the rule for Low A is 2 pick off attempts. 3rd attempt is either an out or a balk.
The sample sizes are far too small to have much value, but there are several guy in the Florida complex that are showing well so far. IF Dauri Lorenzo, IF Cristian Gonzalez, IF Narbe Cruz, and C MIguel Palma are all on pace to be on the radar once assigned to a full season roster next year. Cruz is already 20 so he his complex numbers won't mean much no matter how many pa's he gets or how well he does. But Gonzalez, Lorenzo, and Palma are all teenagers with pedigree, physical upside, and defensive value who have been able to (so far) limit strikeouts. Gonzalez and Palma have also shown good power. Like I said, far too early to draw conclusions, but I liked those 4 guys before the season and so far they are making me pay more attention to them.
