I actually almost forgot to get this up... Minor League Opening Day 2025 is set for March 28 as the Sugar Land Space Cowboys will kick off the season at home against the Oklahoma City Comets. After a year of playing as the Baseball Club, OKC now has a new team name and all the accouterments that come with a new identity. The Space Cowboys will also play two interleague series with two International League teams this season. This is a new quirk in the schedule that's exclusive to AAA. Both series will be on the road: they take on the Durham Bulls (Rays) from April 1-6 and the Iowa Cubs from August 19-24. Everyone else starts April 4. Corpus and Asheville will be on the road in Frisco and Greensboro, while Fayetteville hosts Lynchburg. My Top 10 Prospects, 2024 Offseason 1. Brice Matthews 2. Jacob Melton 3. Walker Janek 4. A.J. Blubaugh 5. Luis Baez 6. Miguel Ullola 7. Ryan Forcucci 8. Zach Cole 9. Ethan Pecko 10. Anderson Brito Other Prospects of Note Alonzo Tredwell Jose Fleury (probably #11 prospect for me) Nehomar Ochoa Joey Mancini James Hicks Jackson Nezuh Ryan Gusto Chase Jaworsky Kenni Gomez Jeron Williams Yeriel Santos Edinson Batista Luis Encarnacion Yamal Encarnacion Pascanel Ferreras Quincy Hamilton Caden Powell Esmil Valencia Waner Luciano 1. Breakout position player Chase Jaworsky - Jaworsky held his own as a teen in full-season ball... he really had to because there aren't any short-season leagues for him to go down to for a rebound if he didn't. Now, he did end the season on the 60-day IL, so he will likely be held back to start 2025. The Astros have a kid who can handle the infield and can do a solid job at every spot... is there more to Jaworsky's game that hasn't been unlocked yet? Breakout pitcher is probably a wasted exercise because at least 4-5 of them will put themselves on the radar throughout a season. I expect Raimy Rodriguez to rebound after a rough US debut in 2024. 2. Make-or-break John Garcia - probably harsh considering the year he had offensively, but the Asheville Effect does apply to his numbers. However, his home/road splits weren't overly dramatic and he hit well on the road. But, he's 24, isn't that great at his primary position (catcher), so he'll have to keep hitting. Alex Santos and Tyler Whitaker - It's a little hard to believe, but Santos is in the same age bracket as most of the mid-round college arms the Astros have picked after him. He has regained a bit of the prospect shine that wore off with a nice showing in the Arizona Fall League, but he must replicate that in the real season. Whitaker may already be broken, tbh.
Days are long and the years are short. My Top 30 for the offseason: OF Jacob Melton 50+ IF Brice Matthews 1B Zach Dezenzo C Walker Janek 50 P AJ Blubaugh OF Luis Baez 45+ P Miguel Ullola P Ryan Forcucci P Anderson Brito P Alonzo Tredwell OF Zach Cole P Ethan Pecko P Colton Gordon 45 P Ryan Gusto OF Pedro Leon P Jose Fleury IF Jeron Williams IF Chase Jaworsky OF Kenni Gomez P James Hicks OF Nehomar Ochoa Jr OF Kenedy Corona P Trey Dombroski C Jancel Villarroel P Alex Santos II P Forrest Whitley P Andrew Taylor 40+ IF Pascanel Ferreras IF Tommy Sacco Jr P Alimber Santa Honorable mention: C: Collin Price, Luis Encarnacion, Miguel Palma, John Garcia, Will Bush IF: German Ramirez, Camilo Diaz, Caden Powell, Alberto Hernandez, Waner Luciano, Austin Deming, Sandro Pereira OF: Quincy Hamilton, Yamal Encarnacion, Joey Sullivan, Esmil Valencia, Anthony Huezo, Luis Rives, Colin Barber, Tyler Whitaker, Logan Cerny, Eduardo Perez, Evan Walker, Bryce Boettcher P: All of them Sleeper position player: Jaworsky is a great choice, but I will go with Jeron Williams. He was called out by the guy running the Astros 2023 draft as a sleeper. He posted 8 HR and 26 SB in half a season’s worth of games, playing across SS, 2B, and 3B. He has the size for power and could breakout if he’s healthy. It would not shock me if he hits 20 HR and steals 40 bases next season while seeing the majority of his time at SS. Sleeper pitcher: There’s like 30 guys you could pick here, but I’m going to go with Trey Dombroski. He’s a huge lefty who dominated Asheville in July then had a tough time adjusting to AA. I think he might’ve been wearing down a bit and am anxious to see him start fresh in Corpus this spring. Make or break: C: John Garcia IF: Alberto Hernandez, Waner Luciano, Ryan Johnson, Cristian Gonzalez OF: Tyler Whitaker, Colin Barber, Kenedy Corona, Zach Daniels, Logan Cerny, Cam Fisher P: Aaron Brown, Misael Tamarez, Jairo Solis, Jayden Murray, Andrew Taylor, Jaime Melendez I think the farm is in significantly better shape than it was this time last year. They will add at least one really good prospect on 1/15. I hope they don’t sign a QO free agent as they really need a full slate of draft picks. They have excellent OF and pitching depth, and really good top end talent in the OF. Their catching crop is average. They have a glaring lack of top tier infield prospects. They have an above average number of prospects capable of 20/20 seasons. Their best position player prospects carry a lot of strikeout risk. This system is 3-4 really good prospects away from being well above average.
Going into 2025, here are some guys who had really strong finishes to 2024 that might be worth keeping an eye on if they start strong next season: P AJ Blubaugh, AAA: 19.1ip, 28k, 6bb in Sep P Miguel Ullola, AAA: 25k in 16ip in Sep P Ethan Pecko, AA: 22ip, 26k, 8bb from Aug-Sep P Alex Santos II, AA: led AFL in K’s P Nic Swanson, AA: 30.2ip, 40k, 13bb from Aug-Sep P Alejandro Torres, AA: 13ip, 20k, 4bb, 0er from Aug-Sep P Jackson Nezuh, High A: 29.1ip, 31k, 12bb Aug-Sep C Will Bush, A: 4 HR in 24G, .809 Aug ops, 1133 Sep ops P Alonzo Tredwell: 32k in 27 ip in Jun-Jul before injury
Year in and year out the Astros have been promoting guys that produce huge dividends at the major league level. I never would have fathomed that Blanco would have been as good as he was last season. So I am watching if the Astros have another card up their sleeve in their farm system. There is some really good players on the team, so they just need quality guys to plug into the holes. I really hope that Dezenso can be the answer at 1st base. Still happy the Astros have Singleton there, but he’s a part time player there only.
I like the idea of Dezenzo playing 50-75% of starts at 1b with the Astros identifying particularly bad matchups for him and sitting him in favor of Singleton (or whoever) on those days. If he can adjust to MLB with a solid year over 450 PAs that will help immensely in 2026 when Tucker is gone. I would like to see Whitcomb to something similar, but that would need to be in LF, require a good lefty hitting b-u/25% starter AND a big upgrade in CF.
I don't mind Dezenzo / Singleton at 1B (the cheapest option) of that means they spend on Bregman at 3B and get a solid outfield upgrade in LF or CF. We can only carry so many mediocre bats in the lineup.
A 6-7-8-9 of Diaz-McCormick-Pena-Dezenzo is absolutely fine if they have a 4-5 of Bregman and another great hitter in LF.
If you add a hitter better than Yainer, which would be presumed in moving him down to 6th, I think that lineup is very solid. I think there are only ~4 or 5 free agents who qualify. We'll see. I do think Dezenzo has a good chance to stick if given the chance.
I am at the point where I would be mildly surprised if Dezenzo is not at least an average major league first baseman if given the chance. Someone like Ryan Mountcastle let's say. That's more than can be said for anyone else on the roster.
If they decide to do this, then I'm on board. I also would give Baez a first baseman's glove in spring training.
If you’re gonna give McCormick 200 pa to see if he is back, then odds are decent that one of the other upper level young OF (Trammell, Meyers, Melton, Corona, Leon, Hamilton, Whitcomb, Cole, Baez, Barber, Cerny, Daniels) will be ready for a shot.
I'd love to add two good OF, but that seems like a lot to ask. I think if Chas does bounce back, he's a free upgrade. He's the higher ceiling guy. If he doesn't, Jake provides a known commodity in center - a serviceable stopgap.
If they dont bring Bregs back they will have the money to add say Robert in CF and Conforto in LF, as well as Lowe at 1B. These 3 guys should add up to around 50 mil in salary. The Stros have the money to do this. I love Chas, Meyers not so much, but there can be no sacred cows this off-season. I just wish Luhnow was making these calls instead of Crane/Dana, because they cant miss on their additions to the team this year. Sometimes doing the right things when it comes to business and players in this case, some cold decisions need to be made. This is what Luhnow was great at and a reason why many here dont like him.
Astros signed 1B Luis Castro to a minor league deal. Hasn’t been in affiliated ball since 2021. Peak was in 2019 when he had 27 HR and 15 SB across High A and AA. Seems like Chris Gittens’ replacement. https://www.fangraphs.com/players/luis-castro/sa736954/stats?position=1B
What happened with Santa this year He was a guy I really thought could break out, then he missed much of the year and there was little to no news about him
Only shows up in December. Lack of conditioning. Not a team player (prefers to work alone). Hard pass.
