The new IFA signing period opens January 15. Houston will have $5,440,000 to spend during this IFA period; they, along with the Yankees, Mets, and Giants, will have the smallest bonus pool. These four teams lost $1 million from their pools because they exceeded the Competitive Balance Tax threshold and signed a free agent who rejected a qualifying offer. In the Astros' case, that player was Christian Walker (who has turned out to be a disaster on multiple fronts for amateur player acquisition, as well as on the field). They also sent $250,000 to the Cubs for Nico Zeglin. In this Baseball America (paywalled) piece projecting who should get the biggest bonuses for this year's IFA class, the Astros are currently linked to two Dominican infielders, #13 Albert Fermin and #19 Randy Arias. This article currently has 30 players, but will eventually expand to 100 players. When this piece was first published in August, Fermin was listed at 6-3, 190. A switch-hitter, Fermin is noted for having a refined approach at the plate. Fermin already hits the ball hard, but his ability to recognize breaking balls and to time up live pitching, combined with his present physicality, should allow him to get to his power more often in games. It's unclear which side he hits better from; that was not mentioned. Fermin will probably start his career at shortstop, but he is probably a 3B long-term. His arm is playable at either spot. Arias was listed at 5-11, 155 at the time this article came out. Between these two, Arias looks like he'll have a better chance of sticking at SS. His glove at shortstop is the first thing that pops out. Arias is noted as having sound defensive skills, good footwork in the field, and an above-average arm that should get better as he adds strength. Offensively, Arias is described as having good bat-to-ball skills with gap power, but again, the blurb mentions that he'll need to get stronger.
I watched all the clips I could find on both those guys and didn’t see anything all that impressive. The clips on Arias were when he was 14 so those come with a huge grain of salt. But the last international infielder I was excited about was Freudis Nova and he didn’t pan out.
Only one other player linked to the Astros was mentioned in the expanded Baseball America piece, which is now at 100 players... Dominican OF Imanol Feliz came in at 69 (nice) on the final list. Feliz was initially an under-the-radar kid but a change in offensive approach put him on the Astros' radar. He's a left-handed hitting CF with plus speed and a good chance to stick there. The change in approach resulted in harder contact and better plate coverage with his swing. Feliz could be a 20-HR player once he fills out.
Astros should have a pretty strict international scouting profile: 2B from Venezuela (max height 5’7”) C, SS/3B, and P from the Dominican (max bonus $10k) OF/1B/DH from Cuba (only lefthanders over 6’4”)
