I don't really see McCullers getting rushed up that fast unless we bring him up as a closer. Thinking more 2016.
2015 for McCullers & Hader is probably a little early..& where do Wojo & Obi go? I have high hopes for Obi & Cosart, still pretty skeptical about Lyles, Peacock & Keuchel..too early to say how any of their futures will play out though.
I'd imagine there will be a veteran arm a la Bedard/Humber that will be brought in in the offseason. Considering they are in a 6 man rotation with 40 games left and he isn't even up here yet, I'd put Wojo as a longshot to be in the starting rotation when the season opens (as of this second). That can change if Keuchel or Bedard get moved out of the rotation for one reason or another in the immediate future, and Wojo gets a good 6 or 7 starts before the season ends.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>The Astros are building a winning culture and mindset in the minor leagues. We'll have a long feature on that commitment in Sunday's paper.</p>— Jose de Jesus Ortiz (@OrtizKicks) <a href="https://twitter.com/OrtizKicks/statuses/368560983297363969">August 17, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>As we reported last week, Jeff Luhnow wants to keep his core groups of players with their respective farm teams through the playoffs.</p>— Jose de Jesus Ortiz (@OrtizKicks) <a href="https://twitter.com/OrtizKicks/statuses/368561422705246208">August 17, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
That's all well and good... until they realize that it won't matter till they build a winning culture and mindset at the major league level. I don't care how good the system is... but having 3 straight losing season at a whole nother level of "suckiness" is doing far more to damage the "mindset/culture" around here. Also, I guess Villar and Cosart weren't privelged enough to be considered as part of the "core" group of "winners" in the minors. Maybe they were holding the Redhawks back. Houston -- where winning in the minors gets big-time features in the only local newpaper.
Unless George Springer is a relief pitcher as well, I don't think calling him up is somehow going to make people forget the fact that our MLB team is awful right now. Calling him up in 2013 is not going to completely change a culture and waiting until next year won't cement that culture either. I also don't think one should discount bringing up players who have been a part of the winning culture in the minor leagues. I'd recognize that even while the Astros are going to have their third straight #1 pick, it's a completely different organization than it was 2-3 years ago.
I agree that he wouldn't make this team that much better. I'm just on the side that when a player is not being challenged at the minor league level, and is performing at an ultra high level, you move them up. The rest of the stuff about "winning culture" etc is all mostly fluff to me. Also, the minors better be fully stocked after 3 straight historically bad seasons... The fans have certainly paid the price at the MLB level to endure this sort of losing.
While it's frustrating that Springer hasn't been called up yet, and won't be this season, I'm not too concerned. It's ultimately not going to make that much of a difference, although it would be exciting to see him play. Now, if he doesn't make the team out of ST, I think there's some cause for concern...
Based on Luhnows most recent comment, that is the concern... That they will keep him down for either one month to get another year of free agency, or for 3 months to get out of quicker arbitration.
I'm the same way. I would be outraged if he's not starting at the beginning of next season. I'm fine with continuing to tank the rest of this year.
Well get ready. If he's not here this year, there's no reason not to wait at least an additional month to get another year out of him.
Luhnow has said he expects that Springer will be the starting CF out of the gate next April. Are you guys expecting that he is just lying nefariously?
That is nonsense. Luhnow has been moving key minor league players all season up the ladder. See Vincent Velasquez who recently got the boot up to A+, significantly reducing the A- team's chances to ... go ... all ... the ... way.
Springer has 164 ABs so far in 47 AAA games. You have been calling for his promotion since way before his 100th AAA AB. Suppose Springer breaks camp with the Astros as their starting CF in 2014, he would have spent his 2013 season splitting time in AA and AAA. Springer is clearly on the fast track to the MLB, albeit not fast enough for you.
Nope. I think he's wasting his time against inferior competition at AAA. I don't see any benefit to him continuing to mash at that level. He's about to be 24. He's not 19. He was a first round pick who was paid millions in a signing bonus. I want to see what he can do at the MLB level sooner rather than later.
“I see him as a guy who’s going to come to Spring Training next year competing for our every day center fielder job, and I see him as a big part of our team next year. That’s really the message I want our fans to focus on, not worry too much about the date he comes up. There’s a lot of factors that go into it, and we’ll make the best decision for the organization.” The above is his latest quote. That could easily mean that they have plans to hold him back another month for FA reasons (or longer for super 2 reasons). He's never flat out said that Springer is likely to be on the opening day roster next year... and if that's the case, wouldn't. You rather have him get his first taste/struggle/adjustment period out of the way now rather than next year? In fact, they might as well keep him out the first month at this point. "Don't worry too much about the date he comes up."
Well of course they aren't going to say that. If he comes into the spring and bats 0.100, he's not going to be the opening day CF. He's not going to automatically win a job 8 months before the season. Sure, they might also send him back to AA next year. Nothing they've said anywhere indicates either of these. I think that's in reference to fans complaining right now.
