You mean 3 or 4 steps back, right? Long term, agreed. I have to think that the brass will stick to their long term strategy (a healthy and ongoing strong farm system). We had to move some prospects to keep good ones from being scooped up in rule 5 and basically loosing them for nothing. But there is a line in the sand where moving too many prospects weakens the farm. I suspect we are near that line now and will be more cautious moving forward in respect to Giles type deals.
It's a step back, and honestly, not a terribly surprising one given that the team seemingly acted like a fan and overreacted to the final month of the season, failing to address what were actually much larger issues with this team, issues that still linger. They'll be fine.
Agree the long term outlook is great Is it even a tiny bit concerning that of the 3 "core" young stars everyone mentions, one was acquired by Purpura, one by Wade and one by Luhnow?
Not really. The Astros have done exceptionally well building their minor league system since Luhnow took over. Also the other likely building pieces (McCullers / Bregman / Martes) all came from Luhnow. Honestly, if Bregman can play third, then the Astros will solve another long term issue.
No one wants to hear it (me included) but the Astros have a lot of the pieces in the minor leagues, that they lack at the big league level. They have a first baseman (Reed), a probable DH (White), they have a third baseman (Bregman/Moran). The rotation needs high upside arms and there are those as well (Martes/Musgrove/Abreu and McCullers). Even elite bullpen arms are going to be ready soon. We are thin at catcher, but that can be addressed easily enough. We will be thin in the outfield next season with Rasmus and Gomez gone. However if we are getting offense at 3rd base and 1st base/DH; it is quite possible Marisnick fills one of the outfield spots with Springer in right field. That leaves a single spot in the outfield.
Wouldn't be surprised at all if Rasmus was brought back again. Either way, the OF FA crop is pretty deep next season with 2nd tier players Houston might be able to actually sign.
Only bring it up because a lot of people, not all but a lot, seem to feel that Luhnow has brought a lot of young studs into the organization. We have a lot of young prospects, but the core young studs weren't only 1/3 his doings
No doubt our farm is strong as just about any. Not sure how many people realize the success rates of prospects is typically not great though. We will get help, but just saying Reed to 1B Moran to 3B Breg to LF Musgrove and Martes to the rotation and the world is great again... Isn't how it typically works
Has he not? Pretty sure one of them won AL ROY last year and another one's continued absence is a reason the Astros are off to such a terrible start.
Keuchel could have been left for dead based on his early production with the previous regime... Luhnow (for whatever reason) decided to hang onto him. Even if it was blind luck, he gets credit for hanging on to Keuchel (especially if we are quick to give him blame for getting rid of potential future aces in trades, before they've fully developed). Still way too early to judge Luhnow's drafts one way or the other. There's also value in quantity of quality players... vs. the occasional great player. His one signature star (Correa), along with front-line pitcher (LMJ) may outshine all the rest of them... and the players yet to come (Reed, Bregman, Daz, Tucker, Musgrove) may all combine to be key figures that outweigh what was ultimately derived from the Pupurra + Wade tenures. I agree that sometimes Luhnow gets a tad more credit for building up the minor leagues... when there's still a lot of work to be done at the MLB level (something that Wade actually proved he could do moreso than Luhnow has done thus far).... but much like his drafts, still too early to judge.
I agree it's way too early to judge Guess I'm just a little more worried than some that all of these prospects aren't going to be the whole answer I'm certainly ready to see a couple of them though
Stros' farm system is more middle of the pack now after all the recent call ups. McCullers and White should no longer be mentioned in the group.
