I know it's a pipe dream but Jordan Lyles would look sweet in a Stros uniform by July. Edit - Lyles has thrown 7 innings of 2 run and 6 hit baseball today.
I'm not sure it's worth the risk. He's only 19-years-old. Let him develop his arm and secondary pitches at Corpus this year and next and maybe call him up late next season. He's our top pitching prospect and this team is headed for a long rebuilding process. There is no reason to put him under the mental and physical stress at this level at this point. We aren't the Dodgers or Giants where we are in contention and you can justify the move. Basically, there is absolutlely no good reason not to let him develop arm strength and his pitching arsenal at AA for another year or two. He won't lose anything as far as development by not coming up to the majors as a 19 or 20-year-old. The only people that would benefit from that kind of move are impatient Astros fans.
The Orioles are now 1.5 games back of the Astros after completing a sweep of the Red Sox. They've already had to play the Yankees, Rays and Red Sox 15 times with another series against the Yankees up next. Sure, the Red Sox got off to a slow start but they are obviously a loaded team, dangerous on any given day. They're 11-13 and were turning it around before this series. Surprisingly, 6 of the Orioles 7 wins came against those teams. They are 1-9 against all other teams.
I think the Orioles will rebound to finish with low to mid-70s wins. I think the main competition for the 1st pick next year will come from the Pirates, Royals and Nationals.
Overall agree but If the Stros use a cautious approach to Lyles I don't see the harm of letting Lyles throw to Major League hitters. Saying that, he should be at AAA by years end, just because your rebuilding doesn't me we just leave him in AA to work on his stuff for two years. Whenever he reaches a level that he has trouble with then let him work things out but otherwise upward mobility please.
Every time I see something like this about a 19 year old kid, I think of David Clyde. You can do a lot of damage to a kid by bringing him up too soon.
Gustavo Chacin or Josh Banks. So far RR has had a very decent rotation, unfortunately they all are AAA/AAAA type guys. Wright and Trinidad are the only guys in the rotation not over 25. I'm really hoping 2 of the following become something: Seaton/Bushue/Dydalewicz/Greenwalt
VERY different situation, Rangers used and abused the kid at the owners request. Lyles would only come up to get a touch of seasoning before probably starting the season at AAA next season. He would be used and watched carefully unlike say Dusty Baker who I worry is going to destroy Leake like he did Prior and even Wood.
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO. If we really have a star in the making with Lyles, WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU START HIS FREE AGENT CLOCK JUST FOR SEASONING? Players the likes of Lyles need to be nurtured in the minors until they are completely competant of handling major league hitters. If we bring him up now or any time in the near future, we lose an option after we send him down. I see Lyles making the major league team out of spring training in 2013. I think we will surely get a dip with the 'Stros in the latter part of 2012. This guy is barely at AA and he just started. He needs this year all in AA then the next 1 to 1 1/2 years in AAA to really pound the idea home that he's major league ready. This is only if he has no bumps in the road along the way of course. I love this Lyles kid, but we don't want him being out of options in his early twenties, being eligible for free agency in his mid to upper twenties. Just not a baseball savvy move economically. We need to keep a good chunk of our guys at the minor league level then have them all make the splash together. Not exactly at the same time, but in the certain designated window of time. I'm not trying to put you down, just explaining why we want Lyles to be ready for the show. Even if he is ready to make a contribution to the team, we should hold him back for seasoning and contractual issues.
Chacin is who I would take. He has history with Brad Arnsberg and if I recall correctly had a really solid year in his rookie year with Arnsberg as Toronto's pitching coach. Agreed on the prospects. You should add Dallas Keuchel to that list. He could conceivably be the first of those five to make it to Houston. He's a college guy who played at Arkansas. Southpaw.
The guy is succeeding at AA right now. Unless something goes horribly wrong there is no reason the guy will take 3 more years to be called up. No reason rush him, but holding him back can cause as much damage as rushing him. I would guess his eta right now is early '11.
Ultimately I think you right they won't bring him up because of the this but it bothers me when teams do so just because of FA. Look at the Braves, they decided to start the season with Heyward instead of waiting till June or Leake with the Reds. It annoys me when teams use economics as an excuse to call up guys that will help the team. I think we will see him at the big league camp next season during ST but don't expect him to contribute till late in 2011 or 2012 opening day.
If by succeeding, you mean pitching effectively for NOT EVEN thirty innings, then yes by all accounts he succeeding. If you really think that Jordan Lyles will be in Houston (pitching for the Astros) next year early in the season, you are kidding yourself. There are things called pitch counts that coaches use on guys who are more than likely paying dividends at the major league level in the future. Bud Norris did it last year. Out of high school, its very rare to see guys make the call like Clayton Kershaw at 20. Everyone seems to forget that Lyles is barely starting AA. You don't move him up based on a sample size of success at any level, especially when they are out of high school.
Agreed, but its dumb to just call someone up early when you aren't completely sure they are ready to handle 32 starts a year at a consistent rate, all while costing your team possible millions at the same time. We want Jordans best 6 years possible not a two year trial period then success. With all of the overpaid players in baseball, most teams are very weary of moving guys up too fast. Its about getting the best value under team control of players.
I doubt they are going to do this, but I was thinking just move Norris to the bullpen for a while and let Moehler get a few starts
Great points, AB. I forgot to even touch on contractual issues. That is always a major factor when dealing with top prospects in addition to the development of their tools. When your big club is a non-contender for the forseeable future, there is even less reason to consider starting a prospect's clock to FA.
The whole point of the sink or swim philosophy is to let them sink or swim. The only goal of this season should be to see what these players have, and to determine if they have a potential future with the Astros. Moehler doesn't; Norris might. Let him start - and let him get shelled over and over if need be. At least then he either has a chance to "get it" or the team can conclusively decide you need to move on. Moving Norris to the bullpen does nothing to further his development.
no one is advocating moving him up to AAA or the big leagues right now, but holding back in the minor for YEARS if he's ready to be called up is ludricous. You cite Norris as an example for what you advocate. Norris went from AA to the big leagues in about a year and a half and 200 innings. Oswalt went from AA to the mlb in about a year or 150 innings. Other successful high school pitchers? Hamels: less than a year or 60 innings. Grienke: about a year or 190 innings. Kazmir: about half a year or 50 innings. Matt Cain: about a year and a half or 220 innings. Brett Anderson: about a quarter of a year or 30 innings. etc, etc, etc. Unless a prospect is injured or failing (and no would be advocating bring him up in those circumstance) there is no reason to hold him back for years. Wait to May or June of the year he's ready in order to delay arbitration and free agency? Sure. Wait two years when he's ready? I can't imagine that would be good for the team or the player.
I wonder though if they might conclude that Norris is struggling so much that he needs to get back to AAA to work on some things. I'm not saying that I disagree with you, Major, but I actually have a feeling that things can still get considerably worse for Norris to the point that they won't even be able to send him out there. Even in our situation, where making the postseason is irrelevant, it may be best for Norris to work on things at RR. That, or go your route and then give up entirely on his future as a starter and commit to developing him as a reliever, which I think is his only chance in the end anyway.
When is Konerko gonna come down to Earth? 12 HRs in 24 games with a .790 SLG%. The WSox offense is struggling even with Konerko. Guillen got tossed today.
