Lol. I'm with y'all. Draft is secondary now. Saying that, I think Kumar Rocker is an interesting prospect.
I expect this draft to be very heavy on major college guys. They don’t have the room for the number HS and juco guys they’ve taken in the past. Id bet at least 32 of their 40 picks come from D1 colleges. Whichever HS guys they do take, it should be a sign that the staff REALLY likes them, since it’ll be going against roster needs.
Why do you say they don’t have “room”? It seems like the 40 man is pretty stacked (with tough decisions looming), and a few high potential lottery tickets wouldn’t be a bad idea.
They signed 6 high schoolers last year, Nathan Perry got the most games played, appearing in 27 of the 54 GCL games (with Perez's injury being the obvious caveat). Unless last year was an outlier, they don't really seem to be too worried about making sure the middle tier HS players they sign get regular playing time. It's also a little dicey trying to figure out who is going to be where in short season, since the players are so high variance. Just guessing, you could probably fill the GCL's IF with Ceuta, Mendoza, Carrasco, and Ramirez, but it wouldn't be a huge surprise to see some of those guys take a step forward and be ready for the NYPL. Though I wouldn't be surprised by another college pitching heavy draft, after going for a prep hitter with the first pick.
I may be a little biased but I’ll take Kody Clemens in the 1st & Chase Shugart in the 2nd all day. Shugart reminds me a lot of McCullers, can run it up to 97 with a filthy slider. Fierce competitor on the mound
There is always talent in the 1st round no matter where you draft. The higher percentage can’t miss types are stacked at the front, but there will be a lot of talent all through the draft. I’m confident Luhnow and company are eyeing a group of guys who are being scrutinized, and should be a valuable addition to the club.
My level of interest in the Major League Baseball rule 4 draft and in minor league baseball is irrational.
Open question ... For player development, is it a good thing to have players training at the complex (assuming that it is a world class facility) and maybe playing 50% of the time (for pitchers missing every other start and for position layers laying every other game)? The players might spend two instead of one year at the complex. I know that the Astros have their preferred hitting and pitching mechanics. Spending a season or two working on that at the complex might lead to better outcomes wrt player development.
I'd like a nice prep OFer. Top position players are going to be a hole after Tucker and Alvarez while it seems like there's significantly more depth and breakout guys on the pitching side. I'd be happy with Connor Scott (FG and MLB.com both have him available at 28), Alek Thomas (FG has Astros taking him; MLB.com has him available), or Casas. Wouldn't be disappointed with a prep pitcher either. Just don't see them drafting a lower ceiling college guy knowing how hard it is to break onto the big league club right now.
I think Astros are headed the direction on leaning more on work at complex for players that need work. So much development time is wasted in buses.
I wonder if they'd pop Shane Mcclanahan if he drops that far. Fangraphs has him dropping all the way to 37, due to his stuff tailing off towards the end of the year, and being an undersized pitcher, but those are a lot of the same reasons Bukauskas fell last year. The Astros don't seem to value LHP as much as most other organizations, but adding a lefty that was once considered a top 5-10 talent would certainly be tempting.
