The Houston Astros are World Series Champions, but they still have plenty of young talent in the system and they'll be counted on to ensure that this run of excellence continues as long as possible, whether they're with the Astros or used as trade chips for established Major League talent. The Minor League season begins on Thursday, April 5, 2018. Three of the Astros' four full-season affiliates will start their seasons on the road. - Fresno opens up their season in Reno. - Corpus Christi will travel to Northwest Arkansas. - Buies Creek travels to Salem. - Quad Cities will host Cedar Rapids. Tri-City will start play on June 18. The Astros are no longer affiliated with Greeneville. In the complex leagues, the Dominican Summer League will begin during the first weekend of June and the Gulf Coast League will probably start on June 27. As always, three questions... my answers are in italics. 1. Breakout pitcher/position player Position player - Freudis Nova Pitcher - Corbin Martin 2. Prospects facing make-or-break years David Paulino - Still has premium stuff, but uspension and injury issues have certainly raised doubts with regards to his future with the organization. Garrett Stubbs - not necessarily make-or-break, but with Jake Rogers gone, he's the top prospect at a position that lacks depth at the upper levels once again. Ramon Laureano - can he rebound from an awful 2017 in Corpus? 3. Players who caught your eye in 2017 that you'll be keeping an eye on in 2018 Ronaldo Urdaneta - Venezuelan IF signed for $65K in 2015, had a nice breakout year (.312/.420/.427, 3 HR, 27 RBI, 27 SB in 57 games) in his second season in the DSL, worked on versatility; played 3B, 2B, SS, and CF last season Chuckie Robinson - After Stubbs, he's probably the second-best catching prospect in full-season ball. Threw out 41% of would-be base stealers last season and got his bat going after Jake Rogers was promoted to Buies Creek. Ramiro Rodriguez - OF from Panama finished 3rd in the DSL with a .968 OPS Josh Rojas - The only 2017 draftee to start in full-season ball and got a 4-game cameo in Fresno to end the season. Is he a legit late-round find or was it all flukish? Deury Carrasco - Dominican SS signed for $480K on July 2, 2016; 32 stolen bases were 2nd-most in the system despite playing entire season in DSL Yoanys Quiala - Cuban rebounded well after a tough 2016; four-pitch mix should keep him in the rotation Kit Scheetz - Undrafted free agent from Virginia Tech dominated three levels after signing; like Rojas, is he legit or a product of dominating mostly younger competition? Kyle Tucker and Forrest Whitley are without a doubt two of the top prospects in baseball. After them, J.B. Bukauskas and Yordan Alvarez should probably slot somewhere in the top 75. After Bukauskas and Alvarez, though, most of the higher-upside guys like Jairo Solis and Gilberto Celestino will be at the lower levels of the system. There are some interesting guys who haven't been highly-touted, like Abraham Toro, who swatted 15 homers in 69 games last season between Tri-City and Quad Cities. My Top 15 This list excludes players who appeared in the majors in 2017. 1. Forrest Whitley 2. Kyle Tucker 3. J.B. Bukauskas 4. Yordan Alvarez 5. Freudis Nova 6. Jairo Solis 7. Gilberto Celestino 8. Jorge Alcala 9. Hector Perez 10. Corbin Martin 11. Jason Martin 12. Rogelio Armenteros 13. Cionel Perez 14. J.J. Matijevic 15. Brett Adcock My next 15, in no particular order Framber Valdez Joe Perez Dean Deetz Cristian Javier Trent Thornton Deury Carrasco Abraham Toro-Hernandez Carmen Benedetti Patrick Sandoval Myles Straw Juan Ramirez Jonathan Arauz Riley Ferrell Ryan Hartman Heitor Tokar
The Express’ pdc with the Rangers runs through next season and it’s widely expected they’ll sign with Houston when it expires.
Haven’t done a reranking in awhile and will post more thoughts and sleeper picks later, but really agree with your picks. Breakout position players: Nova, Toro, Celestino Breakout pitchers: Martin, Solis, Bukauskas Make or break year: Stubbs, M Sierra, A Sierra, Bostick, F Valdez
On breakout, Alvarez and Celestino. On make or break, almost all the guys that made majors last year and ones tellit listed. Moran, White, and Davis all look like guys that possibly could stick as a 2nd division starter, but are going to have tough time getting PAs in Houston. Moran being the most interesting as bat to ball guys that get ball in the air sometimes are better in the majors. Armenteros is the out of Top 10 guy that caught my eye. Looks like a guy that can help in emergency situations this year. Whitley is the Top 10 guy that just wowed me last year.
Riley Ferrell is a very interesting one. Getting further away from the the injury, down the stretch last season he finally started dominating like the prospect we thought we drafted. Seems like he could be a bullpen option fairly early in the season if he picks up where he left off.
I am interested in seeing what Joe Perez will do in 2018. The disparity in how much more the Astros valued him in last year's draft above where he was projected has me very curious to find out who was right. My money is on the Astros.
https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/eri...-chat-open-the-pod-bay-doors-please-trackman/ Who would you pick as the NL and AL Rookie of the years next year? Eric A Longenhagen: I’ll say Robles aaaaaandd Forrest Whitley
Really want to see Dean Deetz turn the corner. Fastball at 95-97 in the pen with a super wicked slider. Check it out on youtube, it's insane. Needs to make the fulltime transition to the pen and hopefully get his command in line. Could be a mid season callup if some gets hurt and he stays consistent Hopefully Ronnie Dawson puts it together this year as well. Slow starter with raw tools and a decent contact rate. I think he may be a guy to watch if he gets off to a good start.
Here's how some of the Astros in the fall and winter leagues have been faring so far: Dean Deetz in the AFL: 0-1, 4.91 ERA, 8 relief appearances, 11 IP, 9 H (2 HR allowed), 7 R (6 ER), 4 BB, 23 K, 1.18 WHIP, .214 opponent average Elieser Hernandez (Venezuela): 2-1, 2.11 ERA, 5 starts, 21.1 IP, 12 H, 7 R (5 ER), 6 BB, 22 K, 0.84 WHIP, .162 opponent average Akeem Bostick (Mexico): no record, 2.78 ERA, 6 starts, 22.2 IP, 18 H (2 HR allowed), 8 R (7 ER), 7 BB, 25 K, 1.10 WHIP, .214 opponent average Kyle Tucker (AFL): 21 games, .213/.308/.300, 9 RBI, 14 R, 9 BB, 22 K, 2 SB Alfredo Angarita (Venezuela): 20 games, .329/.420/.371, 7 RBI, 13 R, 11 BB, 17 K, 4 SB (3 CS) Angarita, a 20-year-old who signed during the 2015-16 offseason, slashed .257/.359/.327 with 12 RBI in 41 games between the DSL and GCL in 2017. He's certainly holding his own against decent competition.
Fangraphs has Kevin Comer listed as one of the best minor league free agent pitchers available. I was mildly surprised he wasn’t traded this year to a rebuilding team wanting to put him on their 40 man and give him a shot in their bullpen. I think he will get a shot with another team.
http://www.chron.com/sports/astros/...cision-to-make-on-prospect-Ramon-12360930.php Short version: Cionel Perez to 40-man Laureano, tough call Deetz, Kemmer also subject to Rule V if not on 40 man. The V instead of the 5 is just there to get the blood flowing in the OCD people here.
Would expect a consolidation trade of some sort to open up some spots on the 40 (Fiers, Stassi, Kemp, P. Tucker, etc. all viable possibilities).
Interesting they didn’t mention Martin or McCurry, although both of those guys have blemishes that make them much lower risk to be drafted than Cionel Perez and Deetz. Kemmer is extremely unlikely to ever get a shot with Houston so it’d be fine with me if he was drafted.
Smart choice for him. Tigers will look almost like the Astros circa 2012(maybe not as bad given Cabrera and Fulmer). He should get an opportunity on that kind of club.
Here is my preseason Top 30 and system comments. Grading is my own using the 40-80 mlb.com scale. There are several players on the major league roster who have still not reached their prime but are no longer considered prospects; my grades for them: Correa 75 Bregman 70 McCullers 65 Fisher 55 Martes 55 Musgrove 55 Feliz 50 Reed 50 Top 30: 1. OF Kyle Tucker 65 2. SP Forrest Whitley 65 3. SP J.B. Bukauskas 55 4. OF/1B Yordan Alvarez 55 5. 3B Colin Moran 55 6. SP David Paulino 55 7. SS Freudis Nova 50 8. 3B JD Davis 50 9. 3B Joe Perez 50 10. SP Cionel Perez 50 11. OF Gilberto Celestino 50 12. SP Corbin Martin 50 13. SP Hector Perez 50 14. SP Dean Deetz 50 15. SP Rogelio Armenteros 50 16. 2B JJ Matijevic 50 17. OF Jason Martin 50 18. SP Jairo Solis 50 19. C/3B Abraham Toro-Hernandez 45 20. C Garrett Stubbs 45 21. SS Miguelangel Sierra 45 22. OF Ramon Laureano 45 23. SS Yorbin Cueta 45 24. SP Yoanys Quiala 45 25. SS Jonathan Arauz 45 26. SP Cristian Javier 45 27. SP Jorge Alcala 45 28. RP Riley Ferrell 45 29. OF Myles Straw 45 30. OF Ronnie Dawson 45 Other grade 45: IF: Nathan Perry, Deury Carrasco, Chuckie Robinson, Josh Rojas, Mike Papierski, Enmanuel Valdez OF: Drew Ferguson, Jon Kemmer, Carmen Benedetti, Stephen Wrenn, Carlos Machado, Juan Ramirez, Ramiro Rodriguez SP: Framber Valdez, Akeem Bostick, Brandon Bielek, Elian Rodriguez, Angel Macuare, Elieser Hernandez, Brett Adcock, Patrick Sandoval, Trent Thornton, Josh James, Tyler Ivey, Peter Solomon, Kyle Serrano, Kit Scheetz, Carson LaRue, Chad Donato, Gabriel Valdez, Javier Navas RP: Reymin Guduan, Jandel Gustave, Brendan McCurry Still an above average system and the early returns from the 2017 draft are strong. Pitching depth is 2nd to none. Very good outfield in both top end talent and depth. The middle infield and catcher positions are very weak in the upper minors. This front offices ability to develop prospects makes it extremely difficult to pick sleepers. Looking at the projected minor league full season rosters for next year there really isn’t any position where they don’t have a prospect that has major league potential. If I had to choose 1 sleeper (guy not in most org Top 10s) for each position it would be: C: Toro 1B: Jake Adams 2B: Matijevic SS: Nova 3B: J Perez OF: Wrenn, Celestino, Dawson SP: E Hernandez, Bielek, P Sandoval, C Martin, J Solis RP: McCurry, Jesus Balaguer, R Ferrell I don’t want to see Houston trade any more prospects away except for maybe from their AAA depth, but overall this system is still deep, if not as top heavy as it was 2 years ago.