Minors : : General
Houston Astros Top Prospects
Published: Monday, December 03, 2012
Perfect Game Minor League Page | Perfect Game player profiles linked in bold
| RK |
NAME |
POS |
2012 FINISH |
2013 PROJ. START |
MLB ETA |
| 1 |
Carlos Correa |
SS |
SS Greeneville |
A Quad Cities
|
2016 |
| 2 |
Jonathan Singleton |
1B |
AA Corpus Christi |
AAA Oklahoma City |
2013 |
| 3 |
George Springer |
OF |
AA Corpus Christi |
AA Corpus Christi |
2014 |
| 4 |
Delino DeShields, Jr. |
2B |
A+ Lancaster |
A+ Lancaster |
2015 |
| 5 |
Jarred Cosart |
RHP |
AAA Oklahoma City |
AAA Oklahoma City |
2013 |
| 6 |
Jonathan Villar |
SS |
AA Corpus Christi |
AAA Oklahoma City |
2013 |
| 7 |
Domingo Santana |
OF |
A+ Lancaster |
AA Corpus Christi |
2014 |
| 8 |
Lance McCullers |
RHP |
SS Greeneville |
A Quad Cities |
2016 |
| 9 |
Nick Tropeano |
RHP |
A+ Lancaster |
AA Corpus Christi |
2014 |
| 10 |
Mike Foltynewicz |
RHP |
A Lexington |
A+ Lancaster |
2015 |
Others considered: Teoscar Hernandez, Adrian Houser, Paul Oberholtzer, Rob Rasmussen, Rio Ruiz, Vince Valasquez.
Synopsis
It
could be reasonably argued that no team in recent baseball history
has undergone as much turmoil and change as the Houston Astros over
the past two years. The franchise was sold to Houston businessman
Jim Crane, the roster completely gutted, the front office, scouting
and player development departments reorganized, and to top it all
off, the 1962 National League expansion franchise was moved to the
American League.
It
should probably be mentioned that the team lost 106 and 107 games the
last two seasons as well, often fielding a lineup in 2012 that
looked straight out of AAA.
You
would probably have to go back to the purges of the Connie Mack led
Philadelphia A’s in 1915 and again in the early 1930’s to find a
similar wholesale jettisoning of talent that has taken place in
Houston over the past two seasons. Virtually every Major League
player with value has been traded for prospects.
What
makes the Astros approach under Crane, former General Manager Ed Wade and current
GM Jeff Luhnow so unique is how brazen the rebuilding has been.
Organizations will say they are rebuilding but will still sign some
veteran second tier free agents and give the illusion of trying to
compete. There were no such illusions in Houston the past two
seasons.
The
danger of that dramatic an approach, of course, is completely
alienating one’s fan base. It remains to be seen how the Astros
fans, never among the most rabid in Major League Baseball, will react
in the long term.
The
good news is that the trades of veterans such as Hunter Pence,
Michael Bourn, Wandy Rodriguez, Mark Melancon, Carlos Lee and Roy
Oswalt, along with a series of solid drafts, have brought in a
tremendous amount of young talent to an organization that was
virtually void of prospects previously. The Astros certainly rank
among the top 10 organizations in baseball for minor league talent
and perhaps even in the top five.
2012 Draft
The
spotlight was on the Astros in 2012. The team held the first pick in
initial draft held under the new draft rules that created a bonus
pool based on suggested values for each pick in the first 10 rounds.
How Houston handled the first pick and its $7.2 million bonus pool value
could set a precedent for other teams both for the 2012 draft and
future drafts.
By
virtually all accounts, the Astros handled the mixed blessing of
having the top pick perfectly. They signed high ceiling Puerto Rican
shortstop Carlos Correa for a well under slot $4.8 million bonus and then
used the savings in the bonus pool to go way over slot to sign
compensation pick right-handed pitcher Lance McCullers ($2.5 million) and fourth round pick third baseman Rio Ruiz ($1.8 million). As both McCullers and Ruiz, high school
prospects and former Perfect Game All-Americans like Correa, were considered potential first round talents,
the Astros essentially picked up three first rounders for the price
of one, something that is strongly consistent with their overall plan
for restocking the organization’s talent base.
The
rest of the Astros draft list tended strongly to the conservative
college approach, with an emphasis on major college position players
with a strong performance history. Second round pick shortstop Nolan
Fontana (Florida) and third round selection right-handed pitcher Brady Rodgers
(Arizona State) are both relatively low ceiling talents who have a
very high chance potential to play in the Major Leagues; both also
enjoyed strong professional debuts. Rodgers teammate at Arizona
State, fifth round outfielder Andrew Aplin, also had a tremendous debut and
spent the last month of the season in the High A California League.
Eighth rounder catcher Tyler Heineman from UCLA opened some eyes, hitting
.358 with a .883 OPS in the New York Penn League after signing with a
reputation as a defensive whiz with a light bat.
Overall,
the Astros spent $11.3 million on draft bonuses, going fractionally over
their allotted budget. That expenditure was not much less than the
Major League team's total payroll at the end of the season and a
good sign that the team is not taking any financial shortcuts when it
comes to acquiring young talent.
Future Outlook
While
the Astros near term goals are still very modest, the organization
can look at the talent they’ve collected and have a real sense of
optimism. There really are some outstanding prospects in the
pipeline and they run deep and wide. The scouting department will be
looking to repeat their successes of 2012 while holding the No. 1 overall pick and the bonus pool extravagance that goes with it.
So
Astros fans, or at least those who remain, should be cautiously
optimistic. And that will be owner Crane’s biggest challenge
moving forward in many ways, convincing his fan base that there is
both hope and a future in Houston.
Even
if it is in the American League.
Also see: Baseball Prospectus Houston Astros Top 10 Prospects
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