Composition of the Astros System: Overview

Last week I looked at the minutiae of what makes up the Astros system. First I looked at Position Players and then I looked at Pitchers. Now let's put it all together. (All information includes both major league players and minor league players in the Astros system as of the end of the 2012 season. I may be missing one or two players but the underlying data should be pretty darned accurate.)

ASTROS PLAYERS (290)

PLACE OF BIRTH
166 - United States (31 states and the District of Columbia)*
70 - Dominican Republic
21 - Venezuela
13 - Puerto Rico
5 - Panama
4 - Colombia
3 - Nicaragua
1 - Brazil
1 - El Salvador
1 - Mexico
1 - Canada (Ontario)
1 - Taiwan
1 - Virgin Islands
1 - South Korea
1 - Australia

*U.S. Breakdown
35 - California
26 - Texas
19 - Florida
8 - Georgia
7 - Ohio
7 - Illinois
7 - Arizona
5 - Oklahoma
5 - South Carolina
5 - North Carolina
3 - New York
3 - Nebraska
3 - Pennsylvania
3 - Massachusetts
3 - Minnesota
3 - Washington
2 each - Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Maryland, New Mexico, Oregon, Virginia
1 each - Arkansas, Delaware, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Washington DC

WHEN/HOW SIGNED
The dates may be off on an occasional winter signing or a Latin free agent who did not play until the following year, but this should still serve to give you a general idea.

• 2002 - Latin American Free Agent (1)
• 2005 - Latin American Free Agents (4); Drafted (2 - 1 college & 1 community college)
• 2006 - Latin American Free Agents (5); Drafted (2 college)
• 2007 - Latin American Free Agents (6); Rule 5 (1)
• 2008 - Drafted (11 - 6 high school, 4 college & 1 community college); Latin American Free Agents (11); Pacific Rim Free Agent (1); U.S. Non-Drafted Free Agent (1); Free Agent (1)
• 2009 - Drafted (14 - 7 college & 7 high school); Latin American Free Agents (9); U.S. Non-Drafted Free Agents (2); Pacific Rim Free Agent (1); Free Agent (1); Trade (1); Waiver Claim (1)
• 2010 - Drafted (22 - 11 college, 9 high school & 2 community college); Latin American Free Agents (20); Trades (6); Free Agents (3); U.S. Non-Drafted Free Agents (2); Rule 5 (1); Waiver Claim (1)
• 2011 - Drafted (30 - 22 college, 4 community college & 4 high school); Latin American Free Agents (15); Trades (12); Free Agents (7); U.S. Non-Drafted Free Agents (4); Waiver Claims (3); Rule 5 (1); Rule 5/Trade (1)
• 2012 - Drafted (31 - 23 college, 4 community college & 4 high school); Trades (21); Latin American Free Agents (16); Free Agents (10); Waiver Claims (4); U.S. Non-drafted Free Agents (4); Pacific Rim Free Agent (1)

Totals
70 - Drafted out of College
30 - Drafted out of High School
12 - Drafted out of Community College
87 - Latin American Free Agents
3 - Pacific Rim Free Agents
13 - U.S. Non-Drafted Free Agents
40 - Trades
22 - Free Agents
9 - Waiver Claims
3 - Rule 5
1 - Rule 5/Trade

DRAFT PICKS BY ROUND
In addition to those players drafted by the Astros, there have been numerous players added to the system that were drafted by other teams. Here is the breakdown by round of all players in the Astros system that were originally drafted whether by the Astros or by another team.

22 - 1st round
10 - 2nd round
9 - 3rd round
9 - 4th round
5 - 5th round
6 - 6th round
6 - 7th round
8 - 8th round
7 - 9th round
5 - 10th round
4 - 11th round
4 - 12th round
4 - 13th round
3 - 14th round
5 - 15th round
3 - 16th round
3 - 17th round
2 - 18th round
3 - 19th round
2 - 20th round
2 - 21st round
2 - 22nd round
3 - 23rd round
2 - 24th round
3 - 25th round
3 - 27th round
3 - 28th round
3 - 29th round
1 - 30th round
4 - 31st round
2 - 32nd round
1 - 33rd round
1 - 34th round
2 - 35th round
2 - 36th round
2 - 37th round
2 - 38th round
1 - 39th round
1 - 41st round
1 - 45th round
1 - 49th round

BATTERS
87 - Bat right-handed
36 - Bat left-handed
16 - Switch hitters
1 - Unknown (N/A for 2012 Australian signing Connor MacDonald)

POSITION
63 - Infielders primarily
50 - Outfielders primarily
27 - Catchers
111 - Right-handed pitchers
39 - Left-handed pitchers

In looking at the information, a couple of things jumped out at me.

• I'm really surprised that there isn't a single person in the organization from Louisiana. The closest thing we've got is Brian Bogusevic who was born in Illinois but went to college at Tulane.
• Almost one quarter of the players (24.1%) are from the Dominican Republic.
• 17.1% of position players (and 12.1% of the total) were born in California while 12% of the pitchers were born in Texas.
• Only 3 pitchers out of 17 drafted (Dallas Keuchel, Tanner Bushue and Raul Rivera) remain from 2009 draft while 14 of 19 position players remain.
• 2009 also appears to have been a subpar year in Latin American free agent signings as only nine players signed that year are still in the system.

Again, I just looked at this information mainly because I find it personally interesting and not to draw any sweeping conclusions. I hope you found it somewhat interesting as well.