The Astros picked 27-year old RHP Josh Fields as the first pick in the Rule 5 draft. I predicted that Jeff Luhnow would be tempted to take the former first round Mariners pick. Click on the above link for more info on Fields and why I thought he might be a possibility. (Am I getting to know the ways of Jeff Luhnow or what?)
In the second round of the Rule 5 draft, the Astros picked 1B Nate Freiman. Freiman was drafted by the Padres in the 8th round out of Duke. He has proven power and RBI potential while limiting his strikeouts to a reasonable level. I really like this pick and had my eye on him after his terrific performance for Team Israel in the WBC Qualifier. He also participated in the Arizona Fall League and his stats for that are here. He will be 26 in December.
In the first round of the AAA phase of the draft, the Astros picked RF Michael Burgess of the Cubs organization. No huge surprise that Luhnow was interested in Burgess as yet another former first round pick that he is acquiring for the organization. The 24-year old Burgess was drafted by the Nationals out of a Tampa area high school in 2007. Burgess appears to be one of those players with a lot of talent and power potential who has never quite gotten to that next level as a player. This article from March 2012 was high on Burgess' potential.
In the second round of the AAA phase of the draft, the Astros picked RHP Cameron Lamb of the Giants organization. The native of Australia has been in the Giants organization since 2007. His results were great, but his innings were greatly limited in 2012. He is currently playing in the Australian Baseball League and has a 0.00 ERA and a 0.500 WHIP with two save in five games. I wasn't able to find any information on him quickly. If I do, I will update.
The Astros did not lose anyone (including the higher profile Marc Krauss, Josh Stoffel and Carlos Perez) in the draft.
Luhnow's Astros are like an island of misfit toys, stocking broken down first rounders. Brilliant that they've not lost anyone as well. Depth just keeps getting better.
ReplyDeleteI like the philosophy. There was a reason that these guys were drafted high. He's going to end up finding a late bloomer or two this way I think. (Love the "island of misfit toys" reference too.)
DeleteGlad to see that they chose Nate Frieman...he has good plate discipline and is an extremely nice guy to talk to. At one of the games that we attended in San Antonio this season, I got his HR which ended up being the last Missions HR hit at their ballpark for the season. I ran into Nate's father at the end of the game and talked with him for nearly 1/2 hr while waiting for Nate to come out so I could get his autograph.
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