Astros Farm Report: 10/8

I'm baaaaaaack! Well, kind of. I'm still not going to be posting much as long as the Astros are in the postseason because I want to sit back and enjoy the ride. Let's hope that means that I won't be back with more regular updates until early November!!!

FALL/WINTER LEAGUES

Yesterday marked the first day of the Venezuelan Winter League. The Astros minor leaguers who have shown up on rosters so far are:

Aguilas de Zulia
2B Kristian Trompiz

Cardenales de Lara
RHP James Hoyt

Leones del Caracas
OF Danry Vasquez

Also, 2015 Lancaster JetHawks Manager Omar Lopez is managing the Caribes de Anzoategui team.

All three of these players saw action on day one, with Hoyt pitching a perfect inning of relief, Trompiz entering as a pinch runner and Vasquez going one-for-three with a strikeout and a hit by pitch.

The Mexican Pacific Winter League will start tomorrow and the following Astros players have shown up on the rosters.

Charros de Jalisco
OF Leo Heras

Yanquis de Obregon
RHP Enrique Chavez

The Dominican Winter League and the Arizona Fall League will start play next week.

NEWS AND LINKS

Baseball America has been rolling out their Top 20 prospects by league over the last couple of weeks. You can find the full lists here. Astros who appear on the lists are:

OF Kyle Tucker - Gulf Coast League (#3) and Appalachian League (#1)
OF Daz Cameron - Gulf Coast League (#4) and Appalachian League (#5)
RHP Albert Abreu - Appalachian League (#6)
RHP Francis Martes - Midwest League (#5)
1B A.J. Reed - California League (#3) and Texas League (#6)
SS Alex Bregman - California League (#5)
RHP Michael Feliz - Texas League (#11)
3B Colin Moran - Texas League (#20)
RHP Mark Appel - Pacific Coast League (#5)
OF Preston Tucker - Pacific Coast League (#15)
2B/OF Tony Kemp - Pacific Coast League (#19)

Also in the news since I last posted are shakeups in the coaching and player development side of things for the Astros. Several minor league coaches were non-renewed, including Tom Lawless, Jeff Murphy, Ed Romero, Don Alexander, Gary Ruby, Tim Garland, Vinny Lopez and Hector Mercado. I will be most interested in seeing who will replace Alexander as Pitching Coach for the Lancaster JetHawks in 2016, likely the most thankless job in the system. In addition, this Houston Chronicle article from Monday indicated that more changes are likely to come as GM Jeff Luhnow looks to revamp the Astros Player Development department.