Astros Farm Report: 1/13/20

After a long (and much needed) hiatus, WTHB is back to catch you up on the off-season Astros minor league happenings ...

ROSTER MOVES/TRANSACTIONS

Here are the offseason roster moves for the Astros minor league players.

1/9: RHP Peyton Battenfield (Tri-City) and OF Cal Stevenson (Fayetteville) traded to the Rays for RHP Austin Pruitt
Notes: Battenfield was drafted by Houston in the 9th round in 2019 out of Oklahoma State University and had an excellent first pro season. Here is my interview with him from July.  Cal Stevenson came to the Astros, along with Aaron Sanchez and Joe Biagini, as a part of the 7/31/19 trade with the Blue Jays that sent Derek Fisher to Toronto. Here's hoping that his family didn't invest a lot in Astros gear after the trade.
1/9: RHP Dean Deetz designated for assignment
12/12: RHP Brandon Bailey (Corpus Christi) claimed by the Orioles in the Rule 5 Draft
12/12: RHP Yohan Ramirez (Corpus Christi) claimed by the Mariners in the Rule 5 Draft
12/12: SS Jonathan Arauz (Corpus Christi) claimed by the Red Sox in the Rule 5 Draft
12/5: CF Jake Marisnick (Houston) traded to the Mets for LHP Blake Taylor and OF Kenedy Corona (assigned to Tri-City) - see below for more
11/20: RHP Cristian Javier (Round Rock) added to the 40-man roster in advance of the Rule 5 Draft
11/20: 1B Taylor Jones (Round Rock) added to the 40-man roster in advance of the Rule 5 Draft
11/20: RHP Nivaldo Rodriguez (Fayetteville) added to the 40-man roster in advance of the Rule 5 Draft
11/20: RHP Enoli Paredes (Corpus Christi) added to the 40-man roster in advance of the Rule 5 Draft
11/4: LHP Kent Emanuel (Round Rock) added to the 40-man roster (Emanuel was due to become a MiLB FA)
11/4: OF Granden Goetzman (Corpus Christi) elected minor league free agency
11/4: RHP Erasmo Pinales (Corpus Christi) elected minor league free agency
10/16: RHP Chanderson Perez signed (18 year old Dominican)

RULE 5 DRAFT NOTES

A little about the players taken in the Rule 5 Draft.

RHP Brandon Bailey (Baltimore): Bailey had a very solid season with the AA Corpus Christi Hooks in 2019 (3.30 ERA/1.219 WHIP in 22 games/17 starts). Bailey came to the Astros in the November 2017 trade with Oakland that sent Ramon Laureano to that team. Bailey allowed 41 walks while striking out 103 in 92.2 innings of work. He has solid command and is expected to take on a swing man/middle relief role. In my opinion, Bailey showed enough polish and pitch development in 2019 that he is the most likely of the three taken to stick with his new team.

RHP Yohan Ramirez (Seattle): Ramirez is a real wild card (in more than one meaning of the word wild). Ramirez has an electric arm with a fastball that touches the upper 90's and a plus curveball, but his control is still very much a work in progress. In 106 innings pitched between High A Fayetteville and AA Corpus Christi in 2019 (3.99 ERA/1.302 WHIP), Ramirez allowed 74 walks while striking out 158. There was also the matter of 17 wild pitches and 15 hit batters. He is the ultimate high risk, high reward pick up. It will be difficult for him to stick with a team without showing a lot of progress on control and command, but if he is able to harness his talent, watch out! Ramirez is, in my opinion, the least likely of the three to stick.

SS Jonathan Arauz (Boston): Arauz falls somewhere in between the other two in his ability to stick with a new team (again, in my opinion). Arauz's bat has lagged his solid defense over his career, but he mostly held his own in 2019 between High A Fayetteville and AA Corpus Christi, hitting a combined .249/.319/.388 with 22 doubles, three triples and 11 home runs in 115 games. Arauz will be helped by the expansion of the MLB rosters to 26 and could conceivably earn his keep as a utility infielder, helping him to stick on the roster until his bat catches up to the major league level.

FEATURED PLAYERS

This week, let's look at the two players who came to the Astros from the Mets in the December Marisnick trade.

LHP Blake Taylor: Taylor was drafted by the Pirates in the second round in 2013 and was traded to the Mets a year later. Tommy John surgery and recovery sidelined him from late 2015 to late 2016. For the next two years, Taylor was a starter who failed to break through, but a move to the bullpen in 2019 suited him and he put together the most successful season of his career to date (2.16 ERA/1.095 WHIP in 40 appearances, converting 10 of 11 save opportunities). He spent approximately half of the season at High A, half at AA (1.85 ERA/0.949 WHIP) and finished the season by facing and retiring one batter at AAA. Taylor built on his 2019 success with seven appearances in the Arizona Fall League (2.00 ERA/0.778 WHIP). Taylor becomes one of only seven lefty pitchers in the Astros system who finished the 2019 season at AA or higher. Baseball America describes him as having a "mid-90's fastball and a high spin rate on his breaking ball." He turned 24 in August.

OF Kenedy Carona: Corona, a 19-year old Venezuelan (20 in March), has only one professional season under his belt at this point, but it was a very successful season in which he progressed from the DSL to the GCL to four games at short season A to end the year. In 63 games, he hit .301/.398/.470 with 14 doubles, four triples, five home runs and 29 RBI. He also snagged 19 bases (five caught stealing) and walked (29 times) almost as much as he struck out (36 times). He can play all the outfield positions and his defensive numbers stack up nicely against most of his outfield competition in the system. Baseball America describes Corona as athletic with "the ability to play the outfield with some polish at a young age."

2019-2020 FALL AND WINTER BALL

All of the regular seasons are complete except for the Australian Baseball League (where Chuckie Robinson has been playing as recently as over this past weekend). In addition, a few Astros minor leaguers have been playing in the postseason in their respective leagues. Their most recent postseason stats are shown below.

ARIZONA FALL LEAGUE

1B J.J. Matijevic: 27 G | .255/.315/.412
SS Jeremy Pena: 24 G | .183/.248/.290
C Colton Shaver: 18 G | .175/.294/.333
RHP Cody Deason: 6 G | 8.0 IP | 6.75 ERA/2.13 WHIP
RHP Carlos Sanabria: 8 G | 9.0 IP | 9.00 ERA/1.89 WHIP
LHP Blake Taylor: 7 G | 9.0 IP | 2.00 ERA/0.78 WHIP
RHP Jojanse Torres: 7 G | 8.0 IP | 3.38 ERA/1.50 WHIP
RHP Forrest Whitley: 6 G | 25.0 IP | 2.88 ERA/1.24 WHIP

AUSTRALIAN BASEBALL LEAGUE

C Chuckie Robinson: 21 G | .227/.301/.440

DOMINICAN WINTER LEAGUE

OF Bryan de la Cruz: 10 G | .294/.278/.471
RHP Rogelio Armenteros: 5 G | 19.0 IP | 2.37 ERA/1.16 WHIP
RHP Ronel Blanco: 1 G | 0.2 IP | 27.00 ERA/3.00 WHIP
RHP Willy Collado: 3 G | 2.1 IP | 0.00 ERA/0.43 WHIP
RHP Francis Martes: 3 G | 5.2 IP | 7.94 ERA/1.41 WHIP
RHP Leovanny Rodriguez: 16 G | 16.1 IP | 2.76 ERA/0.86 WHIP
(Postseason: 4 G | 3.0 IP | 0.00 ERA/1.33 WHIP)
RHP Cesar Rosado: 1 G | 0.1 IP | 27.00 ERA/3.00 WHIP
LHP Framber Valdez: 5 G | 23.2 IP | 2.28 ERA/1.14 WHIP

MEXICAN WINTER LEAGUE

C Lorenzo Quintana: 42 G | .278/.339/.405
C Cesar Salazar: 15 G | .222/.276/.370
RHP Jose Bravo: 6 G | 20.0 IP | 5.85 ERA/1.75 WHIP
RHP Humberto Castellanos: 13 G | 9.1 IP | 5.79 ERA/1.82 WHIP
RHP Lupe Chavez: 7 G | 17.1 IP | 4.67 ERA/1.38 WHIP
RHP Ralph Garza: 13 G | 15.0 IP | 2.40 ERA/1.00 WHIP
LHP Juan Pablo Lopez: 15 G | 13.2 IP | 0.66 ERA/1.24 WHIP

PUERTO RICAN WINTER LEAGUE

C Ruben Castro: 11 G | .000/.333/.000
LHP Jonathan Bermudez: 4 G | 3.2 IP | 0.00 ERA/2.00 WHIP
(Postseason: 3 G | 2.1 IP | 3.86 ERA/1.29 WHIP)
RHP Layne Henderson: 11 G | 7.2 IP | 3 saves | 7.04 ERA/2.48 WHIP
RHP Felipe Tejada: 9 G | 6.0 IP | 1.50 ERA/1.33 WHIP
(Postseason: 1 G | 1.0 IP | 0.00 ERA/0.00 WHIP)

2019 FINAL SEASON STANDINGS

AAA ROUND ROCK (Pacific Coast League/American Southern Division)
Division Winner
Won over Iowa in Semifinals 3-2
Lost to Sacramento in LCS 0-3

1st 84-56 .600 -.-GB L1

AA CORPUS CHRISTI (Texas League/South Division)

4th 66-73 .475 7.0GB L3

ADV A FAYETTEVILLE (Carolina League/Southern Division)
2nd half Division Winner
Won over Down East in the Semifinals 3-2
Lost to Wilmington in LCS 2-3

3rd 72-67 .518 15.0GB W2

LOW A QUAD CITIES (Midwest League/Western Division)
1st half Division Winner
Lost to Cedar Rapids in MWL Quarterfinals 1-2

2nd 79-57 .581 0.5GB W1

SHORT SEASON A TRI-CITY (New York-Penn League/Stedler Division)
4th 32-42 .432 9.0GB W3

ROOKIE LEVEL GULF COAST LEAGUE (East Division)
4th 25-26 .490 3.5GB W1

ROOKIE LEVEL DOMINICAN SUMMER LEAGUE (Northwest Division)
2nd 38-31 .551 2.5GB W2

INTERVIEWS

The following links are to the interviews I conducted during the 2019 season. Here is a full list of links to all of the interviews I've done since December 2011.

Colin McKee
Enoli Paredes and Cristian Javier
Cesar Salazar
Brett Daniels
Felipe Tejada
AJ Lee
Peyton Battenfield
Franny Cobos and Juan Pablo Lopez
Austin Hansen
Jake Adams
Nivaldo Rodriguez and Enmanuel Valdez
Colton Shaver
Brett Conine
Bryan Abreu and Ronel Blanco
Granden Goetzman
Osvaldo Duarte and Jose Urquidy
Stephen Wrenn

RANDOM PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Montana 2009