Looking at the Astros Draft Classes - 2012

I've been taking a look at the Astros draft classes by year from 2008 to 2012 this week to see how they stand. We've already looked at 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. Our final stop is 2012. This draft class included 14 pitchers and 17 position players.

As one would hope with a shiny new draft class, all the original parts are still intact and no one has been released at this point. However, going forward, you can expect for most of this class to either move quickly through the system or get cut since 27 of the 31 signed picks were drafted out of either college or community college. Only four players, Carlos Correa (1st round), Lance McCuller (1st round supplemental), Rio Ruiz (4th round) and Brett Phillips (6th round) were drafted out of high school.

Helping to prove my point about moving quickly, three players have already progressed beyond rookie league or short season A. Kenny Long (22nd round) and Andrew Aplin (5th round) were both recipients of mid-August promotions from Tri-City to Lancaster (Advanced A level), bypassing Lexington completely. In addition, Nolan Fontana (2nd round) started the season with the full season A level Lexington team rather than the short season A Tri-City team.

The following are the player stats for 2012 as sorted by draft round. "Club" indicates the club where the player finished the season. "Age" is the player's age as of today. And "Pos." is the position (or positions) most played in the 2012 season.





After Thanksgiving, I'll continue with this series and look at how players acquired via trade, waiver claims, NDFA's, etc. are faring.

Looking at the Astros Draft Classes - 2011

I've been taking a look at the Astros draft classes by year from 2008 to 2012 this week to see how they stand. So far, we've looked at 2008, 2009 and 2010. Next up is 2011. This draft class included 16 pitchers (11 of whom are still in the system) and 19 position players (15 of whom remain in the system).

One player was released during the season -- Zach Hardoin (47th round). In the recent round of roster cuts, four additional players were released -- Jimmy Howick (21st round), Jarrod McKinney (31st round), Brad Propst (38th round) and Blake Ford (44th round).

The pitchers who have progressed the furthest are Nick Tropeano and Tyson Perez, each of which spent substantial time at Lancaster in 2012. As to position players, George Springer made it to Corpus Christi in an early August promotion, but he was beaten there by Drew Muren who started at Lexington, turned a mid-season temporary assignment at Corpus Christi into a 33-game stint before ending the season at Lancaster. Alex Todd and Chris Epps also spent significant time at Lancaster.

The following are the player stats for 2012 as sorted by draft round. "Club" indicates the club where the player finished the season. "Age" is the player's age as of today. And "Pos." is the position (or positions) most played in the 2012 season.

Looking at the Astros Draft Classes - 2010

I've been taking a look at the Astros draft classes by year from 2008 to 2012 this week to see how they stand. So far, we've looked at 2008 and 2009. Next up is 2010. This draft class included 19 pitchers (11 of whom are still in the system) and 16 position players (eight of whom remain in the system).

Five players were released during the season -- Tyler Burnett (17th round), Josh Magee (18th round), Dan Adamson (20th round), Jason Chowning (28th round) and Brian Streilein (37th round). In the recent round of roster cuts, three additional players were released -- Kyle Redinger (11th round), Rodney Quintero (25th round) and Kenny Diaz (49th round).

Of the 19 players remaining in the system, none have made their major league debuts and only Jake Buchanan and Chris Wallace spent any time at Oklahoma City in 2012. Several players spent significant time at Corpus Christi though.

The following are the player stats for 2012 as sorted by draft round. "Club" indicates the club where the player finished the season. "Age" is the player's age as of today. And "Pos." is the position (or positions) most played in the 2012 season.

Looking at the Astros Draft Classes - 2009

I'm going to take a look at the Astros draft classes by year from 2008 to 2012 this week to see how they stand. Here is 2008. Now for 2009. The numbers are not exactly auspicious for pitchers. Of 17 pitchers drafted in 2009, only three remain in the system whereas 10 of 19 position players drafted in 2009 are still in the system.

In the recent round of roster cuts, only one player was released -- Garen Wright (29th round), an outfielder whose medical issues kept him from playing in 2012. Of a total of 36 players drafted, thirteen remain in the system. Of those thirteen, two have made their major league debuts -- Dallas Keuchel (7th round) and J.D. Martinez (20th round).

The following are the player stats for 2012 as sorted by draft round. "Club" indicates the club where the player finished the season (except I included minor league stats for Keuchel and Martinez as well). "Age" is the player's age as of today. And "Pos." is the position (or positions) most played in the 2012 season.
        

Looking at the Astros Draft Classes - 2008

I'm going to take a look at the Astros draft classes by year from 2008 to 2012 this week to see how they stand. First of all, a note on the prior year draft classes -- as of the end of the 2012 season, there were only four players remaining in the system who were drafted prior to 2008. Brian Bogusevic (first round) and Brandon Barnes (sixth round) were drafted in 2005, and Sergio Perez (second round) and Bud Norris (sixth round) were drafted in 2006. Currently Bogusevic and Perez are free agents.

In the recent round of roster cuts, two pitchers from the 2008 draft class were released -- Brad Dydalewicz (eighth round) and Nate Pettus (27th round). In addition, J.B. Shuck (sixth round) asked for and was given his release (according to Baseball America). During the season, Jay Austin (second round), T.J. Steele (fourth round) and Chris Hicks (14th round) were released. Of 32 players from the draft, eight remain in the system. Of those eight, two have made their major league debuts. (Shuck also made it to the big leagues for 37 games in 2011.)

The following are the player stats for 2012 as sorted by draft round. "Club" indicates the club where the player finished the season (except I did include Lyles minor league stats as well since he spent significant time there). "Age" is the player's age as of today. And "Pos." is the position (or positions) most played in the 2012 season.

I just noticed that Zachary Grimmett is misspelled, but I'm too lazy to fix the chart and re-embed it. Oops!

Don't Jump!

Wow, I think I might have inadvertently bummed out a few people with this post on Tuesday.  That was most decidedly not my intention.  I was just trying to help fans understand part of the reason the Astros bottomed out so badly in 2011.  As far as I'm concerned, that is now ancient history as our farm system has been strengthened substantially by recent drafts, trades, waiver claims and free agent signings.

Those who have followed this blog for a while are probably sick of hearing this, but I will say it again.  The Astros organization does not lack talent.  The Astros organization lacks depth.  The most obvious example of the depth issue is third base.  The prior regime would not have put Jimmy Paredes at third base with virtually no experience at the position if there had been a viable alternative at the upper levels of the organization.  That's not to say that Paredes isn't a very talented player, but his talents are more suited to the middle infield.

So, step away from that ledge please!  In contrast to that dismal 2007 draft, I believe that there are still 14 players in the organization from the 2008 draft including Jason Castro, Jordan Lyles, J.B. Shuck and  a number of high school drafted players like Ross Seaton who is still only 22.  I also show 14 players from the 2009 draft, including J.D. Martinez, Dallas Keuchel, Jake Goebbert, Telvin Nash, Tanner Bushue and Jio Mier, among others.  From 2010, I believe there are 26 players in the system with Chris Wallace, Jake Buchanan and Austin Wates having advanced the farthest.  And the 2011 draft class is still virtually intact and just getting their feet wet, with George Springer having advanced the farthest.

That doesn't even count trade pieces Jarred Cosart, Jonathan Singleton, Kevin Chapman (and the PTBNL that has everyone speculating), Brett Oberholtzer, Paul Clemens, Josh Zeid, Henry Sosa, Juan Abreu, Jimmy Paredes, Jonthan Villar and others.  Nor does it include Rule 5 picks or Latin American free agent signings or waiver claims.

A couple more years of good drafts and Latin American signings; smart trades and waiver claims; and effective development of existing talent will have the Astros farm system back in very good shape.  The key is to never, ever, ever neglect the system again.  No more win-now-at-all-costs attitude.  Keep the faith.  The worst is behind us and now the fun starts.

And Then There Were Six

Since I first looked at the pre-2008 draft classes back in August, we have lost another six of those players (J.R. Towles, Brad James, Koby Clemens, Jimmy VanOstrand, Kyle Greenwalt and Colton Pitkin), leaving only six still in the Astros system. The 2007 Astros draft class has been much maligned, but it was just the culmination of several years of sub-par drafts.  Let's take a look at the results, starting in 2002.

2002 Draft
Players remaining in the system - None
Notable players - Mitch Talbot

2003 Draft
Players remaining in the system - None
Notable players - Jason Hirsh, Josh Anderson

2004 Draft
Players remaining in the system - None
Notable players - Hunter Pence, Ben Zobrist, Troy Patton, Drew Sutton, J.R. Towles

2005 Draft
Players remaining in the system - Brian Bogusevic, Brandon Barnes
Notable players - Brian Boguesevic, Tommy Manzella

2006 Draft
Players remaining in the system - Sergio Perez, Chris Johnson, Bud Norris
Notable players - Bud Norris, Chris Johnson

2007 Draft
Players remaining in the system - Collin DeLome
Notable players - None

Out of the six draft classes prior to Bobby Heck's tenure, there are only six players remaining in the system, and three of those (Brandon Barnes, Sergio Perez and Collin DeLome) are probably running out of chances to set themselves apart.

But what made the situation even worse was how the Astros wasted the limited resources that they had, and how very little (until the more recent trades) they received in return.

Ben Zobrist & Mitch Talbot -----> Aubrey Huff ------> Nothing
Jason Hirsh -----> Jason Jennings ------> Nothing
Josh Anderson -----> Oscar Villarreal -----> Nothing
Troy Patton ------> Miguel Tejada ------> Nothing

Of course there were a couple of decent trades:

Drew Sutton -----> Jeff Keppinger -----> Jason Stoffel & Henry Sosa
Albert Cartwright ------> Sergio Escalona

This is how the Astros got into the situation they were in last season, but the good news is that the worst is over.  Four players from Bobby Heck's first two drafts have already made their major league debuts, and there are more drafted players on the horizon that look to become solid major leaguers.  In addition, the Pence, Bourn, Melancon and Quintero/Bourgeois trades appear to be winners in the potential that they are bringing the team.  And, finally, we now have a General Manager who, I believe, will not be apt to waste any resources in re-building and strengthening the Astros system.

The Astros have gotten off to a terrific start in 2012.  However, there will undoubtedly be many painful losses to come, but they will be losing games because we have young players out there fine-tuning their skills at the highest level, not because we have a lot of aging free agent retreads trying to re-establish themselves.  That, in and of itself, will make the Astros worth watching this season.