Astros Farm Report: 4/2

Only three days until MiLB Opening Day!!! Catching you up on the latest Astros MiLB news ...

WISHING A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO

Ralph Garza - August 2017

Photo by Jayne Hansen

4/2: RHP Brandon Bielak (22)
4/3: RHP Humberto Castellanos (20)
4/6: RHP Ralph Garza (24)
4/7: RHP Brendman Feldmann (24)

ROSTER MOVES/TRANSACTIONS

Just a few last-minute moves as the Astros minor league season approaches rapidly ...

3/28: C/IF Ray Henderson released - Drafted in the 22nd round in 2016 out of Grayson County College (TX)
3/28: 1B/OF Jose Benjamin released - Signed out of the Dominican Republic in June 2014
3/27: 1B Luis Encarnación signed with the Astros following his release by the Phillies.

The main news is that the tentative Astros rosters for the four full season teams were released late last week. I broke down the rosters looking at:

• How the players came into the Astros system
• Where they were last season (and how they did)
• Which players are deemed top prospects
• Who's missing

And I tried to add a little insight as well.

You can check the cumulative Astros offseason transaction list here to see if you've missed any of the posted moves this offseason. I will be updating this list until the minor league season starts on April 5th.

NEWS AND LINKS

Last week I finished my roll out of a "Beyond the Top 30" series, looking at both those Astros players who are considered Top 30 prospects and others at each position who may not be top talents (or may grow to be), but will be interesting to watch nonetheless. I covered over 130 minor league players in the organization from top prospect studs to non-drafted underdogs ...

Shortstops
Second Basemen
First Basemen
Third Basemen
Center Field
Right Field
Left Field
Catchers
Utility Players
Left-Handed Pitchers
Right-Handed Relievers
Right-Handed Starters

And here are another few links you may have missed ...

Meet first year Tri-City ValleyCats Manager Jason Bell.

Sig Mejdal's journey from the front office to the front lines.

Over at Baseball Prospectus, Russell Carleton makes a business case for increasing minor league wages. And FanGraphs thinks there may be only one solution.

MiLB.com catches you up on what happened this offseason and looks at some of the most interesting prospects in the system.

And in the latest edition of "We're Coming to Take Your Jobs," Sheryl Ring with FanGraphs asks, "Can Major League Baseball Legally Exclude a Woman?"

Astros Minor League Links for your Reading and Viewing Pleasure

Suzi brings us more great links to enjoy while you're lollygagging at work before the long weekend (c'mon, you know you are!):

Michael Feliz called up to Astros on his 22nd birthday

Carlos Correa off to a hot start

The Jethawks just put a rubber snake behind home plate to scare the umpire pre-game. Baseball is hilarious.

— Bakersfield Blaze (@BakoBlaze) June 29, 2015

Rodney Linares selected to lead South Texas All-Star team

A great diving catch from Brett Phillips

Tyler White (@twhite409) is your @stripesstores Home Run Derby Champion!!! #IMHOOKED #TXLASG pic.twitter.com/92pJWR1EOX

— Corpus Christi Hooks (@cchooks) June 30, 2015

White was promptly promoted to Fresno following the All-Star game. Here is Jayne's interview with him from May.

LHP JoshHader named to 2015 Pan American team

1st round pick SS Alex Bregman arrives at Quad Cities

RHP Tyson Perez and OF L.J. Hoes to represent Grizzlies in AAA All-Star Game

Astros Minor League Links for your Reading Enjoyment

Hi everyone! Jayne was looking for some help with her blog so I volunteered to help her out. I am Suzi Eslick, a renewed baseball fan and a Lancaster JetHawks Booster. I have been privileged to sponsor 6 High-A players, all but one being pitchers. In fact I just became sponsor to another pitcher, Austin Chrismon. Thank goodness for MiLB-tv. I can usually watch each of them pitch. You see, I have O.B.D. Obsessive Baseball Disorder. But I'm not ready for a cure. In fact, I want to share it with all the Astros', and their affiliates', fans. The more time we spend together sharing stories, the better fans we will be. Do you agree??  Let's start with these....

Quad Cities recently won an award from Ballpark Digest for the Best Ballpark. See the story here.

Singleton makes it to Houston

Appel and Phillips promotions (subscriber only)

Carolina/California Leagues All Star Game

    

Jack Mayfield, AJ Reed and Brett Phillips represented the Lancaster Jethawks in the California League victory over the Carolina League. AJ Reed came in 2nd in the homerun derby.

The Futures Game rosters have been announced. Information on the events being held and the teams can be found here. Rodney Linares, manager of the CC Hooks, was named to the World Team staff. Mark Appel and Tony Kemp from the AAA Fresno Grizzlies were both named to the US team.

Tri-City ValleyCats player follows in father's footsteps

Corpus Christi Manager Rodney Linares talks about his father Julio

Astros MiLB Links for your Reading and Viewing Pleasure

A few Astros minor league links you may have missed ...

Domingo Santana is having a very good week.







A good piece on Preston Tucker and his strong season start

Two overall number one draft picks talk about playing together on the same team

The journey of former Hook and current Astros minor league manager Josh Bonifay

Correa and Devenski earn Texas League Player and Pitcher of the Week honors

Carlos Correa off to a good start

More Hooks highlights ...









Derek Fisher back from the DL



An interview with Jacob Nottingham

Joe Musgrove puts his struggles behind him

Astros MiLB Links For Your Reading and Viewing Pleasure

A few Astros MiLB links that you may have missed ...


A nice snag from Domingo Santana


Singleton gets an oppo taco

An interview with Corpus Christi's Tony Kemp


Tony Kemp's fine play (if you've been living under a rock and missed it)


Carlos Correa goes yard

Tony Kemp and Roberto Pena receive Rawlings MiLB Gold Gloves


Derek Fisher hits an emphatic solo shot

Astros Minor League Links for your Reading and Viewing Pleasure

A few Astros minor league links that you may have missed from the last week:

From Baseball America, an excellent article about the pending minor league pay lawsuit, the attorney defending MLB and what a successful player outcome could mean.

FRESNO GRIZZLIES


Preston Tucker's 2nd HR of the night - 4/14


Fontana's triple - 4/16


Singleton's 3-run bomb - 4/13


Duffy's 2-run home run - 4/12

CORPUS CHRISTI HOOKS

Hook for a Day Contest Winner

Lance McCullers Audio Interview - 4/13

Baseball America: Top 10  Most Talented Minor League Teams

Tyler Heineman Audio Interview - 4/10


 Correa's first HR of the season - 4/14


Correa's 3-run double - 4/13


Nash's 3-run home run - 4/11

LANCASTER

Interview with RHP Michael Feliz

QUAD CITIES


Derek Fisher 2-run home run - 4/14


Derek Fisher 2-run home run - 4/13


Jacob Nottingham HR - 4/12

Astros Minor League Links For Your Reading and Viewing Pleasure

A few recent Astros minor league links you may have missed ~

Corpus Christi pitcher Daniel Minor talks about what playing for the Hooks means to him.

Highly touted Astros prospects Joe Musgrove and Derek Fisher on their expectations for the Quad Cities team. (Answer a couple of survey questions to read the whole article)

And Musgrove on his 2014 MVP season for Tri-City.

Quad Cities SS Thomas Lindauer on changes he's made to help his game.

And, last but not least, "The Schwab," an over-the-top hamburger, is introduced by the Fresno Grizzlies.

Lots-O-Links

This has been one crazy, busy off-season with tons of things being reported, talked about, analyzed, etc.  Links to recent goings-on below.

A great article from Jonathan Mayo on how Kim Ng is working to improve the international signings process

Jonathan Mayo's take on the Astros prospects participating in the Arizona Fall League

The latest blog posting from Josh Zeid on his experiences in the Arizona Fall League

Jason Castro talks about the progress he's making in coming back from his knee surgery

Brian Bogusevic's nomination for a GIBBY award

Kody Hinze talking about his Arizona Fall League experience

Dallas Keuchel talking about the pitches he's working on in the Arizona Fall League

Appy Astros looks at where the 2008 Greeneville Astros players are and how they're doing

Josh Magee gets a Milby award

I just assume that anyone who reads WTHB is also reading the Crawfishboxes site, but in case you missed it, I recorded a podcast with Tim, Sean and David to talk about top 30 prospects and more.  Here is Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

Baseball Prospectus' top 11+ Astros prospect rankings

Top Prospect Alert's top 15 Astros prospect rankings

Enjoy!

This and That

There has been a lot going on lately and I wanted to make sure nobody missed out on some of the recent postings.

First, please look over the Astros MiLB Lefty Starters info and vote in the poll for the WTH 25-Man Roster.

Next, you might have missed this contact info and sample letter to Drayton and Bud about the contemplated move to the American League.  I encourage everyone to write, e-mail, fax, etc.

Also, farmstros has posted a list of players eligible for the Rule 5 draft and I posted a recap of what Rule 5 says as well as a link to the Professional Baseball Agreement so you can see for yourself.

Finally, Appy Astros has been kicking it today with information about voting on some of the Astros MiLB players for play/game of the year and some great info on Outfield Assist Leaders in the Astros minor league affiliates.