Now if you are an Astros fan, or someone who knows a lot about the Astros, you have to humor me. Without looking at the list, I couldn't name you more than two or three Houston prospects. I will do my best to be as broad as possible, but the odds of me writing this whole post without saying something stupid are slim to none. Comment with corrections and opinions, that will help my readers.
So here's the list:
- Jarred Cosart, RHP
- George Springer, OF
- Jonathan Singleton, 1B
- Brett Oberholtzer, LHP
- Jonathan Villar, SS
- Domingo Santana, OF
- Domingo Santana, OF
- Telvin Nash, 1B
- Delino DeShields, 2B
- Jack Armstrong, RHP
- Mike Foltynewicz, RHP
- Paul Clemens, RHP
- Ariel Ovando, OF
- Austin Wates, OF
- Jordan Scott, OF
- J.B. Shuck, OF
- Mike Kvasnicka, 3B
- Juan Abreu, RHP
- Adrian Houser, RHP
- Vince Velasquez, RHP
- Jio Mier, SS
Cosart is a very good arm that is still probably a year plus away from the big leagues. He throws in the mid 90's and touches the upper 90's and has plus pitches in his curve and his change up. Despite that, he has had some trouble putting up impressive statistics. His mechanics can get "sloppy and violent", and he has a certain arrogance about him that worries scouts. I wouldn't worry too much about those things, you can fix mechanics and arrogance isn't the biggest problem in the world to have (at least in my opinion). Cosart can be an ace, and Astros fans are certainly hoping he becomes just that.
After Cosart there isn't much in terms of pitching in this system. Oberholtzer (who came over in the Michael Bourn trade) is the next best and he posted a 4.01 ERA with just 7.0 K/9 last year in AA. A lot of people think this kid isn't more than a middle of the rotation starter, so the Astros are certainly lacking in the pitching department. The good news is that they have some promising young arms in the major league rotation in Bud Norris and J.A. Happ.
The rest of the top 8 is all position players. Singleton and Nash play first base, DeShields plays second, they have a shortstop in Villar, and then Springer and Santana are outfielders.
Springer is an interesting prospect. He was a 48th round pick in 2008 but went to play at Connecticut for a few years before he re-entered the draft in 2011 where he was a first round pick. He played just 8 games in A- ball last summer and hit an unimpressive .179/.303/.393. Those numbers are basically irrelevant though. Springer is a five-tool player that could turn into a real star. He has gold-glove potential with huge speed and power. He's an Andrew McCutchen type with more power potential. Obviously with a player of that age you never know what will happen to him in the pros, but this guy is a safe bet to make a name for himself in the bigs sooner or later.
After those guys it gets kinda slim. They have no "five star prospects" (according to Baseball Prospectus), just three "four star prospects" (the top three) and then four "three star prospects" (Oberholtzer, Villar, Santana, and Nash). If the Astros want to be competitive in the future they are going to have to add some more to the farm system, especially pitching. They could have a good offense in a matter of years, which they'll need playing in the A.L. West, but I just don't see the pitching here to be excited about this team.
We'll see what approach the Astros take this summer, but I could see a few more trades happening to try and bulk up the farm system as they transition to the American League.