The Houston Astros came back to earth some after a big 2015. What do they have in the pipeline to push back to the elite in 2017?
An Introduction
Our minor league top 10 series is coordinated by Benjamin Chase, one of our contributors at Call To The Pen.
He has poured over thousands of minor league games over the course of the year via milb.tv along with speaking with a number of team and independent scouts. These lists are based out of those conversations.
Each system will have prospects from 10 to 1, and then finish with one newcomer to the system that is worth keeping an eye on that is not in the top 10 at this time.
Conversations are certainly encouraged in the comments section on each system as we go along!
(The Astros) did see the debut of Alex Bregman, their selection at #2 overall in the 2015 draft, along with 11 others over the course of the 2016 season
Astros System Review
The Astros have seen the fruits of six straight losing seasons, three of which were at least 105-loss seasons. Through that time, they accumulated significant draft picks, though the team also developed a reputation as the team that manipulated the draft process through every loophole that the Collective Bargaining Agreement allowed, including backing out on negotiations with Brady Aiken that led to the first unsigned #1 overall selection since Tim Belcher in 1983.
The Astros leveraged their extra draft picks and additional players acquired through compensatory picks to build up a significant farm system, considered one of the 2-3 best in the game for the last 3-4 years, and that is what fueled the team’s rise to the playoffs in 2015.
The Astros did see a fall back to 3rd place in the AL West in 2016 and missed the playoffs, but they did see the debut of Alex Bregman, their selection at #2 overall in the 2015 draft, along with 11 others over the course of the 2016 season, especially in the pitching, where Joseph Musgrove made an impression and Chris Devenski was an important part of the bullpen.
As the Astros continue to build toward the future, they still have one of the top 10 systems in the game, as evidenced by the fact that two of those debuts did not even make the top 10, in spite of arguably being in line to fight for a starting job in 2017 in the major leagues, which says a ton!
Let’s take a look at the top 10!
Next: #10