Houston Astros: Top 10 Rookie-Eligible Prospects for 2018
We have reached the point of the offseason where prospect lists abound. We continue our top 10 prospects for every team with the Houston Astros!
Our team top 10 prospect lists at Call to the Pen are spearheaded by Benjamin Chase. Today, he gives us the top ten prospects for the Houston Astros.
This season, we will be going through teams by division, in order of 2017 record. The AL East will be first, followed by the AL Central and AL West. Then the focus will shift to the National League in the same order.
The format will be as it was last season for the same lists, with a system review, which will include last season’s list. The top 10 will follow in reverse order, two players per page in order to give adequate space to each player. Major trades or international signings will lead to an updated top 10!
Finally, don’t go away after #1 is revealed as each list will also contain a player either signed in the 2017 international free agent class or drafted in 2017 that isn’t part of the top 10 and should be tracked. Last season’s mentions in that area made over half of the top 10s this season, so this is a great way to get to know a player who could be making a big splash in the organization.
System overview
The Houston Astros farm system has been one of the 5-10 best in the league for a number of seasons, and that’s why the team was in position to make a World Series run and take home the championship this season.
The team had to use quite a few of the prospect capital built up over the last few years in order to make that run, including a significant value trade with the Detroit Tigers that brought in Justin Verlander. That deal sent away three prospects that would be on this list, but there is also no parade in Houston this year without that deal.
Even without some of the depth that was once in the system, there are still two of the top prospects in the game along with a solid group of prospects behind them for depth.
Let’s take a look at that system….
Next: #9 and #10