The Astros' Owner and G.M. Have Long-Term Plans

[Camden_yardbird]

Their major league roster has about 4-5 of the 20 players they will need to eventually contend. They have a long way to go.

Springer, Singleton, Castro, Altuve...maybe 1 or 2 of their pitchers. Might be early on Singleton too.

[Tryptamine]

The Astros have done a really good job with the rebuild, the only glaring mistake was taking Appel over Bryant and Gray last year. It's early on, but right now Appel is looking like an absolute disaster. A line up with Correa,Bryant,Springer,Singleton,Altuve and Castro would have enormous potential.

[25 Nuggets]

Can't hit with every pick. Sadly for them Correa's hurt on top of Appel's struggles.

I think there are more than 4-5 players that are keepers on this team:

C - Castro

1B - Singleton

2B - Altulve

3B - Dominguez

SS - Villar

LF -

CF - Fowler

RF - Springer

DH -

Just looking at the lineup I think there are only two main holes. Robbie Grossman in LF is doing terrible but he wasn't bad last year; he might just need some more seasoning. Chris Carter at DH has tons of power and a terrible batting average - he can easily stick on the bench. And that's the real problem with the team right now - lack of depth. Marwin Gonzalez is an ok utility man but that's about it.

And 1 or 2 pitchers, are you kidding?

SP - Dallas Kuechel

SP - Collin McHugh

SP - Jarred Cosart

SP - Scott Feldman

SP - Brett Oberholtzer / Brad Peacock

RP - Tony Sipp

RP - Darren Downs

Look at their numbers again and tell me you'd keep just one or two. Again this is about depth, particularly in the bullpen. The team is actually pitching above average right now (101 ERA+) and they have a better rotation than the Orioles.

I think the better way to say it is that the Astros are 4-5 players away from being contenders.

[Tryptamine]

Astros screwed up the #1 overall pick again this year. Brady Aiken has elbow ligament damage.

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/writer/jon-heyman/24610130/elbow-ligament-issue-for-no-1-pick-aiken-delays-signing-by-astros

You could not pay me to draft a pitcher in the first 10 picks of the 1st round unless they were on the Strasburg/Price level.

[weams]

Astros screwed up the #1 overall pick again this year. Brady Aiken has elbow ligament damage.

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/writer/jon-heyman/24610130/elbow-ligament-issue-for-no-1-pick-aiken-delays-signing-by-astros

You could not pay me to draft a pitcher in the first 10 picks of the 1st round unless they were on the Strasburg/Price level.

It is really a crap shoot.

[weams]

The Astros have done a really good job with the rebuild, the only glaring mistake was taking Appel over Bryant and Gray last year. It's early on, but right now Appel is looking like an absolute disaster. A line up with Correa,Bryant,Springer,Singleton,Altuve and Castro would have enormous potential.

Appel is awful.

[Can_of_corn]

I don't know if you can say screwed up. It is not as if they could conduct a full medical before drafting the kid.

[Tryptamine]

I don't know if you can say screwed up. It is not as if they could conduct a full medical before drafting the kid.

They could have picked a position player like Alex Jackson, paid him 4.5 million and had a ton of money to throw at overslots. It's just not worth the risk to grab pitchers that early.

[Can_of_corn]

They could have picked a position player like Alex Jackson, paid him 4.5 million and had a ton of money to throw at overslots. It's just not worth the risk to grab pitchers that early.

Delmon Young went 1-1, so did Tim Beckham, and Matt Bush. Donavan Tate went 1-3, Bubba Starling went 1-5.

[Can_of_corn]

Would you be as kind if the Orioles had drafted him?

Sure. Unless by some odd twist of fate they signed him and THEN he showed up hurt to his first MiLB assignment.

Of course that would never happen. :scratchchinhmm:

Worse case scenario he doesn't sign and they get 1:2 next year.

[Stotle]

I don't know if you can say screwed up. It is not as if they could conduct a full medical before drafting the kid.

Right. This is just an unfortunate situation for both parties. It's not like Aiken came into a private workout and threw 3-5 mph harder than he had all spring. He was consistent throughout the spring and isn't currently showing any physical issues. Medicals happened to turn up something the Astros docs consider an risk factor, and they are adjusting their investment accordingly (i.e. we are now taking on a greater risk and need to be able to spread that risk by signing another player).

[Can_of_corn]

Right. This is just an unfortunate situation for both parties. It's not like Aiken came into a private workout and threw 3-5 mph harder than he had all spring. He was consistent throughout the spring and isn't currently showing any physical issues. Medicals happened to turn up something the Astros docs consider an risk factor, and they are adjusting their investment accordingly (i.e. we are now taking on a greater risk and need to be able to spread that risk by signing another player).

Any idea if they have targets left that they could even allocate the money to this late in the process?

[Can_of_corn]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2121883-brady-aikens-injury-doesnt-ruin-pitchers-huge-upside

[Stotle]

Any idea if they have targets left that they could even allocate the money to this late in the process?

Nix and Marshall would be nice gets.

[Tryptamine]

Delmon Young went 1-1, so did Tim Beckham, and Matt Bush. Donavan Tate went 1-3, Bubba Starling went 1-5.

Of course there have been hitting busts as well, but historically hitters are significantly less risky than pitchers. College hitters in particular are your safest bet.