Believe it or not, we are just six weeks away from the Draft. The Astros will pick 28th in the 2018 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, which will take place from June 4-6. At $5,467,300, the Astros will have the second-smallest bonus pool allotment; only the Dodgers will have fewer to spend in the draft. Here are the slot values for Houston's first 10 picks: Round 1, Pick 28: $2,399,400 Round 2, Pick 67: $939,700 Round 3, Pick 102: $549,700 Round 4, Pick 132: $410,400 Round 5, Pick 162: $306,100 Round 6, Pick 192: $237,600 Round 7, Pick 222: $187,000 Round 8, Pick 252: $156,500 Round 9, Pick 282: $144,100 Round 10, Pick 312: $136,800 Perfect Game already has a mock draft out... ...and their first crack has the Astros taking: Spoiler FanGraphs' mock only covers the Top 10, but they also delved into the kind of players that the Astros are keeping an eye on... Spoiler Siani has been committed to Virginia since his freshman year of high school. He may or may not be related to a Mike Siani who played in the NFL from 1972-80 with the Raiders and Colts.
Guys I would like Houston to pick: OF Griffin Conine OF Jake McCarthy 1B Luken Baker OF Tristan Pompey RHP Nolan Kingham RHP Cole Sands RHP Griffin Roberts OF Jake Mangum OF Parker Meadows RHP Kyle Molnar OF Brennen Davis IF Ford Proctor IF Connor Kaiser LHP Justin Hooper IF Zach Kone C Zac Susi IF Kody Clemens
Only 1 of the top 66, and 2 of the top 101 picks. Literally the only thing about being World Champions that isn't awesome. Certainly gonna have to do their homework to find an impact prospect.
Interesting that the Astros are looking at Siani, given he's old for the class, and they tend to prefer their hs hitters young (he's right at the same age as Perez, Perry and Diaz are now)
You are correct. Baker was the only real prospect and they took him in the 30-somthing round out of HS, he's had a bad year by his standards but is a beast who can mash at LF/1B/DH (he was TCU's closer as a freshman, then they took the ball away from him next year). He's a hell of a LHRP too. Clemens has really shown something this year as a senior after being a BB-machine who couldn't hit anything the rest of his UT career. I know nothing about the other guy.
Clemens has been unbelievable this year. On the defensive side too. I like his odds of becoming a major league regular
Other interesting potential redrafts are Josh Breaux, Darius Vines, Trey Cumbie, and Avery Tuck. Brett Bond and Marty Costes haven't helped their draft status after turning down the opportunity to go pro last year.
I think I speak for most of our fanbase that this year is the first draft since drafting Springer where we haven't follow closely because we have a loaded mlb roster and farm system as well.
I think this draft will be interesting due to the changes in the organization since last June. The most obvious is the elimination of the Greenville affiliate (and possibly one of the DSL teams) but there also the Astros drafting later in the draft than before, as well as the changes in the scouting department. There's also a decent amount of talent in the lower minors. If the Tri-City season started today, you could see an infield consisting of Nova, Sierra, Perez (though he'd probably be a DH) and an OF with Celestino, Machado, and possibly one of Martinez, Diaz, or Santana. Perry could see time at catcher as well. Obviously the hope is that some of those will be in QC, or some might play in the GCL, but there won't be as many open spots for new players, which may behoove the Astros to focus on getting a few good talents early, and using picks 11+ to fill out rosters, going with a lot of senior signs in the middle rounds.
I disagree. I bet that the Astros draft the best player available, with no preference to targeted arrival time.
??? Changes to the scouting department likely affects who the Astros think is the best available player. While who the Astros have probably doesn't affect the draft much in the early rounds, it does affect the later rounds.
I didn't mean to suggest they were targeting players on a specific timeline, just that the organization is different in terms of playing time available and in the makeup of the scouting department, which may lead to different draft strategies.
The high school class of 2015 is now eligible to be re-drafted if they did not elect to play at a junior/community college. The Houston Astros had three high school players who did not sign that year. Here's where they are and how they are faring right now: 22. Cole Sands, RHP, Florida State: 9 starts, 6-2, 4.80 ERA, 50.2 IP, 42 H (5 HR allowed), 28 R (27 ER), 19 BB, 58 K, 1.20 WHIP, .220 opponent average 35. Kody Clemens, SS, Texas: 44 games, .350/.451/.693, 13 HR, 47 RBI, 42 R, 30 BB (1 HBP), 29 K, 4 SB (1 CS), 1.144 OPS 38. Luken Baker, 1B, TCU: 31 games, .319/.443/.575, 9 HR, 26 RBI, 23 R, 24 BB (2 HBP), 18 K, 1 SB (1 CS), 1.018 OPS
Clemens cannot play SS. He's a hell of a 1Bman though, solid at 2B/3B. Great eye at the plate. Watch out for Zach Zubia the next 2 years. He's a beast.
Yeah unfortunately I think corner IF is where Clemens fits best, although he might be able to fill a utility role between 3B/1B/2B. I would love to see Houston snag him in the 7th or 8th round, but the way he’s hitting he may go before that.
