I have been pretty encouraged by what I’ve seen from Singleton in his time with Houston this season. Thru 61 pa he has walked as much as he’s struck out, such that he’s been a roughly league average hitter despite a paltry .205 BABIP. Some of that bad babip is from a poor contact profile, which might be a real problem preventing him from posting a solid batting average or consistently getting to his massive power, but it might also be at least partly just bad luck. Anyway, as potential 13th position players go, I think you can do worse than a guy with elite lefty raw power who only k’s 17% of the time and knows how to draw walks. I’m perfectly willing to keep him on into April/May of next season to see what he can do and to have him first in line as Abreu-insurance at 1B.
Greg Maddux had the absolute sharpest pitching mind and pinpoint control I have ever witnessed. Giving him an extra 3-4 inches off the plate became an absolute cheat code for the Braves. Not salty... just expressing awe at how well he could exploit his talents.
Harry Caray: Yes! Hey! Now Ken we all know that the moon is not made of green cheese. Dr. Ken Waller: Yes... That’s true Harry. Harry Caray: But what if it were made of barbeque spare ribs? Would you eat it then? Dr. Ken Waller: What? Harry Caray: I know I would. Heck I’d have seconds. Then polish it off with a tall cool budweiser. I would do it. Dr. Ken Waller: Uhh, yeah Harry Caray: Would you. Dr. Ken Waller: I’m confused. Harry Caray: It’s a simple question. Would you eat the moon if it were made of ribs? Dr. Ken Waller: I don’t know how to answer that. Harry Caray: It’s not rocket science. Just say yes and we'll move on. Dr. Ken Waller: Yes!
I've posted this a jillion times, but here it goes again: "sound guy's got a pretty good curveball" cracks me up, still
CJ Stubbs hit a HR (13) for Corpus tonight. He has been a model of inconsistency this season. His ops by month: April .833 May .393 June .705 July .466 August .957 (going in to tonight) He has probably shown enough to get a spot as the 3rd C in AAA next season. But if he could just even things out he’d probably be a decent prospect. He’s already 26 so I am not holding my breath.
I'm not 100% up on the 4th option rules, but I have a hard time seeing Singleton not qualifying for a 4th option (unless they did away with the 4th option in the last CBA). Usually injuries is what causes a player to get a 4th option (lack of time on active roster), but not being on a 40-man (much less active) for almost all season would seem to have the same effect. Would being on the 40-man in Sugar Land (i.e., not DFA'd assuming Astros can get a 4th option) with likely some MLB time as an injury replacement be less financially?
Catchers do get banged up all of the time. IIRC CJ is slight of built of built so may be more susceptible to injury???
CJ is not a small guy. He’s 6’3” 210. His older brother Garrett is a little fella (listed at 5’10” 170 but having seen him up close he looks more like 5’8” 150).
Spoiler: Snake's Astros Top 30 Prospects: September Update Grade 55: 1. OF Colin Barber (December rank: 9): he looks a lot like Drew Gilbert with slightly less defensive value Grade 50: 2. SS Brice Matthews (NR): Early returns are pretty good, showing why he was drafted where he was, could be a slower developer. 3. OF Jacob Melton (5): Sample too small in AA but good sign that they moved him up. 4. OF/2B/1B Joey Loperfido (HM): I'm still very high on him, like Dezenzo he has hidden power and defensive value, potential star with high floor; move to AAA raises his stock a bit. 5. OF Luis Baez (21): shine has worn off just a bit in A ball but he's primed to level up again next season. 6. RHP Alonzo Tredwell (NR): Houston's highest ceiling pitching prospect, we won't know anything until next year 7. OF Kenedy Corona (HM): still showing really really well in AA, very high ceiling; likely to be on 40 man this offseason 8. 3B Zach Dezenzo (HM): k rate has crept up and leveled his stock a bit. Still, primed for another level up next season. Grade 45+: 9. OF/2B Pedro Leon (4): had a pretty good August, k rate is still high and overall value still very much tbd but his other tools are worth a lot (arm, raw power, speed, double digit walk rate) 10. RHP Spencer Arrighetti (15): I'm not as high as most but still view him as a SP4 or elite RP 11. LHP Colton Gordon (27): Pretty fast rise and he might have some more development upside given the injuries. 12. RHP Rhett Kouba (HM): promotion to AAA was a great sign. 13. 2B Will Wagner (HM): thinking I have been sleeping on him. He has produced too consistently, he is likely to be a MLB contributor. 14. OF/3B Tyler Whitaker (17): early returns in High A (wRC+ of 153 thru 48 pa) are encouraging; breakout candidate next season. 15. RHP Jaime Melendez (11): this was a lost season but I'm expecting him to come back strong next year 16. RHP Andrew Taylor (10): stock down a bit because he's kind of middling in A ball, may develop a little more slowly than expected but big ceiling still there. Grade 45: 17. RHP Jake Bloss (NR): 3rd rd pick has very interesting profile, will just have to see what he looks like next year 18. RHP Jose Fleury (HM): 12.2 k/9, good stuff, may develop slow but he has a high ceiling 19. RHP Carlos Espinosa (HM): Made it to full season and has very good stuff. 2024 breakout candidate. 20. SS Chase Jaworsky (NR): overslot HS draftee, my opinion of Dana Brown is doing the heavy lifting ranking him this high; nice bb/k split in early FCL action. 21. IF Shay Whitcomb (HM): k/bb ratio is a red flag but SS who hit 30+ HR in a minor league season usually get a shot in the big leagues. 22. OF Quincy Hamilton (HM): At minimum looks like a quality 4th OF. 23. RHP Ryan Gusto (HM): I was in on him when they drafted him but let the late start and Asheville numbers scare me off; I'm back in on him as a solid Bor/MR guy. He has looked good in AA so far. Grade 40+: 24. RHP Michael Knorr (HM): doesn't stand out because of being homer prone but he's been good in High A, big time breakout candidate in AA next season; probably has the highest ceiling of the 2022 college p draftees. 25. RHP AJ Blubaugh (HM): promotion to AA makes him a breakout guy for early 2024 26. RHP Nolan DeVos (HM): pretty middling in High A but I'm still high on him. 27. LHP Trey Dombroski (HM): was pretty dominant in A ball, not sure why he wasn't moved up to Asheville. 28. RHP Forrest Whitley (7): injury and flat performance, near the end of the line; out of options so may breakout in the MLB bullpen next year 29. C Miguel Palma (HM): Probably Houston's best catching prospect but that's not saying much. 30. OF Cam Fisher (NR): may have more speed/defensive value than I initially thought. Won't know much until next year. Honorable Mention / Grade 40+: C: none IF: Camilo Diaz, Cristian Gonzalez, Waner Luciano, Alberto Hernandez OF: Nehomar Ochoa Jr., Esmil Valencia, Anthonly Huezo, Kenni Gomez, Jordan Brewer, Zach Cole, Justin Dirden P: Julio Robaina, Manuel Urias, Aaron Brown, ALimber Santa, Miguell Ullola, Raimy Rodriguez, Jose Guedez, Alex Santos II, Angel Macuare, Misael Tamarez, Jairo Solis Honorable Mention / Grade 40: C: JC Correa, Luke Berryhill, Carlos Cauro, CJ Stubbs, Garret Guillemette, Will Bush IF: Alejando Nunez, German Ramirez OF: Zach Daniels, Logan Cerny, Eduardo Perez P: Diosmerky Taveras, Valente Bellozo, Ethan Pecko, LA Rodriguez, Luis Vega, Blair Henley, Adrian CHaidez, Yeriel Santos, Jayden Murray Honorable Mention / Grade 35+: C: Juan Santander, Luis Encarnacion, Collin Price, John Garcia, Fernando Caldera, Andrews Sosa, Jancel Villarroel, Nerio Rodriguez, Kedaur Trujillo, Sandro Gaston IF: Dauri Lorenzo, Luis Colon, Jeron Williams, Xavier Casserilla, Narbe Cruz, Rafael Ramirez, Darwin De Leon, Tommy Sacco Jr., Sandro Pereira, Chad Stevens, Tim Borden II, Ryan Johnson OF: Roiner Quintana, Cristopfer Gonzalez, Richi Gonzalez, Kobe Kato, Karniel Pratt, Jackson Loftin, Ariel Lebron, Rolando Espinosa, Ross Adolph P: the rest of them Traded: Drew Gilbert (2), Korey Lee (6), Ryan Clifford (13) Graduated: Hunter Brown (1), Yainer Diaz (3), Shawn Dubin (14), Corey Julks (18), JP France (25), Grae Kessinger (HM) Released: Joe Perez (8) Fell off the top 30: Alex Santos II (12), Jayden Murray (16), Justin Dirden (19), Kenni Gomez (20), Cristian Gonzalez (22), Misael Tamarez (23), Miguel Ullola (24), Adrian Chaidez (26), Julio Robaina (28), Angel Macuare (29), Tyler Brown (30) With all the minor league seasons winding down I doubt the rankings will change much until next April. I plan on doing a positional analysis next month. This farm is below average but is only 3-4 Top 100 prospects away from being above average because the depth is still pretty good.
When you say only 3-4 top 100 prospects away from average isn’t that sort of like saying yeah/ our system is terrible?
I didn’t say “average”, I said “above average”. In terms of the national publications/sites, yes, lacking any top 100 prospects will result in the system being labeled as “terrible” or “empty”. But in my opinion that’s not an accurate description of the state of Houston’s farm. The system certainly lacks nationally recognized top end talent. But they have good depth, and they have a good number of 2nd/3rd tier prospects with the upside to be impact players in the majors. Yainer Diaz, Hunter Brown, and especially JP France are all rookies among the top 15 contributors on a contending team, and none of them were consensus Top 100 prospects; hell, France wasn’t even a consensus Org top 20 prospect. So Houston doesn’t have the kind of prospects that headline blockbuster trades or generate hype years in advance, but they do have prospects who end up as #3 or #4 SP or borderline star everyday position players, and that’s really all Houston needs to keep their window open (for now). Most people will rank Houston’s farm in the 28-30 range, but I think when you consider depth and not just that 1st tier, they are likely really in the 22-25 range; that’s well below average, but not “terrible”. A lot of teams just don’t have the pitching development and 3rd/4th tier position player depth that Houston has.
