Hunsicker was a lot better GM than he gets credit for in my opinion. Surely he made his mistakes, but he was pretty hamstrung by Drayton. Drafted Oswalt, Berkman, Lidge, Ensberg, Wade Miller....the Randy Johnson Trade...signed Caminiti We were closer to having a dynastic run back then than most realize
He was really good, not great. No ringss, I wonder how much of that was on restrictions put on Hunsicker by Drayton?
The expansion draft in 1997 was a killer. Teams could only protect 15 players from their entire organization. They had Brad Ausmus, Craig Biggio, Jeff Bagwell, Tim Bogar, and Derek Bell all starters 31 or under who had 2.3 WAR or better in 1997. These players would be snatched up quickly if left exposed. They had traded for Moises Alou a week earlier who also fits there. They had Mike Hampton, Chris Holt, Shane Reynolds, and Ramon Garcia as SP under 30 who had positive seasons. They had 25 year old relievers Billy Wagner and Jose Cabrera who were off to very good starts to their careers. They had Baseball America top prospects who were highly regarded at the time. Richard Hidalgo 22 yrs old #19 overall Carlos Guillen 21 yrs old #27 overall Bobby Abreu 23 yrs old #38 overall Russ Johnson 24 yrs old and #4 in system. Daryle Ward 22 yrs old and #9 in system Scott Elarton 22 yrs old was #77 overall in 1996. They had just drafted Lance Berkman in June. They also had highly regarded 20 yr old Freddy Garcia who was a main piece in the trade to get Randy Johnson less than a year later. Thats 20 players. Which 15 are you protecting? (try to keep hindsight out of it)
Unfortunately Drayton McClane tied the hands of his GM’s way too often. The fiasco that was the Doug Drabek and Greg Swindell initial signings, ended up expediting the trading of Finley and Caminiti, as McClane dreaded having to pay Caminiti and Finley. I liked Derek Bell, he was a nice player, but he was no all star caliber type of player.
https://www.mlb.com/astros/news/houston-astros-2023-organization-all-stars?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage Mostly pretty bland comments from farm director Jacob Buffa. I guess Zach Cole is a breakout candidate given how many mentions he’s getting for his ceiling, and RP Cole McDonald is worth keeping an eye on. Usually there’s a few more meaningful comments in those annual prospect articles but that might be Buffa’s MO or the farm might really be less exciting.
Many of his mentions are players I have listed as non prospects for years and he ignores many of the top prospects in the organization. I am distressed by Buffa's outlook and expect better.
Yeah there’s been multiple sources talking about “5 tools” with him. But I am always super skeptical of guys with k rates that high.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/12/mlb-announces-spring-breakout-prospect-series.html Cool. I wonder how it’ll be structured, seems like kind of a pain in the ass to make all those kids fly to meet up from FL or AZ. I’m guessing it’ll just be 8 teams total (4 each in FL and AZ) playing a little 4 team tourney, maybe 7-8 prospects from each team.
Zach Cole will be interesting. Either we will hear nothing about him next year and he will be released 18 months from now or he will get to AA/AAA and be a top 75 prospect.
I remember someone described him as LH Logan Cerny, but at least he made the jump to high A better. I definitely share your skepticism. I don't think that was really a great article to get insight from Buffa since he's commenting on a certain set of players, most of whom were in the high minors.
I have been of the opinion that Arraghetti is a single inning relief pitcher for some time, on the other hand I have Zach Cole in AA on my 24 projected roster now. Too soon maybe but not by much.
My understanding is that beginning in 2024, all organizations can have a max of 165 players in the minors, excluding DSL leagues. They can keep up to 175 during the off season. Counting the 14 guys on the MLB 40 man who will need to be optioned when the season starts, I count 177 players currently. I'm not sure how injuries or exceptions like restricted list play into that but right now it looks like at least 12 players will need to be released before the season starts. Plus if any DSL guys get promoted a spot will need to be made for them.
I have 160 before I even get to the FCL, sounds like I need an update badly. Recounted, still 160, 213 after adding FCL leaving 38 to cut.
