This is a stupid question. Is Greenville a lower class than Tri City? I'm assuming it is, but I'm not completely sure. I'd like to catch a friend of mine, and see Koby Clemens in action once they are moved to Tri-City if it is a higher class. Thanks.
Yes Greenville is a lower class than Tri-City. Greenville is in the Appalachian League which is a Rookie-Level League. Tri-City is in the New York-Penn League which is a short-season Class A League. Greenville's roster made of mostly players for who were drafted out of high school, community colleges, or small universities. Tri-City is for more advanced players from usually big universities. Koby will report to Greenville on Monday. Who is your friend at Greenville? Is it Ryan Mitchell? If it is, the Astros found a gem. He is pitching really well right now in Greenville, he has like a 1.17 ERA.
I think it is. It's listed as "R" while Tri City is "A". I'm not sure what R stands for. http://houston.astros.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/minorleagues/team_index.jsp?c_id=hou
Yes it is. I finally figured out that that's where they shipped him. When he was 12 or 13, he was ranked as the top prospect of his age, but his fastball never picked up I guess. He still throws about 94, though. At Magnolia(he was drafted out of high school...local school..my old school), he wasn't surrounded with anyone remotely of his talent, which is why his high school stats were skewed, and he wasn't picked as high. Honestly, I was surprised when he didn't go in the top 10 rounds, but hey, that worked to our advantage. I played football on the offensive line next to him throughout junior high, then went to high school with him for 2 years until I moved. Good, nice kid. I want to meet up with him when he comes into town to play the local minor league team here. Maybe I'll get lucky, and he'll get moved up to Tri-City before they come to town on the 26th(I think), but that's doubtful.
while were on the minor league topic i have a question of my own. who are our big up and comers in the minors? i looked at stats for all our farm teams, and it didnt seem like we had any shoe-ins. then again im no master evaluator of talent. in other words, whos most likely to be shipped out in a deal for a heavy hitter?
Pitchers Fernando Nieve (AAA) Taylor Buckholz (AAA) Jason Hirsch (AA) Mark McLemore(AA) Troy Patton (A Salem) Robert Stiehl (A Salem) James Barthmaier(A Lexington) Brian Bogusevic (assigned to Tri-Cities, hasn't started playing yet) Hitters Todd Self 1B/OF (AAA) Luke Scott OF (AAA) Hector Gimenez C (AA) Josh Anderson OF (AA) Hunter Pence OF (A Lexington) Mitch Einertson OF (A Lexington) Tommy Manzella (Low A Tri-Cities) Eli Iorg OF Pitching wise, we've got some very good talent not far away from being able to contribute to the big club. Offensively, it's going to be a dry few years unless someone turns it around. The best offensive player currently in AAA is 32 years old (Mike Coolbaugh). Some might say that Hector Gimenez is not a C prospect, but he has really turned it around offensively in AA this year. He leads the Hooks in rbi, is second in hr's, and is hitting .286. Hunter Pence is the real stud right now. It's amazed many that he hasn't at least been promoted to high A Salem or even AA Corpus. Tommy Manzella has been off to a good start so far. Eli Iorg and Brian Bogusevic were the highest draft picks and have yet to suit up.
Baeball America usually has the best insight for our prospects. Some of these guy you've already seen but this article is from January. TOP TEN PROSPECTS 1. Chris Burke, 2b 2. Ezequiel Astacio, rhp 3. Willy Taveras, of 4. Mitch Einertson, of 5. Troy Patton, lhp 6. Matt Albers, rhp 7. Taylor Buchholz, rhp 8. Fernando Nieve, rhp 9. Josh Anderson, of 10. Hunter Pence, of Best Hitter for Average Chris Burke Best Power Hitter Mitch Einertson Best Strike-Zone Discipline Todd Self Fastest Baserunner Willy Taveras Best Athlete Charlton Jimerson Best Fastball Ezequiel Astacio Best Curveball Taylor Buchholz Best Slider Chad Qualls Best Changeup Mitch Talbot Best Control Ezequiel Astacio Best Defensive Catcher Hector Gimenez Best Defensive Infielder Wladimir Sutil Best Infield Arm Tommy Whiteman Best Defensive Outfielder Willy Taveras Best Outfield Arm Charlton Jimerson TOP PROSPECTS OF THE DECADE 1995 Brian Hunter, of 1996 Billy Wagner, lhp 1997 Richard Hidalgo, of 1998 Richard Hidalgo, of 1999 Lance Berkman, of 2000 Wilfredo Rodriguez, lhp 2001 Roy Oswalt, rhp 2002 Carlos Hernandez, lhp 2003 John Buck, c 2004 Taylor Buchholz, rhp After underachieving in 2002 and 2003, the Astros appeared to be doing more of the same last year. By late August, they had wasted most of the buzz from bringing Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte back home and hosting their first All-Star Game at Minute Maid Park. When Houston dropped two of three home games to the Cubs, it fell to 61-62 and a distant sixth in the National League wild-card race. Then the Astros suddenly reversed course, winning 31 of their final 39 games to surge into the playoffs. They beat the Braves in the Division Series and took a three-games-to-two lead in the Championship Series before the Cardinals rallied to deny them a trip to the World Series. That disappointment only took away slightly from the most successful season in the franchise’s 44-year history, both on the field (Houston never had won a postseason series before) and at the box office (the club drew a record 3,087,872 fans). Shortly after the World Series ended, the architect of the Astros’ success resigned. General manager Gerry Hunsicker tired of haggling with owner Drayton McLane over big league payroll and player-development costs. Hunsicker presided over five playoff teams in nine years. Though he never had the biggest budget or the deepest farm system, Hunsicker was able to make trades both large (Carlos Beltran) and small (Brandon Backe) to address the team’s needs. Fortunately for Houston, it had one of the game’s top GM prospects on hand to replace Hunsicker. Assistant GM/farm director Tim Purpura was immediately promoted and spent much of his first winter as GM waiting for Beltran to decide if he’d accept a club-record $105 million contract offer. Beltran ultimately declined, costing the Astros a dynamic talent. Virtually every key management position has seen a change since the beginning of the 2004 season. Houston hired Tigers farm director Ricky Bennett to fill Purpura’s old role. Hunsicker reassigned scouting director David Lakey in June and gave those duties to Paul Ricciarini, the club’s coordinator of pro scouting. The farm system has gone through upheaval on the field as well, after sliding from third in Baseball America’s talent ratings after 2001 to 29th after 2003. Five of Houston’s 10 best prospects, including four of the top five, have joined the organization since the end of the 2003 season. Righthanders Ezequiel Astacio and Taylor Buchholz arrived in the Billy Wagner trade with the Phillies. Outfielder Willy Taveras was plucked from the Indians in the major league Rule 5 draft, and Hunsicker swung a deal with Cleveland to retain his rights. Outfielders Mitch Einerston and Hunter Pence and lefthander Troy Patton were products of Lakey’s last draft, with early returns indicating it may have been one of his best. Einertson, Pence, Patton and several other draft picks contributed heavily to Astros affiliates winning championships in the short-season New York-Penn and Rookie-level Appalachian leagues.
