SBN's John Sickels on the Astros Farm Systen
The Crawfish Boxes —
SBN's John Sickels on the Astros Farm Systen
He's not as hot on our guys as BPro was...
Sickels: Houston Astros Top 20 Prospects
BBTF's Baseball Primer Newsblog —
Sickels: Houston Astros Top 20 Prospects Shame, the Forrest Weatherford III era that never was to be. 1) Jason Castro, C, Grade B: Good glove, should provide some power, not sure if he’ll hit enough to be a genuine star or just a solid player. 2) Brian Bogusevic, OF, Grade B-: Good plate discipline, should hit for average, but lack of home run power may make him a fourth outfielder. However, you have to like the rapid adjustment he made, and the power may still come. 3) Bud Norris, RHP, Grade B-: Throws hard, but doesn’t change speeds well and seems better-suited to bullpen ...
Happy New Year 2009 From The Astros Dugout
The Astros Dugout —
... baseball again, let alone hit one. Not that the poor boy hit real too many BEFORE he caught spinal meningtis. Strange that the Astros picked 2 high school catchers, Ralph Henriquez and Max Sapp in the first 2 rounds and neither one was able to hit a lick even in the rookie league/low minors.
I still wonder of so many prospects fail because the tasks are simply too difficult for whatever talent they had, or if they were failed by their teachers.
2 - Somewhat better news: John Sickels of www.minorleagueball.com sez (translated) the Astros farm system sux. ...
Schadenfreude Time: The Astros!
Bucs Dugout —
... (.503; although, to the Astros' credit, they finally managed to get rid of Brad Ausmus), and Moehler and Hampton in their rotation. If any of their key players get injured, then it could get hilarious, because that's when Erstad, Boone or Michaels will join the lineup on a daily basis. I never thought I'd say this about any team, but the loss of Wigginton has the potential to be devastating; the step backward from Wigginton to Blum and Boone is enormous. The farm sy
stem, too, is a mess, and despite a decent 2008 draft, it'll be a while before ...
2009 NL Central Preview: Houston Astros
Bucs Dugout —
... While not all those players are unambiguously horrible and a few may even contribute, the Astros are paying way too much money for role players--the cost of all those players (including Boone, Michaels and Hampton) is about $19 million. If you have a farm system, you can pay the minimum a bunch of players to fill those jobs and spend the difference on a real contributor. The Astros, however, have one of the worst farm systems in the majors, and so they have no real choice but to look outside the organization for their supporting cast. ...
