Running down a few transactions... Jason Alexander recalled to the Astros. I get it, he’s on the 40-man and can put in 5-6 innings without embarrassing himself. Him being a favorite of this board is kind of amusing, though. Pascanel Ferreras was placed on the Corpus IL. Cesar Hernandez was placed on the Asheville IL. OF Karniel Pratt, who was placed on the full-season IL down in the FCL last week, has been released. We'll have to wait a little longer for a big leaguer from the island of Saint Martin. Joey Dixon, who has pitched in one game since turning pro, was assigned to Fayetteville. Dixon was the Astros' 7th-round pick out of Stanford in 2023 and has missed two full seasons due to injury. His only action as a pro was one inning in an FCL game back in 2023. A few IFA signings were assigned to the DSL Blue team, probably for administrative purposes: RHP Cesar Pastrano, C Jeans Carrizalez, LHP Thomas Sveyda, RHP Angel Brito, and RHP Angel Alcantara.
I always get overly excited for those guys because I figure if the Astros held on to them for that long there must be some serious potential there.
I get your point........ but he really does have a special arm in the outfield.... not Willy Mo Pena special, but Jose Guillen level special.
Really hard to say. He was hired in 2023. In 2023 he did the following: His first draft had Brice Matthews, who is in the big leagues but off to a slow start. He also drafted Bloss and Jaworsky that were part of an important trade. He took Huezo, who has been very good at an early age for about the last year. There is still Ochoa as well, no idea how good he will be... In 2024 he did the following: Walker Janek (who I personally don't like) Ryan Forcucci was hurt and has only play 3 games. Joseph Sullivan and Cole Hertzler have looked good. In 2025 he did the following: He took Neyens who has looked excellent He did not have a second rounder, but he took Ethan Frey in 3rd round, who many people think is a good prospect. He also took 3-4 high schoolers and a couple of pitchers that scouts like. The international signings are very important too.... he took Kelvin Alvarez, who is clearly the Astros top prospect at this point. Scouts of other teams think he will be very good for a long time. In reality it is too early to judge him drafting IMO because he takes a lot of high schoolers and pitchers that require "work". Alvarez, Neyens, Huezo all were signed/drafted at a very early age (1-18) and stand out at the best of his classes. There are others that have a chance to be solid/controllable long term big leaguers like Sullivan/Frey/Forcucci/Hertzler/Janek but we wont know for a year or so. My observation is that he does very well drafting high schoolers - and his pitching picks aren't as good as those made in Atlanta, but he also had more draft picks and time for them to pan out in Atlanta and Toronto.
Branch Rickey is a Hall of Famer --- fought hard to sign Jackie Robinson, also signed Roberto Clemente, Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Bob Gibson, Stan Musial, Frank Robinson... tried like hell to get Hank Aaron and Willie Mays, but the owner wouldn't do it. As great as he was--- he had a chance to sign Mickey Mantle and passed on him, said he was too raw and stupid. Also passed on Harmon Killebrew for being fat and positionless. He was also wrong about Larry Doby and Monte Irvin.... who spent his last years living in an old folks home in Houston, he did not die that long ago.
Brett Gillis made it back from a similar situation last season and looked pretty good. Dixon was drafted in that 4th-10th round range where they've had success developing under the radar pitchers (Brown, Gordon, Arrighetti, Blubaugh, Pecko), so I've kinda been waiting to see what he can do under the Astros tutelage.
Good lord, that is a metric **** ton of HoF talent. Imagine being the owner who passed on Hank Aaron and Willie Mays.
Yup - it isn't hyperbole to say that Branch Rickey is one of the 5-10 most important people in the history of big-league baseball.
Jason Schiavone hit his 8th home run of the season for Asheville. Cole Hertzler: 5 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 6 K; he finished his outing by inducing an inning-ending double play. Hertzler threw 78 pitches, 51 of them were strikes.
@Nook or anyone else that would know- why do the Astros hate Ullola? Is it just walks? We don't require our MLB staff to throw strikes- he'd fit right in...
6.3 BB per 9 innings against AAA competition is a f**king joke. MLB hitters are gonna take him to the prison shower. I don't even know him and I hate him. Because he has upside, I imagine the Astros want to see him make some progress before they send him up to be assaulted.
Barry Larkin's grandfather lived in a nursing home I used to spray in Houston before he passed. Great man who used to play in the old Negro Leagues but quit and went to work for GM because he could make more money there than playing baseball.
Schiavone caps off a fine first month of the year by hitting his second homer of the night to cap off a 9-3 Asheville win. He now has 9 home runs on the season.
I think calls for Dana’s head are pre-mature. We’ve become a very spoiled fan base. I do think Espada was a poor choice and he should be replaced as soon as possible. Injuries to the pitching staff are not the general manager’s fault. I think the signings of Burrows and Imai will pay off in the long-term. The Tucker trade was great. He had no choice on Tucker or Framber. Hanging on to Arrighetti looks like a pretty good decision. The Astros are trying to stay competitive while letting their draft picks cook. He inherited an empty cabinet and is trying to re-stock the minor leagues. Matthews road splits are promising. May be nerves in front of the home crowd.
They view him as a knuckle head -- and while he has a devastating pitch, they don't want someone that walks a man an inning pitching in the post season or late in games. So, they hope for some maturity and for him to focus on his delivery more.
