Some Christmas Gifts for Astros Farm Followers

I have been out of pocket for most of the last week and haven't been able to share all the neat things I have come across lately. Let's get right to it with a few cool links.

First ScoutingtheSally.com has a super scouting report of Jose Altuve. Mike does a great job of breaking down the good & the bad of Jose's game. Here is his conclusion:

As you can tell, this scouting report has much more assumption in it than most of what I write. With a prospect like Jose Altuve, it’s needed because there’s simply not another player to compare him to. In all honesty, the easy out is to simply write Altuve off as a AAAA-utility type at the major league level due to his lack of size. However, if Jose Altuve really was his listed Baseball Reference height/weight of 6’1″, 185 lbs., we’d be discussing a surefire top-100 prospect and one of the top-5 position prospects I scouted in 2010. So while I can’t say he will ever be an impact talent, to rule out a scenario where he does not at least become a second division starter and instant fan favorite would be irresponsible of me.

I recommend you follow Mike on Twitter @ScoutingtheSAL. He will be expanding his minors coverage over the next season beyond just the Sally League.

I also found this great quote from Jose Altuve about his height via Google Translator:

"I do not know, because I have long since I measure and I have no idea," he says"No need to pay attention to what people say," he says of his size, and "keep fighting for what you want and in the U.S. and it does not matter,"

Secondly, let's stay at second base. Dave Gershman, over at SPANdemonium, interviewed former G-Stro Albert Cartwright. Dave asked him about his off season preparation and here is Albert's reply.

Preparing my self mental and physically to endure the the long brutal season ahead of me. pushing yourself in the gym and putting time on the field and in the batting cages. putting in time gets me ready for the season

Dave can be followed on Twitter @Dave_Gershman. He is out of NY state and follows minors prospects from every team.

Finally Baseball Prospectus released it's Top 11 Astros prospects. Here are the former Greeneville Astros on the list:

Four Star: Jordan Lyles & Delino Deshields
Three Star: Mike Foltynewicz, J. D. Martinez
Two Star: Jio Mier, Jose Altuve

In the "Nine More" category, other former G-Stros were mentioned. They included: Telvin Nash, Jay Austin, & Ross Seaton.

They have write ups on the first 11 which include the "starred" athletes above.

G-stros Name Field Staff

The Greeneville Astros announced their field staff yesterday. Leading the 2011 edition of the G-Stros will be Omar Lopez. He will be returning to the Appy League where he had the best season of his pro career with the Bristol White Sox in 1996. He was the Houston Astros Player Development Man of the Year last year in his role as manager for the Gulf Coast League Astros.

Joining Lopez will be Josh Bonifay as hitting coach & Rick Aponte as pitching coach. Bonifay, the son of former Pirates GM Cam Bonifay, was a player/coach the last three years with the Pirates organization. Here is what he had to say about joining the Astros:

"Houston called for an opportunity within their player development department as a hitting coach at a low-level rookie team," Bonifay said. "It was my first opportunity to have a full-time gig as a hitting coach and a longtime goal to continue my career in baseball.

"I am extremely fortunate for the opportunity, and I look forward to a long career as a coach."

Aponte returns to Greeneville where he served as the pitching coach in 2009. He was in Lexington last year.

To update you on the where abouts of other former G-Stros field staff see this list:

Ed Romero - (2010 manager) - Gulf Coast League Astros Manager
Rodney Linares (2007-2009 manager) - Lexington Legends Manager
Tim Bogar - (2004 manager) - MLB Red Sox 3rd base coach (will get his shot as a manager before long).
Stubby Clapp - (2007 & 2009 hitting coach) - Tri Cities Valley Cats Manager
D. J. Boston - (2008 hitting coach) - Danville Braves Hitting Coach
Travis Driskill - (2008 pitching coach) - Lancaster Jethawks Pitching Coach
Dave Borkowski - (2010 pitching coach) - Lexington Legends Pitching Coach

Other Appy League mangers for 2011 include:
Bristol White Sox - Pete Rose Jr.
Danville Braves - Randy Ingle
Pulaski Mariners - Rob Mummua

Polin Trinidad Now A Cub

Polin Trinidad was a free agent this year and Baseball America has announced that he has been signed to a minor league contract by the Cubs. Here is what BA had to say about Trinidad.

Polin Trinidad sits in high 80s with a nice changeup. His funky angles and relatively young age (26) means he's still young enough to embark on a career as a lefty reliever.

Trinidad pitched for Greeneville in 2005 & 2006. He showed tremendous improvement from 05 to 06 and made several Astros top prospect list. He has been a starter for his entire time in the Astros organization, starting 125 of 138 games.

He has had a solid winter ball as a starter. Best of luck to Trinidad in the next phase of his career.

USA Today Likes Four Former Greeneville Astros

USA Today is out with their organization report for the Astros. It is not too bad other than the editor goof of the heading "where the Royals stand at each position". When they list the five prospects to watch, four of them played in Greeneville in the last three years. Just another indication of the recent depth added to the farm system by Ed Wade & company.

Here is what they say about the former G-Stros:

•RHP Lyles: Lyles, who stands 6-4, was 7-9 with a 3.12 ERA and a better than 3-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio at Class AA Corpus Christi (Texas) last season. He had six starts at Class AAA (0-3, 5.40 ERA), and Wade says he'll have a chance to win the fifth-starter's job in spring training.

•2B-OF Delino DeShields Jr.: Taken out of high school with the eighth overall pick in June's draft, DeShields has the speed you'd expect from the son of someone who stole 463 bases in the majors. DeShields, 18, has a bit more power than his father did. The Astros are converting him from outfielder to second baseman.

•OF J.D. Martinez: The Astros' minor league player of the year in 2010, Martinez hit a combined .341 with 18 homers and 89 RBI in low-A and AA, mostly as a 22-year-old.

"He has a chance to be a real solid big-leaguer for a long time," Wade says.

•RHP Mike Foltynewicz: The Illinois high school star was the Astros' first-round compensation pick in June (19th overall) for losing reliever Jose Valverde to the Detroit Tigers as a free agent.

Foltynewicz, 19, can touch 96 mph with his fastball and also has a good changeup. He started 12 games for an Astros rookie-level team and went 0-3 with a 4.03 ERA, but he has the mechanics and the arm to move quickly through the system.

Meanwhile, Koby Clemens gets Boston love.

Koby Clemens, 1B, Astros farm system — Nobody took him in the Rule 5 draft, but that wasn’t surprising. The 24-year-old Clemens hit 26 homers and knocked in 85 runs while hitting .241 at Double A, but he struck out 143 times in 452 at-bats. Astros manager Brad Mills raved about him, though. “I saw him hit a home run through this incredibly stiff wind during an intrasquad game at spring training last year,’’ Mills said. “He’s got power.’’ Clemens played first base last season for the first time after being used as catcher/third baseman. The Astros still believe he can be a Brandon Inge type of player and he will get to play at Triple A in 2011.

Power is not what comes to mind when I think about Brandon Inge. It's the baggy jersey.

Jeiller An A

Today was the Rule 5 draft at the Winter Meetings. The Rule 5 draft is a way for MLB to try to make sure no organization is stockpiling young talent down on the farm just to keep them from other teams. Each team gets to protect 40 players on their major league roster. Those can't be taken in the Major League portion of the Rule 5 draft. If you take a player (the Astros took two today) you have the option of keeping them on your 25 man active roster all year and paying $50,000 to the team you drafted them from, or if you don't want to keep them at the major league level, you can work out a trade for them. If you decide you don't want to keep the player, you just ship them back to the team they came from. You get some of your money back but not all.

In the minor league portion, the players are protected by being on the AAA or AA reserved list. The options are the same but the money is less and you don't have to keep the player in the same level they were drafted in.

Today, Jeiler Castillo was taken in the AAA portion of the Rule 5 draft by the A's. I was surprised by this selection. Castillo first appeared in Greeneville in 2008. That year, he had more walks (21) than Ks (18) in 20 2/3 IP. He returned in 2009 and showed improved control. However, the ball left the yard more frequently. In 2010, he started the season with Tri Cities of the NY Penn League and was sent down to Greeneville after appearing in just 3 games. He was told he was coming down to anchor the bullpen for a team the Astros thought had a chance to win the league. He had his best year yet but was visibly discouraged at the end of the year. Three seasons in the Appy League normally doesn't bode well for your career.

I am hoping that this opportunity will be good for Jeiler. He is having a good winter in Venezuela. He is pitching in the Liga Paralela (LVBP minors) for Caracas. He is 5-0 with a 2.15 ERA in 29 1/3 IP (7 appearances/3 starts).

Jeiler is not the first former G-Stro to leave the organization via the Rule 5 draft. Neil Sellers, Santo Luis & Victor Garate were all selected in the minor league portion of Rule 5 drafts.