I want to track the progress of our minor league players. Here are the rosters now..

A * means a player I just noticed made the respective roster.

Round Rock
P Alberto Arias
P Josh Banks
P Jonah Bayliss
P Yorman Bazardo
P Gustavo Chacin
P Roy Corcoran
P Casey Daigle
P Evan Englebrook
P Wilton Lopez
P Shane Loux
P Gary Majewski
P Polin Trinidad
P Jose Valdez
P Andy Van Hekken
P Wesley Wright

C Kevin Cash
C Jason Castro

SS Michael Garciaparra *
2B Matt Kata
2B Edwin Maysonnet
2B Drew Meyer
SS Oswaldo Navarro
1B Chris Shelton

OF Brian Bogusevic
OF Jason Bourgeois
OF Collin DeLome
OF Andrew Locke
OF Yordany Ramirez

Notes: Castro will be in the majors soon. Every single player in the outfield has the potential to be a bench player on the Stros this year. I really like DeLome as he has some power and a decent average. He really needs to work on strikeouts though. Kata is not even on the 40 man this year. Arias, Bazardo, and Wright will all see time in the majors this year.

Corpus Christi
P Fernando Abad
P Erik Abreu
P Douglas Arguello
P T.J. Burton
P Jeremy Johnson *
P Chia-Jen Lo
P Tyler Lumsden
P Jordan Lyles
P Daniel Meszaros
P Sergio Perez
P Matt Nevarez
P Henry Villar

C Brian Espisito
C Lou Santangelo
SS Marcos Cabral *
1B Koby Clemens
2B German Duran
3B John Florentino
DH James Van Ostrand
SS Wladimir Sutil

OF David Cook
OF Jonathon Gaston
OF Jack Shuck
OF TJ Steele

Notes: Obviously this roster is not complete. Gaston moves up from the launchpad of Lancaster. They are hoping he can keep up the power numbers and limit strikeouts. I fully expect to see T.J. Steele and Brandon Barnes move up here too. Koby Clemens returns to Corpus after a recovery second half with Lancaster. Hopefully he finally shows what he can do. The biggest move is Jordan Lyles fresh out of the draft last year, and skipping Lancaster this year. I guess they dont want to scar him with all the extra base his in that park. He is also our best pitching talent. He needs to dominate here and start next season at Spring Training.

Updated Corpus notes: Both catchers move down from AAA. Both are aging and not getting any better. TJ Steele and Jack Shuck moved up which should prove good. This team looks very young and very solid. If Lyles and ONE of Gaston or Steele can make spring training next year, we might have some SOLID young talent. I honestly think Gaston is going to be the replacement for Carlos Lee when he is done here. If Bourn doesn't produce the next couple seasons, he will have competition from Steele and Jay Austin. The youth is climbing!

Lancaster
P David Berner
P Leandro Cespedes
P Brad Dydalewicz
P Kyle Godfrey
P Kyle Greenwalt
P Dallas Kuechel
P Ashton Mowdy
P Ross Seaton
P Patrick Urckfitz
P Brian Wabick
P Edwin Walker
P Shane Wolf

C Jordan Comadena
C Federico Hernandez
C Jose Lopez

2B Barry Butera
2B Albert Cartwright
3B Rayner Contreras
3B David Flores
1B Mark Ori
3B Ebert Rosario
SS Brandon Wikoff

OF Jay Austin
OF Brandon Barnes
OF Josh Flores
OF Freddy Parejo

Notes: The biggest standout on this roster is the young pitching talent from the last two drafts. Ross Seaton, Kyle Godfrey, Kyle Greenwalt, Dallas Keuchel all have the ability to make the majors. I think Seaton finishes this season with Lyles in Corpus unless he shows he is not ready for the day in day out of the full season. I do get scared about the park they are pitching in. They need to keep a good composure as they WILL get rocked a bit. I also like this outfield. Im surprised Brandon Barnes didnt move to Corpus, but he will eventually. Jay Austin is a Michael Bourn clone. The infielders are nothing special.

I will have Lexington update soon.

[This message has been edited by mazag08 (edited 4/9/2010 2:24p).]

[This message has been edited by mazag08 (edited 4/9/2010 2:25p).]

Don't forget about...

Brad Dydalewicz the lefty that was drafted with Lyles and Seaton.

Dallas Keuchel the lefty from Arkansas also had a good 1st year.

Jose Altuve the 20 year 2nd basemen that made it to Tri-City.

Not forgetting. They will be mentioned when the roster completely fill out.

I though you were going to list our major league roster as a joke... But i like the thread...

Triple A - a bunch of has beens and never will be's plus Bogasevic and Castro. Not much help on the way there. Wesley Wright is what he is. A AAAA pitcher.

Round Rock at Corpus last night...

RR won 2-0.

Lyle's stat line
5.2 IP 5H 1ER 0BB 69 pitches - 50 strikes

Here's the write up...
http://www.caller.com/news/2010/apr/06/coming-up-short/

updated!

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Triple A - a bunch of has beens and never will be's plus Bogasevic and Castro. Not much help on the way there. Wesley Wright is what he is. A AAAA pitcher.

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It's simply a reflection of how bad the scouting/drafting/signing has been. It's like a kid who keeps getting moved up from grade to grade just because the teachers want to pass him - can't do the work but can't leave him at the lower level either.

The good news (4-5 years down the road) is that the problem seems to have been addressed.

The purpose of AAA is much different than 5 years ago. AAA is mainly used for big league injury replacements. Very rarely do legit prospects spend much time in AAA, Castro shouldn't be there longer than 2-3 months. I still can't believe that Quintero is holding down a major league roster spot.

AA is where the focus needs to be, and they are off to a 3-0 start. The outfield of Gaston-Shuck-Steele is one to watch. As is the play of Koby Clemens at 1st.

Why would you think Clemens is a prospect? He's been stuck at A ball for 5 years. That's not a prospect.

he may not be a prospect

but you know he has connections in that he can get large quantities of steroids for bargain prices, which can help our other minor leaguers

I was really hoping that Maysonette would get a shot this year. I know he doesn't stand out as a top prospect, but there is just something I like about the way he plays the game. Other than that, AAA is really lacking in players. Maybe the light will go on for Bogusevic, but that isn't likely. Delome, while possessing some good speed and power, has no idea what the strike zone looks like.

It will be a long road to find someone other than Castro who will help this team from the farm system. The best bet is the collection of young pitchers drafted last year, but we are most likely looking at 2013 before someone can contribute.

Players that should be able to legitimately help by 2012:

C Jason Castro
OF Jonathon Gaston
OF TJ Steele
P Jordan Lyles
P Chia-Jen Lo
IF Koby Clemens (if he shows something this year)

Players that should be able to legitimately help by 2013:

OF Jay Austin
SS Jiovanni Meier
P Ross Seaton
OF Jack Shuck
P Brad Dydalewicz
P Kyle Greenwalt

These are the ones that have the biggest "chance" at contributing more than Towles to the big club. I also like 3B Jonathon Meyer, but he is still more of a project than not.

mazag you lose all credibility when you consider Clemens a prospect. He's been a 5 year A ball player. That's not a prospect. They just need a body at some position and they throw him in there.

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mazag you lose all credibility when you consider Clemens a prospect. He's been a 5 year A ball player. That's not a prospect. They just need a body at some position and they throw him in there.

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So if he hits 30+ bombs between AA and AAA as a 23 old, he's no longer a propect?

He's now in his 6th year after taking 5 years to move above A ball. What if he hits 30 bombs? Who knows. It certainly isn't something he's done at A ball.

5 years in A ball just doesn't sound like the career path of a legitimate prospect to me.

He moved to AA last year and had a bit of a slump. The dude is not even 24 yet. He did have a great second half, and they are expecting big things from him this year. Like I said, if he proves something this year, he will start next year in spring training and will be on the cusp.

I've tried to post nothing but facts on this thread, and I have been clear everywhere I have stated my opinions. If you would rather me not provide any insight on a subject which I keep very up to date on, I can easily stop posting on this subject.

I just don't see Clemens doing anything to help the Astros in the future. They drafted him as a favor to his dad, he never has had a real position and doesn't have that good of a bat. I'd be shocked if he does well in AA. He is a career .249 hitter in the minors with a slugging % under .400. That isn't getting you anywhere.

lol it gets you years on the astros. ask adam everett, chris burke and brad ausmus, all of which sucked and wouldn't be starting for any other winning franchise

Don't forget Quintero and Towles.

I'm fairly certain that Ausmus' career .250 average in the majors is better than anything Clemens has accomplished in the minors. A minor league DH who can't hit in the minors has no place in the majors.

They are nothing special, but Ausmus, Everrett, and Burke all played key roles on the World Series team.

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They are nothing special, but Ausmus, Everrett, and Burke all played key roles on the World Series team.

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The loss of Everett and Pettitte were the 2 biggest reasons why the Astros didn't go to the World Series in 2004.

if those are the reasons why you DONT go to the WS, that is incredibly sad and pathetic

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He's now in his 6th year after taking 5 years to move above A ball. What if he hits 30 bombs? Who knows. It certainly isn't something he's done at A ball.

5 years in A ball just doesn't sound like the career path of a legitimate prospect to me.

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1/10 of the way there through 6 games.

Clemens, Gaston, Steele, Barnes, and Jonathon Meyer seem to be having the most early season success so far.

Went to a Hooks/Drillers game the other night and both pitchers looked good, especially Arguello for the Hooks. He got pulled in the 7th for Lo, who threw 8 or 10 balls in a row and then struck out three batters with fastballs above 90mph. From where I was sitting I could not tell how much movement they had on them.

Wladimir Sutil made some fine plays at shortstop. Too bad he is so little.

The Hooks look to be loaded this year.

Clemens I am still agnostic on but in the game against the Express and this one he looked to be able to hit for power and have some patience.

Clemens hit #4 tonight. Lyles threw 6 innings of 2 hit shutout baseball. Struck out 5. Not bad for a 19 year old in AA.

I see there is this guy named Berkman in AAA, OPS over 1.000. Looks like he may be player.

5 years in the minors is not that long for a prospect drafted straight from high school. He is now at AA, which is where a prospect should be at his age if he's going to become a major league hitter.

Give the guy this year and see what he can do; I see a lot of "Roger Clemens= t-sip" hate on this thread that should be totally irrelevant if you're actually an Astros fan.

Round Rock batting so far..

C Jason Castro: .241/ no 2B, 3B, or HR/ 1 RBI/ 6 BB, 4 SO
2B Matt Kata: .171
2B Edwin Maysonnet: .244/ 2 3B/ 7 RBI/ 2 BB, 15 SO, 2 Steal
2B Drew Meyer: .181
1B Chris Shelton: .297

OF Brian Bogusevic: .297/ 1 2B, 1 HR/ 5 RBI/ 3 BB, 7 SO
OF Jason Bourgeois: .359/ 1 2B/ 3 RBI/ 5 BB, 5 SO, 10 steals, 0 caught stealing wow
OF Collin DeLome: .273/ 1 2B/ 3 HR/ 7 RBI/ 0 BB, 2 SO, 1.032 OPS
OF Andrew Locke: .094
OF Yordany Ramirez: .286/ 1 2B, 1 HR/ 5 RBI/ 1 BB, 4 SO, 2 steal

Looks like Bourgeois would make a GREAT pinch hitter/ runner in the majors. We know if Bourn ever slumps we might have an option.

I like how DeLome is keeping up his power numbers from last year. And it looks like he is limiting strikeouts.

Our farm seems to be developing outfield talent nicely. Where are the infielders?

I like Bourgeois though I don't exactly consider him a "prospect" (I think he's 28); however, he should be the 5th outfielder right now instead of Sullivan imo.

Delome is a prospect and a solid one, though he needs to cut down on the strikeouts.

Looks like Locke has fallen way off since his unusually solid (aberrational?) 09 season.

The outfield prospects (Steele, Gaston, Shuck) are even better in AA.

Good question on the infield prospects. I guees Meier and Meyers in A ball are our two best infield prospects (though I'm sure one or more of these corner outfield guys could play 1B).

Mier and Meyer in A- are a future left side of the infield.

Both were high schoolers last year taken in rounds 1 and 3 respectively. Meyer has a .903 OPS right now. Mier is struggling, but has drawn 7 walks for a .383 OBP.

If the Astros go after an impact bat if the #8 pick, I think the Colon kid from Cal-State or the 3rd basemen from Arkansas would be good choices. I'd move Colon to 2nd.

Ross Seaton pitched well last night in Hi-A. 6IP 1ER 6K. I'm really hoping he has a good year. Would love to see him and Lyles on the bump in a couple of years. Maybe mid season call ups in 2012 and a chance to be rotation guys in 2013.

Jamar- There isn't any tsip hate for Clemens from me. I love what Clemens did for the Astros a few years back. As for Koby, yes he does have some power but the guy strikes out 30% of the time. He is going to have a hard time progressing if he doesn't make contact and he doesn't walk. Maybe I'll be wrong but I don't think he is someone that will help the Astros down the road.