Just got this text from 610

Astros put 2B Kazuo Matsui on Waivers and purchase the contract of Inf. Oswaldo Navarro from Triple A Round Rock

Wow. Navarro and not Johnson or Maysonet?

Must have something to do with how many options each player has left..

Johnson is hitting well but he's a corner infielder and there's no pt for him with Matsui out. I wish they had never signed Pete Happy and given Johnson a spot to win the 3B job.

Navarro has flat out been a lot better than Maysonet- guy has a .900+ OPS. He's 25 so I doubt he's a legit prospect, but I do know that Maysonet is just a guy.

I hope that is the 1st sign that they are accepting the situation. If they can trade Oswalt and get a few good prospects they might turn this farm system around.

Get some prospects for Oswalt, have another good draft, and ya we will be ready to build.

I still think we should trade Berkamn to the Rangers for Chris Davis straight up. Davis needs a new start and Berkman deserves a chance to contend again.

Hooks:

Douglas Arguello (5-3, 2.45 ERA) tossed a four hitter on Friday and went the distance. It was his second CG this season

Arguello is an interesting guy; he's 25 and was signed by the Astros way back in 2001, but he has really solid numbers this year (2.45 ERA, 49-13 K-BB ratio in 58 innings, 1.07 whip) and he had a nice year for Corpus last season. Plus he's a lefty.

He should get a shot at the rotation in spring training next year, and maybe gets a look this season once we start dealing Oswalt, etc. He probably would be promoted before Lyles due to Lyle's age.

By the way, Chris Johnson is hitting .415 with a 1.297 OPS in 41 ABs at Round Rock. Good thing we signed Pedro Feliz.

[This message has been edited by jamar (edited 5/22/2010 7:05p).]

Lyles had his first bad start of the season this weekend. Interesting it came on the heels of his first complete game. Just another reason to keep the reigns tight and give the kid time to grow up.

Robert Donovan threw a scoreless 7 innings yesterday for the Legends

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By the way, Chris Johnson is hitting .415 with a 1.297 OPS in 41 ABs at Round Rock. Good thing we signed Pedro Feliz.

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Who would have guessed that the Astros would sign an old FA that doesn't perform

How is Castro doing?

Castro went 1-3 yesterday and bumped his avg to .266. He is coming around as of late

What's his power like?

He hit his first HR yesterday. I saw the Express play on Saturday. The guys is huge and has a great arm. I don't remember much since I got progressively more intoxicated as the game went on

His power this year has been terrible (.323 slugging, 5 extra base hits in 155 ABs), but he slugged .446 in two stops last year with 31 doubles, 2 triples and 10 homers.

I don't think he projects as a big power guy but he may get you 10-15 homers per year, and his plate discipline is very impressive (25 BB vs. 20 Ks this season).

There is absolutely no reason he should not be with the big club in a few weeks once his 2012 arbitration clock expires. Johnson should be here too, and possibly Bogusevic and/or Jason Bourgeois.

I do like his BB %. Better than most of the guys on our current Astro roster.

Johnson, Bourgeois, Bogusevic, and Delome should ALL be with the big club to start the season.

Add to that Castro, Manzella, Norris, Paulino, Gervacio, and Wright, and we will have a fairly young roster.

This is all assuming no trades or anything.

Bogusevic goes 3-5 and Josh Banks throws 8 innings allowing 3 and striking out 4 in the Express win last night

Bogusevic should be in the majors right now; there is no reason to wait on a 25-26 year old "prospect."

Banks is like 30; he will not be a factor for this team.

Banks is 27. Our "young" players Bourn, Pence, Manzella, and Paulino are 27,27,27, and 26 respectively. I don't see any reason why he shouldn't get a look

[This message has been edited by Palooza11 (edited 5/26/2010 11:41a).]

Banks will come up when we trade Oswalt. Bogusevic and Bourgeois should both be up right now.

My bad; thought he was older; still, if you're still in the minors at 27 in most instances you are not a true prospect.

Didnt Keppinger not make it up until 27?

Keppinger got his first shot at 24. Bourgeois is not a prospect and is just filling a roster spot in AAA. Bogusevic should get a chance at some point to see if he has a legit shot at being a hitter in the bigs.

I agree that Bourgeois is not a true prospect but he is killing it at Round Rock (.362-.422-.509 with 14 SB). I don't think he'll do that here but he would be better than Cory Sullivan (.190).

Gaston seems to be coming around.

Batting in the .230's now and rising. Finally starting to get some power. I REALLY like his gap power and his speed. He has as many triples as doubles.

Albert Cartwright is looking better and better. He is hitting for average, getting extra base hits, walking a decent amount, and playing pretty consistent.

J.D. Martinez is still on a roll. How has he not moved up yet?

Another player who might all of the sudden have a future is 1B Kody Hinze. He has 12 HR's and a good average in Lexington. Since the first basemen in Lancaster blow a fat one, I would like to see him move up after the draft.

I think we are going to see a pretty big shuffle soon.

I love Cartwright's game, especially considering the Astro's system-wide lack of middle infield talent.

I agree with you on Hinze-- guy has put up serious power numbers and needs to be promoted; he's been playing ball since '05 or so.

Castro has been looking much better lately; he's up over .270 and finally hitting with some pop. Guy should be up within the month if the Astros have any sense.

Gaston is definitely getting it together, and Shuck is probably the best player in AA- he and Gaston both apparently have good plate approaches judging from their BB-K ratio, which is great to see. Steele is struggling though.

I have heard alot about Martinez, I wonder why they are waiting to move him up.

WOW!

I just realized that Bogusevic was a pitcher until last year.

That means that he is putting up nearly a .300 average with decent power in only his second full year as an outfielder and every day batter.

Those of you ragging him for being too old to be a prospect might lighten your tone now. He seems to now have a lot more potential than I ever thought, as we will likely continue to get better.

I thought I remembered reading somewhere that Chia-Jen Lo was injured. Anyone else hear anything more on it? Is it serious?

mazag- how did you miss this in my enthralling summary of the Astros top prospects?

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Brian Bugosevic- this one is kind of a stretch since he's already 26, but he only switched to being a position player two seasons ago after failing as a pitcher out of Tulane.

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On Lo, he is hurt and will be out another month or so.

It seems the Astros 2 best power prospects are 1b. Clemens and Hinze.

It's a crime that Martinez is stil a Low A. He needs to go ahead and skip High A, and take Steele's place at Corpus. Steele can go back to High A, and work on his stike zone awareness.

As expected, Seaton, Greenwalt, and Dydalewicz are struggling bigtime in the California launching pads. Though, Keuchel as made the necessary adjustments and has starting to really pitch well, if Arguello gets called up, then I would imagine that Dallas will take his spot.

Lyles' last start:

6IP, 6H, 5R(2ER), 5SO, 3BB, allowed 2HR

Arguello's last start:

7IP, 7H, 2R(1ER), 8SO, 1BB

Martinez is batting .425 in his last 10 games and hitting .370 overall. We need to move this guy to AA

Short-Season Rosters Announced

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Short-Season Class A Tri-City:

Pitchers:
Gouvea, Murilo
Belliard, Joan
Blankenship, Travis
Buchanan, Jake
Castillo, Jeiler
Champion, Adam
De Leon, Jorge
Doran, Bobby
Martinez, David
Ness, Michael
Quevedo, Carlos
Robinson, James
Shirley, Thomas
Sogard, Alexander
Stines, Brenden

Catchers:
Afenir, Buck
Heath, Ben
Mojica, Carlos

Infielders:
Burnett, Tyler
Figueroa, Oscar
Healey, Jacke
Kvasnicka, Michael
Orloff, Ben
Stanley, Nicholas

Outfielders:
Adamson, Daniel
Almonte, Frank
Bailey, Adam
Infante, Wilton
Tello, Renzo

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Rookie League Greeneville:

Pitchers:
Alaniz, Ruben
Batista, Ricardo
Bullock, Garrett
Cole, Ryan
Frawley, John
Gonzalez, Angel
Hagen, B.J.
Harper, Justin
Hyatt, B.J.
Lucati, Andrea
Perez, Juri
Quezada, Euris
Rorabaugh, Philip
Smink, Travis
Strelein, Brian

Catchers:
Alvarez, Luis
Wallace, Chris
Williams, David

Infielders:
Feliz, Pedro
Garcia, Ricardo
Hernandez, Enrique
Medrano, Jhonny
Merritt, Jonathan
Nidiffer, Marcus
Rodriguez, Hector

Outfielders:
Heredia, Ricardo
Humphrey, Ryan
King, Emilio
Lane, Bryce
Nash, Telvin

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Rookie Gulf Coast League:

Pitchers:
Cedano, Enmanuel
Cotton, Jamaine
Del Rio, Danilo
Diaz, Dayan
Feliz, Rafael
Gomez, Pedro
Jones, Mark
Meiners, Jeremiah
Mojica, Juan
Ordosgotti, Luis
Paul, Dieudone
Pena, Kilby
Perdomo, Jose
Ramirez, Francis
Rivera, Raul

Catchers:
Genoves, Ernesto
Gonzalez, Alfredo
Parra, Wilder

Infielders:
Fernandez, Jose
Magee, Joshua
Martone, Luca
Moon, Chan
Redinger, Kyle
Sanchez, Ronald

Outfielders:
Monzon, Jose
Scott, Jordan
Suniaga, Geber
Vargas, Jose
Wright, Garen

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About damn time they demote Pedro Feliz to the greeneville rookie league!!