Draft Preview - Houston Astros

The sixth team draft preview on my blog focuses on the Houston Astros and their scouting director Bobby Heck.

Here's an excerpt from the writeup, which features small writeups on 10 players involved with Heck's work:

In terms of draft budgeting, the Astros are in the bottom third of draft spending when looking at combined spending amounts over the past two years. The $10.7 million they’ve spent on draft bonuses is less than either Seattle or Washington spent on their 2009 drafts alone. This isn’t to say that I think the Astros are cheap. Their 2008 draft showed that they’re capable of spending a healthy amount on draft budgeting, and that was even without third-rounder Chase Davidson signing. However, 2009 was a big dip, and they ended up spending less than 23 other teams. Since they’re back in the top ten this year, I expect a budget that outspends 2008’s total, perhaps as high as an even $8 million. They own picks 8, 19, 33, 58, 90, 123, and every 30 picks after that, granted that Rod Barajas signs a Major League contract with another team before the draft. The two extra early picks they’ll carry will undoubtedly mean more money spent. The first pick should carry a tag of somewhere near $2.3 million, the second $1.5 million, the third $950,000, and the fourth $650,000. That’s already $5.4 million before we’ve even gotten to the third round. In other words, don’t expect overslot signings in the late rounds this year, as the budget won’t be stretched enough to accommodate such spending, unless one of the early picks doesn’t sign, and they sign later picks as protection. This will definitely be an up year in spending for the Astros, but I don’t expect a huge explosion into eight figures for a team that’s generally middle of the pack and below when it comes to draft spending under Ed Wade’s tenure.

Direct link here.

As always, read about the 2010 MLB Draft Notebook and pre-order it here.

What do you think? What will the Astros do?