BP/Goldstein Astros Top 11 (essentially Top 20 lists now)

and I really don’t remember if Goldstein’s 3 star designation had specific meanings in the way John does for his grades, but he just … doesn’t feel like a 3-star guy to me. Oh well, going to have to see his other lists to really know what other talent he’s placing at a 3-star level this year.

There really isn’t a 2-star that I feel is a 3-star, but that’s my take on their system and I know plenty disagreed this summer.

As a Braves fan I like Olberholtzer where he is and think that this time next year he’ll be firmly entrenched in the Stro’s rotation…Clemens seems like one to keep an eye on as a fast mover in that system and in the end I think this trade benefited both players as far as advancing their ETA to the majors.

Velasquez is a talented wait-and-see for now, and Mier just doesn’t seem to impress anybody at the plate with anything other than his patience. I think Mier has a pretty good shot to make it as long as he keeps up the good work with his glove, but when his bat seems to get such underwhelming reviews even with a decent rebound in Lexington, I’m untroubled by anybody not being a believer until scouting and stats converge with positive outcomes.

I might be a bit biased as I have seen a decent amount of Shuck on video and in-person, but I really like him. The numbers don’t lie as he really has no power in his game, but he is exactly the sort of high-makeup grinder type that teams love to have around. He can play all three outfield positions, he can run a bit, and best of all, he delivers quality ABs with a solid chance of getting on base. He is clearly a bench player and not even really a guy you’d want to use as a long-term injury replacement, but he has some skills that should keep him around.

Kvasnicka, I’m willing to give a partial mulligan to. Yes, he’s a bit old. No, he really didn’t do that much with the bat, although being from Minnesota in the Big 10 the developmental track gives him a little more leeway than your average college draftee. The problem, as KG noted, is that he’s just ill-suited to project as a third baseman. His best tool is his arm, and there is no reason not to take advantage of it behind the plate. He can hit a bit, but his power is limited. “It’s the Cal League, stupid” aside, I think he could show some major gains in his second full pro season, and if he can do it behind the plate, he’s a very legit prospect again. I’m not very high on him, but there’s enough to warrant giving him a bit more time.

Mostly because he has pretty terrific & somewhat adventurous musical taste (at least as it pertains to1980s punk/much of the Touch and Go stuff/indie rock,etc) & isn’t loathe to mention certain things from that arena no matter how obtuse. He seems more interesting than most of the others who have a toe in this sort of thing professionally to me.

As for quabbling about rankings..they’re still subjective, right? If you think he’s consistently ‘off’ in comparison to other comumnists, I suppose you could elaborate.

Let’s be honest, he sucked pretty badly this year. It’s not something to forget, but I don’t think anybody was expecting this exceptionally raw player to do much of anything this year, anyways. I assume he was in the Sally because the Astros just wanted him to get as many in-game reps as possible.

On the bright side, as you noted, he’s still talented and he is very young. Lots of athleticism, just doesn’t really have game skills yet. I didn’t care for him all that much last year relative to other first round talents, but frankly, his was not a year worth getting off a bandwagon over. If you thought he was a nice upside play last year, there’s not much here that should clearly change your mind. If you didn’t like him very much, not much to change your mind that way, either.

If he’s still playing like this halfway through next year, yeah, there are issues. I’m feeling better about DeShields, though, than I felt about Jio Mier after his awful Sally debut.

I won’t get into all of the age stuff (Keith, is that you?) but Domingo Santana is the type that absolutely sticks out when you see him. I felt that he & Marcell Ozuna seemed like veritable extra terrestrials when compared to most of their brethren in short season play due to their palpable upside & athleticism in 2010 & that was only a mild exaggeration.

The thing with Santana seemed to be the fact that he was extremely raw & there was uncertainty whether he’d come close to reaching his potential due to that. Obviously, Santana is still more of a ‘boom/bust’ guy than some others I guess, but he seemed to make very discernible strides this summer & I wouldn’t necessarily bet against him. What a great ‘upside play’ PTBNL get by Houston.