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Astros Shadow System: Who to take 1st Overall

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HOUSTON - MAY 18:  Jed Lowrie #4 of the Houston Astros reacts to striking out against the Texas Rangers at Minute Maid Park on May 18, 2012 in Houston, Texas.  (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
HOUSTON - MAY 18: Jed Lowrie #4 of the Houston Astros reacts to striking out against the Texas Rangers at Minute Maid Park on May 18, 2012 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
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Looking ahead to the draft, I am thinking about what to do with the 1st overall pick and how to best improve the Astros shadow system. Catcher is a big hole in the farm system with Matt Roberts doing little at North Carolina and Curt Casali not projecting to be a starting catcher. Mike Zunino would be a good fit. Kevin Gausman is already in the system, so that helps. Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa could both be impact players. I have Garin Cecchini and Nick Castellanos as future potential 3B and a pile of good OF'ers in the lower levels. Drafting on need, Zunino would be the way to go.

I've thought about going outside the box and drafting someone like James Ramsey and signing to a cheaper deal in the 500K - 1 million range so there would be more money to spend on other players that could be signable with higher than slot amounts later in the draft. If I would sign him for $1 million, that would leave $10.73 million for the other 10 picks in the top 10 rounds. That would allow for the supplemental pick to sign for slot or higher and the rest to get $1 million or better, each. The 50th pick in the draft is slotted at $1 million so I would think just about anyone taken in the rest of the draft would sign for that kind of money.

Players like Giolito, Correa, Buxton and Zunino are hard to pass up but getting talent that slides could be worth it. Maybe not. What do you think? What would you do? Who would you take?

Here are the players currently in the Shadow Astros system. Some of these guys could move around in the rookie levels but these are the players who would be in the Astros System if all were signed in the last two years.

MLB - NL AAA - PCL AA - SOU
Houston Astros Oklahoma City Redhawks Corpus Christi Hooks
C Jason Castro Carlos Corporan Federico Hernandez
1B Carlos Lee Brett Wallace Jonathan Singleton
2B Jose Altuve Jimmy Paredes Jose Vallejo
3B Chris Johnson David Flores Jonathan Meyer
SS Jed Lowrie Anderson Hernandez Jonathan Villar
LF J.D. Martinez Collin Delome Jacob Goebbert
CF Jordan Schafer Drew Locke Jay Austin
RF Brian Bogusevic Fernando Martinez T.J. Steele
SP Wandy Rodriguez Jordan Lyles Jarred Cosart
SP Bud Norris Forrest Snow Ross Seaton
SP J.A. Happ Dallas Keuchel Sonny Gray
SP Kyle Weiland Yuri Perez Brett Oberholtzer
SP Lucas Harrell Luis Cruz Matt Nevarez
RP Brett Myers Danny Meszaros Arcenio Leon
RP Wesley Wright Juan Abreu Chris Hicks
RP Fernando Rodriguez Samuel Gervacio Kyle Greenwalt
RP Wilton Lopez Douglas Arguello Kevin Chapman
RP David Carpenter Chia Jen Lo David Berner
RP Brandon Lyon Cesar Carrillo Josh Zeid
BENCH: Travis Buck Phil Disher Rene Garcia
Chris Snyder Diory Hernandez Matt Rice
Matt Downs Oswaldo Navarro Chase Davidson
Brian Bixler Brandon Barnes Jon Gaston
Marwin Gonzalez J.B. Shuck
Chris Hernandez
PITCHERS: Rhiner Cruz Ross Wolf Jose Montero
Fernando Abad Shane Wolf
Aneury Rodriguez Henry Villar
Enerio Del Rosario B.J. Hyatt
Jarrod Holloway
Brandon Erbe
Kyle Necke
Colton Pitkin
Jose Cisnero
Jorge De Leon
Carlos Quevedo
A+ - CAL A - SAL SSA - NYP
Lancaster Jethawks Lexington Legends Tri-City ValleyCats
C Matt Roberts Curtis Casali Abner Abreu
1B Preston Tucker Brian Ragira Roderick Shoulders
2B Enrique Hernandez Tyler Rahmatulla Drake Roberts
3B Nick Castellanos Garin Cecchini Chan Moon
SS Lonnie Kauppila Austin Slater Christopher Lovett
LF Domingo Santana Joshua Sale Kevin Jordan
CF Krey Bratsen Dale Carey Kendall Radcliffe
RF Austin Wilson Kris Bryant Mark Payton
SP Brett Mooneyham Jonathan Crawford Michael Feliz
SP Kevin Gausman Dan Child Evan Rutckyj
SP Joshua Osich Daniel Norris Clayton Crum
SP Kyle Winkler Drew Cisco Kirby Bellow
SP A.J. Cole Stetson Allie Trae Davis
RP Pat Urckfitz DeAndre Smelter Rolando Botello
RP Casey Upperman T.J. Pecoraro Rudy Acosta
RP Brett Bruening Michael Palazzone Trevor Teykl
RP Daniel Renken Seth Maness Andrew Smith
RP Zachary Grimmett Austin Urban Kilby Pena
RP Dean Kiekhefer Tanner Bushue Ed Ferreira
BENCH: Eric Arce Jacoby Jones Kelly Norris-Jones
Adrian Morales Danry Vasquez Christopher Triplett
Jiovanni Mier Jared Lakind Jose Monzon
Willie Argo Jay Baum Ernesto Genoves
Kyle Robinson Shon Carson Luis Alvarez
Ryan McCurdy Kelvin Vizcaino Alfredo Gonzalez
Tyler Hanover Geno Escalante Zac Elgie
Telvin Nash Kevin Patterson Ronald Sanchez
Neiko Johnson Joseph Loftus
Michael Ojala Kash Kalkowski
Ethan Stewart Chase Williamson Gabriel Garcia
Ruben Alaniz Max Ayarza Enderson Franco
Danny Barnes Jose Fernandez Luis Ordosgoitti
Alex Sogard Max Homick Francis Ramirez
Juan Minaya Jose Perdomo
Brad Dydalewicz Reynolds Parthemore Ricardo Batista
Cody Martin Pedro Gomez
RK+ - APPY RK - GCL RK- DSL
Greenevile Astros GCL Astros DSL Astros
C Andrew Murray Grayson Greiner Marlon Avea
1B Rouric Bridgewater Mitchel Martes
2B Zach Alvord Martin Peguero Yoel Silfa
3B Matthew Dean Joshua Tobias Luis Enrique Acosta
SS Phillip Evans Yairo Munoz Adalberto Mondesi
LF Derek Fisher Dominic Jose Helsin Martinez
CF Jake Cave Yoel Araujo Manuel Marcos
RF Vicmal De La Cruz Teoscar Hernandez Iosif Bernal
SP Ricardo Jacquez Amir Garrett Harold Arauz
SP Nick Burdi Blake Burrell Mauricio Silva
SP Carson Baranik Edgar Ferreira
SP Pat Connaughton Jean Carlos Batista
SP Dillon Maples Arturo Michelena
RP Dakota Freese Nathan Pettus
RP Dylan Davis Leandro Cespedes
RP Phillip Pfeifer Mike Schurz
RP Dan Mengden Leonardo Alayon
RP Spenser Linney Elias De Leon
RP Francisco Baso
BENCH: Mario Gonzalez Brandon Sedell Jose Solano
Luca Martone Trey Griffin Juan Delis
Yonathan Mejia Drew Stiles
Darwin Rivera Danilo Del Rio Frederick Serrano
Lorenzo Bonilla Cristian Murillo
Ydarqui Marte Tomas De La Cruz
Emilio King Mesac Laguna
Garen Wright Andru Sierra
Ebert Rosario
Rochi Gutierrez
Frederick Tiburcio Roliner Iturralde
Mark Jones Luis Abad
Steven Dennison Samil De Los Santos
Juan Mojica Agapito Barrios
Paris Shewey Victor Mesa
Justin Gill Javier Saucedo
Matison Smith Alexander Martinez
Jandel Gustave
Reymin Guduan
Johan Arias
Ambiorix De Leon
Richard Rodriguez