Maybe the Astros take Jonathan Gray. Maybe the Astros take Mark Appel. Maybe they take Colin Moran. Or maybe they take the Phillie Phanatic, sign him for $10, and have a Quadrillion dollars for their remaining picks. I don't care.
I think my position is clear that I don't do scouting. While I have watched A LOT of baseball games, I don't have the track record of looking for the things that scouts look for. I don't have the experience. And rather than make a whole bunch of observations, running the risk of looking like a ninny-muggins, I'll stick to snark. And junk pics.
But here's why I'm not worried: Figuratively, one year ago tomorrow we were wondering if the Astros were going to go with Mark Appel or Byron Buxton. They went with Carlos Correa, and I was stunned. And I've tried very hard not to be jealous over the Prospectgasm that is happening over Byron Buxton.
Carlos Correa is a Midwest League All-Star. He's one of the youngest players in full-season baseball. He's the shortstop of the future. Carlos Correa is the guy that's telling us not to get too comfortable with Marwin Gonzalez at short. He may be a couple of years away (I fully expect him to be in Lancaster, maybe Corpus, by the end of the year), but here's the thing: Signing Carlos Correa - who apparently projects to be a great shortstop - allowed the Astros to sign Lance McCullers, who is also an All-Star. The Twins got Byron Buxton at #2 for $1.1m less than the Astros paid for Correa and McCullers. That's some gaming, right there. Correa allowed the Astros to sign Rio Ruiz, which has resulted in a decent argument that the Astros were able to get three first-round picks.
The Astros are gonna Astro. And while, at the Big League level occasionally this will mean that we see the infield act like they're in a living history version of Keystone Cops, the Astros are looking for the best top-to-bottom draft available. Personally, I'd rather have two of the top 40 than one.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
