Colt 45s Blog

The Astros signed catcher Carlos Corporan to a minor league deal and he’ll get a chance to test his wares at spring training in 2012.  Carlos was part of the Brewers organization before the Astros brought him on as a backup in 2011.  The bat was really never there and he just .188 hence the minor league deal.

The Astros have been busy with the non-roster invitees.  Now that Crane finally has the team, it’ll be interesting to see what approach he takes.  My guess is the Astros are quiet this year and start building from the bottom up. but it would be nice if they made some moves and we had some more big league talent on this team.  It’s also going to be hard signing someone if the team isn’t good and they’re going to have to pay a premium like the Nationals did with Jayson Werth.

It looks like the Astros farm system is getting some early coverage as John Sickels put out his top 20 Houston Astros prospect list.  Topping his list is Jonathan Singleton as well.  He gives him a B+ rating but he also talks about how he could have been an A-.  George Springer, the outfielder, also got a B+ and he was second.

After that, it thins out pretty quick.  Jarred Cosart (RHP), Jonathan Villar (SS) and Paul Clemens (RHP) round out the top five and all three of those guys were given B- ratings.

The Astros made some last minute roster moves ahead of the Rule 5 draft deadline.  One of their top prospects, Paul Clemens was added to the 40 man roster.  He was one of the guys who came over from the Braves system in the  Michael Bourn trade.  He was a Southern League All Star and he put up decent numbers splitting time between Double-A and Triple-A.

The Astros also signed Lance Pendleton to a minor league deal and he’s going to get a spring training invite.  Pendleton had a rough season in the big leagues and he split time between the Astros and the Yankees.  Pendleton was a Rule 5 draft by the Astros but he got returned to the Yankees and then in September, the Astros picked him up off of waivers so he kind of bounced back and forth.

Baseball America put out its top ten Astros prospect list.  Here are the guys.

1)  Jonathan Singleton  1b/OF
2)  Jarred Cosart  RHP
3)  George Springer  OF
4)  Jonathan Villar  SS
5)  Paul Clemens  RHP
6)  Domingo Santana  OF
7)  Brett Oberholtzer  LHP
8)  Delino DeShields, Jr.  2b
9)  Mike Foltynewicz  RHP
10)  Telvin Nash  1b/OF

You’d think a team that had traded away all of their stars would have some blue chip prospects but you wouldn’t know it from Kevin Goldstein’s top eleven Astros prospect list.  They do have three four star prospects but no five star guys.  Too bad.

Topping the list is Jarred Cosart.  He came over in the Hunter Pence deal and the right handed pitcher split time between High A and Double A.  This power arm also gives up his share of walks and he’ll start the season in Double-A.  He’s at least another year away.

Number two is George Springer, the Astros first round pick in 2011.  The outfielder got into eight games at Low-A and this guy is a potential stud.  He could start at Low-A but could be High-A and while he’s a couple of years away, this could be the team’s center fielder of the future.

Jonathan Singleton (1b), Brett Oberholtzer (LHP) and Jonathan Villar (SS) round out the top five.  Oberholtzer is the only guy who’s close to major league ready with the rest more like two or three years out.