HOUSTON -- General manager Dana Brown's second MLB Draft with the Astros will be the first under the guidance of Deric Ladnier, who came over from the Diamondbacks in the offseason, and Cam Pendino, who took over as scouting director.
The goal for Brown, who oversaw successful Drafts as scouting director in Atlanta, was to combine Ladnier's lengthy track record of scouting success with Pendino's background in data analysis to help bolster a farm system that MLB Pipeline ranked 27th out of 30 teams prior to this season. Houston's only Top 100 prospect is outfielder Jacob Melton (No. 68).
"Deric is a really good evaluator, so we incorporate the baseball side and the data and information side and you put those two together with the addition of evaluation of makeup to get these players right," said Brown, who was vice president of scouting in Atlanta from 2019-22 and oversaw the drafting of 2022 National League Rookie of the Year Michael Harris II and Harris' runner-up, '23 All-Star and Cy Young finalist Spencer Strider, among others.
After years of graduating prospects to the big leagues (such as Astros hurlers Spencer Arrighetti and Jake Bloss in 2024) and losing others in trades (like sending Drew Gilbert and Ryan Clifford to the Mets last year), the Astros view this Draft as pivotal to continue their run of success.
"I know how important it is to draft and develop and that's how the sustainable championship winner we've had in Houston continues. We know we need to continue to build in the standard that we had here," Pendino said. The Astros will pick 28th overall in Sunday's first round of the Draft and won't pick again until the 101st pick in the third round, having lost their second-round pick as a result of signing free-agent reliever Josh Hader. Each choice in the first 10 rounds of the Draft comes with an assigned value, with the total for a club's selections equaling what it can spend in those rounds without incurring a penalty. The Astros have the smallest Draft bonus pool at $5,914,700.
The Astros will have about 650 college and high school players on their Draft board Sunday and have had their scouts in Houston in recent days for meetings. In addition to scouting players all over the country, the Astros held Draft workouts in Fayetteville, N.C., West Palm Beach, Fla., Chicago, Los Angeles and Houston. |
"From there, that helps us filter down who our priority targets are to drill down on and continue to collect information and try to help us make the best decision," Pendino said.
Because he's a scout at heart, Brown has seen more than 20 players himself, mostly at the college level. He said it's probable that he's scouted the player the Astros will take at No. 28.
"I was in Atlanta for four years and we traded over 20 of my players in that four-year span to get Major League players to help us win," Brown said. "I think it's important that you have to get as much value as possible in each round and each pick. Some of those guys are going to make it to the Major Leagues and play for you and some other guys are going to be put in trades to get some deals done to acquire Major League players."
No matter who is running the Draft, the Astros' goal remains the same: take the best available player regardless of position.
"We know these players that are in consideration for our first pick are very, very talented individuals and have a lot of outlier skills," Pendino said. "That's why they're in the mix, but what we're trying to hone in on is, among the individual skillsets of different players, who we think we are best equipped to improve in [player development] to help them play here one day." |
MLB MORNING LINEUP PODCAST |
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Prior to taking Carlos Correa with the No. 1 overall pick in 2012, whom did the Astros select with their previous No. 1 overall pick in 1992?
A. Phil Nevin
B. Billy Wagner
C. John Burke
D. Scott Elarton |
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REVISITING THE 2014 DRAFT |
The Astros were nearing the end of their rebuild 10 years ago when they took high school left-hander Brady Aiken with the No. 1 overall pick -- the third consecutive year they had the top pick. They drafted Correa with the top pick in 2012 and Stanford right-hander Mark Appel in 2013.
At age 17, Aiken drew comparisons to Clayton Kershaw and Andy Pettitte. Standing 6-foot-4, Aiken appeared to have the whole package. Health issues and a disagreement over Aiken's signing bonus precluded him from signing with Houston before the deadline.
The Astros' health concerns were justified. Aiken underwent Tommy John surgery in March 2015, then was selected 17th overall by Cleveland two months later. He last pitched in a professional game in April 2019. The Astros, as compensation for not signing Aiken, received the No. 2 pick in the 2015 Draft and took LSU shortstop Alex Bregman.
Houston's next five picks after Aiken all made the Major Leagues: outfielder Derek Fisher (No. 37), first baseman AJ Reed (second round), third baseman J.D. Davis (third round), pitcher Daniel Mengden (fourth round) and pitcher Jacob Nix (fifth round). Other notable Astros Draft picks that year were outfielder Ramón Laureano (16th round) and pitcher Josh James (34th round).
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A. Phil Nevin While former Astros scout Hal Newhouser lobbied for a high school shortstop from Kalamazoo, Mich., named Derek Jeter -- and later quit when they didn't take him -- the Astros selected a polished college hitter with the top pick. Nevin reached the big leagues with Houston in 1995 and played in only 18 games before he was traded to the Tigers. He hit 208 homers and posted an .814 OPS in 12 Major League seasons. |
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