30. Houston Astros
Big League Team-
A combination of awful contracts, strange draft picks, and average young talent lands the Houston Astros in the worst position in baseball. In 2010, the Astros had a payroll of 94 million dollars and were one of the worst, and least exciting teams in the major leagues. The Astros are probably not the worst team in the majors right now, but after a close examination of their team direction, the future looks pretty grim in Houston. If the season started today their position players would look like this:
Catcher- Jason Castro
1st Base- Brett Wallace
2nd Base- Bill Hall/ Jeff Keppinger
Shortstop- Clint Barmes
3rd Base- Chris Johnson
Left Field- Carlos Lee
Center Field- Michael Bourn
That lineup is the reason the Astros may be the least exciting team in baseball. Their entire infield is compiled of mid level prospects and Major League's baseball's most boring journeymen. For fantasy purposes the outfield is the only thing to look at. Hunter Pence is an average outfielder, and Carlos Lee is not the same player he was when he was a top fantasy outfielder. We'd say Michael Bourn is the most exciting player on the team strictly for his base stealing ability and outstanding plays in center field.
The Astros pitching staff does have some promise, even without Roy Oswalt. With a rotation of: Wandy Rodriguez, Brett Myers, J.A. Happ, Bud Norris and Ryan Rowland-Smith the Astros have 5 solid starters. But with Wandy Rodriguez struggling to improve and J.A. Happ not having number one pitcher stuff, it will be impossible to replace the starts given a team by a real ace pitcher.
Top 5 Prospects
RHP Jordan Lyles- Another reason why the Astros are last on our list is because their top prospect projects as a number three starter at best, and that is Jordan Lyles. The 19 year old pitcher had success in Double A last year sporting a 3.12 ERA in 21 games before moving to Triple A to end the year. He sits around 90 MPH though, and really does not have top of the line stuff or control. At 20 years old next year he will begin his year in Triple A and could be looking at a September call up.
2B/OF Delino Deshields Jr.- Son of former big leaguer Delino Deshields, he is a very good prospects, but one of the biggest surprises of the 2010 draft. He was looked at as a mid to late first round draft pick before the Astros swooped him up with the eighth overall pick. You do not see many 5'9 190 pound players being taken top ten in the draft, but the Astros decided he was worth the risk. He is a natural outfielder but the Astros will move him to 2nd base to try and develop him. That will stunt Deshields growth at first and we won't see him until at least 2014.
RHP Mike Foltynewicz- He was the 19th overall pick in the 2010 entry draft after the Astros took Deshields. He has great stuff with an A+ fastball and curveball, but his consistency kept him from being a top ten pick. His velocity would vary from start to start from 90 to 97 and it could not be explained. He was solid at rookie ball with a 4 ERA through 12 games last season but we won't see him for a few years.
OF Ariel Ovando- The Astros paid their biggest signing bonus in history of 2.6 million dollars to the Dominican outfielder this summer. He is only 17 years old and it is almost impossible to project international players who have never played in the United States. He could be a five tool stud, or a complete dud.
2B Jimmy Paredes- The Astros picked up Paredes when they traded Lance Berkman and he had a nice breakout season for a mid level prospect. He has always had a nice glove, but he finally started hitting this year and his getting on base more led to 50 stolen bases in 133 games. With the Astros saying they want to move Deshields to 2nd base it has yet to be seen the plans they have for Paredes.
The Astro's prospects are very underwhelming. Especially for a team who just traded their ace pitcher midway through last season. It will be quite a while before we see any of their prospects making a big splash in the big leagues.
Direction and Payroll
For a team with a 94 million dollar payroll last year, they should not bring this much disappointment to their fans. They got locked into a long contract with Carlos Lee, and now a slightly above average outfielder is making 19 million dollars a year for them. They don't have any stud prospects coming up throughout the rank so they are going to need to look for bargain deals like Ryan Rowland-Smith to buy them time to get out of
the bad contracts they have stuck themselves with.
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