There you have it, no more speculation. Could this be the next Lance Berkman or the next Chris Burke type pick? Time will tell.
Archive for the ‘Bus Ride’ Category
George Springer, 2011 First Round Pick
On June - 7 - 2011
Archie Bradley
On June - 3 - 2011
Is he the Astros first pick in 2011? Check out the Bus Ride Discussion Forum for more on the upcoming draft.
Alex Meyer
On April - 19 - 2011
Talk of the 2011 Baseball draft is starting to heat up, with conversations about the #11 pick for the Houston Astros making the rounds in the Bus Ride Discussion Forum.
Astros Sign 16 Year Old Phenom
On July - 8 - 2010
16-Year-Old Considered Among Top Latin American Prospects
HOUSTON, TX — The Houston Astros have signed 16-year-old Dominican free agent outfielder Ariel Ovando to a 2011 minor league contract, General Manager Ed Wade announced today. Terms of the contract were not disclosed. Ovando was signed by Felix Francisco, the Astros Special Assistant to the G.M./Latin American Operations. The signing is contingent upon approval by the Commissioner’s Office.
2009 Draft Review
On April - 5 - 2010
Last June brought the Ed Wade view of the drafting and player development world to the Astros. Right now that is looking like a pretty nice view indeed. The Astros signed 9 of their first 10 picks, and all but 5th rounder Duncan have shown at least flashes of high level talent. Recall last year the Astros had a 1st and 3rd round supplemental selection and so drafted 12 players in the first 10 rounds. Prior to the draft Director of Amateur Scouting Bobby Heck said the Astros intended to look for up-the-middle players. True to his word 10 of the first 12 players selected were up-the-middle players. Just Jon Gaston and the unsigned Charles Davidson were corner outfielders. In the realm of player development the Astros have made significant changes in the organization. The once vaunted Venezuelan academy has been shuttered and all Hispanic players not ready for the Stateside teams will now be sent to the Astros Dominican complex. In addition the Astros will add a new team to the rookie level Gulf Coast League. There you can expect to see young Hispanic players get their first view of the United States. Further this year’s high school draftees can expect to spend their first professional season in the GCL. The other big change is that the Astros will be more aggressive regarding promoting players than they have under previous regimes. Evidence of this can be seen in the promotion of last year’s 48th round pick Dan Meszaros to AA Corpus Christi and young pitchers Jordan Lyles, Ross Seaton, and Brad Dydalewicz starting the year in low-A Lexington. 2009 draftees can expect a rapid rise through the system if they learn quickly and perform well.
With last year’s draft appearing to be very strong expectations for this year’s draft are running high. The Astros had 11 selections in the first 10 rounds. The had a supplemental third round pick for not signing the aforementioned third round pick Charles Davidson. The Astros first round pick was #21 rather than #20 thanks to the Nationals not signing their first round pick last year (#9) and being awarded the 10th pick this year as compensation. The Astros intended to continue to pick the best available player as they continue to try to rebuild the farm system. Anything close to the quality of last year’s draft will go a long way to doing that.
Heck said they would not necessarily look for catchers early in the draft considering what they did last year and the perceived depth of catching in the system. Still he knew they could not draft on need alone. This year the Astros selected 2 catchers, 4 first basemen, 2 second basemen, 3 third basemen, 6 shortstops, 9 outfielders, 19 righthanded pitchers, and 6 lefthanded pitchers.
‘Round the Bases with Jeff Lasky: The Voice of The JetHawks
On May - 22 - 2009
Last year, The Bus Ride started a series of interviews with the guys who bring many of us the games from the minor league parks. The voices we hear on the radio or for many of us these days, the voice out of the computer speakers. We want to help you get a feel for the person behind the voice and a taste of what they may be thinking as you are listening. Since Lancaster joined the Houston Farm System this season, we thought we would invite the play by play announcer for the JetHawks for a trip ‘round the bases. Jeff Lasky, the radio broadcaster for the Lancaster JetHawks, agreed to an email interview with Spikesnstars.com. Lasky was indentified by the Los Angeles Daily News as the 8th best sports play by play guy in the region. He came in just behind Dodgers play by play guy Charlie Stiner.