Can’t-miss picks harder to find at No. 28
Conducting their first draft as World Series champions brings a marked difference. The Astros will not pick until No. 28 during Monday evening’s first round, their lowest first pick since they selected
Derick Grigsby with the No. 29 pick in the 2002 draft.
“I’ve been there before, and there’s no easy pick at 28,” general manager Jeff Luhnow said last week at Yankee Stadium.
Luhnow’s eight-year run in the Cardinals’ front office contained this predicament regularly. Their 2008 selection of
Brett Wallace at No. 13 was their highest draft pick during Luhnow’s tenure. And yes, in 2005 the Cardinals picked No. 28 — taking Colby Rasmus.
Each of Luhnow’s first three drafts in Houston came with the No. 1 overall pick. In 2015,
Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker were taken No. 2 and No. 5. The last two seasons produced picks at No. 17 and No. 15, respectively.
For him, Monday begins a throwback, one created by the on-field success of Luhnow’s franchise renaissance in Houston.
The draft spot of the Astros isn’t the only difference. They have moved draft-week operations to their spring training facility in West Palm Beach, Fla., and set up their draft room inside the major league clubhouse there.
A U-shaped conference table sits in the middle of the expansive room, which is adorned with flat-screen televisions and video monitors to play footage of prospects while broadcasting the NCAA baseball regionals that linger into Monday.
“It’s been spectacular,” assistant general manager Mike
Elias said Sunday. “We’ve also been able to use the facility for private workouts all week long, and I think we’re really happy with the move so far.”
Elias leads the Astros’ draft efforts. How he and the draft room of 30 scouts, front office members and other team personnel handle Monday night won’t be markedly different than in the past.
They’ve spent months evaluating and grading prospects. They’ll enter Monday night with a ranking of “as many number of options as possible” to ensure preparation when No. 28, at long last, arrives.
“The different part of the process when you’re picking low is more that the scenarios and the landscape will change with more fluidity,” Elias said. “You kind of have to cast a wider net and be more nimble in terms of when somebody enters your radar screen. Sometimes you have to get your work done on that player very quickly and without much time or schedule left.”
Such a changing situation makes forecasting the player — or position — of the first pick impossible. Potential franchise-altering talents with the projected talents of Bregman,
George Springer and Carlos Correa should be long gone. How the draft unfolds, whether there’s an unexpected run on pitchers or position players, carries weight.
So, too, does the current Astros farm system. Their minor league affiliates were, as of Saturday night, the winningest in baseball. Baseball America ranks two of their prospects — Forrest Whitley and Tucker — among the top 15 in the game.
“For a team that is in a playoff cycle, we feel great where our system is at,” Elias said. “That said, if we’re looking at our system itself, I could probably count more pitching prospects than hitting prospects at this point. So certainly, if we come away with some bats that we really like, that would be great, but we’re not going to force it.”
Added Luhnow, with a grin: “Mike has his work cut out for him picking 28th.”
Gonzalez gets a day to mend
A day after exiting the Astros’ 5-4 loss to the Red Sox with a right knee injury, Marwin Gonzalez was out of the Sunday night lineup. Manager
A.J. Hinch reiterated Gonzalez is “day-to-day” and does not anticipate a stint on the disabled list.
Gonzalez departed Saturday’s loss after making an acrobatic catch on Andrew Benintendi’s fly ball in front of the left-field wall. Gonzalez landed on his heel, Hinch said afterward, before jamming his knee.
Gonzalez limped to the dugout and exited to the clubhouse with the training staff. Hinch declined to reveal if the utility man was available for Sunday’s game.
“He’s day-to-day. He’s fine,” Hinch said. “He came early, got a little bit of treatment. We’ll see him work throughout the day. It’s not a DL stint or anything like that. It’s just a sore knee.”