Having top picks means a lot
Click finally gets chance to choose first-, second-round talent with sign-stealing sanctions done
LOS ANGELES — After a two-year wait, Sunday will afford a sense of routine for the Astros. The team will make two selections it did not have during the past two MLB drafts and operate with its largest bonus pool since 2017.
Major League Baseball’s penalties for Houston’s electronic sign-stealing scheme are over, meaning the Astros can return to something resembling normalcy. General manager James Click’s third draft is his first with both a first- and second-round pick.
“A lot of the things we’ve done over the years have been pretty successful, and I think James acknowledged that and has let us continue a lot of those methods,” said Astros amateur scouting director Kris Gross, who has overseen the team’s draft operations since 2019.
“He has brought in some of his own ideas that we’ve layered in throughout the years, and now that we’re in year three, we’re in a good spot. Especially this year. I think we’re the most prepared we’ve ever been.”
Previously conducted in early June, the draft now coincides with the All-Star Game in midJuly, giving front offices, agents and those around the sport an ultimate juggling act with the Aug. 2 trade deadline less than three weeks away.
Change is not limited to the calendar. The Astros moved their draft headquarters back to Houston after conducting operations at their spring training facility in West Palm Beach, Fla., during the last few years.
The team added six more domestic scouts this offseason to bolster its department, additions Gross called invaluable during this longer evaluation process. Three of the new scouts are on the West Coast, one is in the Ohio Valley, another is in Florida, and the last covers the Northeast.
“(Scouts) can get deeper into their list, multiple looks on players they may not have gotten in previous years, and extra time getting to know these guys off the field,” Gross said. “From that standpoint, I think we have a much better understanding of the players in the draft and what we might be getting.
“A lot of our scouts’ areas greatly shrank, so if there’s a player that pops up in northern California, we are much more capable of getting to that guy early and getting to our cross-checkers, come in and see him and identify what we have. It has helped us read and react much better than in previous years.”
The baseball draft differs from basketball and football. Picking with the intent to address a specific area or position is rare, though the Los Angeles Angels did select 20 pitchers in last year’s draft. Signability, available bonus pool money, and overall talent sometimes outweigh a perceived need to enhance a certain position.
“When you come into the draft, I don’t think you ever draft for need just because these guys are so far away — three, four years — from actually making it to the big leagues,” Gross said. “Our job is to just get the best players that we think are on the board and get them to the big leagues. I wouldn’t say we’re looking for a specific area to fill for our system.”
Drawing any conclusions from Click’s first two drafts feels foolish. The first lasted only five rounds because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He did not have a first- or second-round pick in last season’s 20-round draft.
In both drafts, the Astros spent their first selection on high school players with massive upside — righthanded pitcher Alex Santos and outfielder Tyler Whitaker. Both were picked with selections that carried slot values of less than $900,000.
The team spent $350,000 over slot value to sign Santos in 2020.
Last year, it more than doubled Whitaker’s $689,000 slot value to lure him away from a commitment to LSU. In both instances, Houston spent its later selections on older college players who inherently sign for less money.
Such a small bonus pool forced the Astros to maneuver this way. The return of a firstand second-round pick — and the value assigned to them — lifts the restriction. The first pick Houston makes Sunday at No. 28 carries a slot value of $2,620,000. Last season, the team had $2,940,600 total to spend on its first nine selections.
Now, the team has $6,837,000 to use for its first 11 picks. The Astros will make three selections Sunday — their first-round pick at No. 28, second rounder at No. 64 and a compensation pick at No. 80. Houston received the 80th pick after shortstop Carlos Correa turned down its qualifying offer and signed with the Minnesota Twins.
In evaluating the class, Gross echoed a sentiment shared around the industry: It’s loaded with college and high school position players and lean on pitching. Gross and his team will add to a farm system that almost every outside publication ranks among the five worst in the sport.
Righthander Hunter Brown remains the team’s only consensus Top 100 prospect, illustrating the lack of high-end talent currently in the system. Most who closely analyze farm systems blame the paucity on two things: the team’s draft position due to major league success and the lack of first- or second-round picks across the past two years.
One trend will stay the same. The other changes Sunday.
“We’re still looking to maximize the talent we get out of the draft every year,” Gross said. “Obviously, it has the benefits of a different player pool, picking back in the first round, so we’re excited about that. Having said that, you still have to nail the pick and get the right guy for (them) to hopefully don an Astros uniform.”