Astros Draft: What To Expect With the 17th Overall Pick?

A Look At The Potential Pick for the Astros With Past 17th Overall Picks.

The Houston Astros are no longer perennial top of the draft teams following reaching the playoffs in 2015 for the first time in a decade. The Astros lost in the ALDS to the Royals, but they do have an almost mid round pick with the 17th overall pick. The Astros are actually in a favorable draft position because of all the draft picks forfeited to sign free agents this past offseason.

The Astros go from three first-round picks last year, to one this year. This will be the first time in Jeff Luhnow’s Astros career that he will not have an early first round pick. This is uncharted territory for Luhnow and Mike Elias as they can’t focus on a few players, they have to anticipate which player could fall to them.

They have a few needs to address in the system such as a big time catching prospect or a pitcher for down the road, but don’t be expecting Buster Posey or Madison Bumgarner with the 17th overall pick, or should we? I wanted to take a look at the past decade’s drafts and see which player was taken with the 17th overall pick.

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2005 New York Yankees

The Yankees took shortstop C.J. Henry with the 17th overall pick, and he lasted four seasons in the minors before being released with a career .222 batting average with 17 homers and 110 RBIs over the four seasons. He never made it above the Class A level. Not a pick that will inspire Astros fans.

Notable Players drafted soon after, Jacoby Ellsbury, Colby Rasmus, and Matt Garza.

2006 San Diego Padres

The Padres took third baseman Matt Antonelli out of Wake Forest with the 17th overall pick. Antonelli lasted eight seasons in the minors and even made his MLB debut in 2008 with a .193 batting average in 57 big league at-bats with one homer. He had a breakout year in 2007 where he hit .307 with 21 homers and 78 RBI’s between Single-A and Double-A. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t do much else in his minor league career to earn another call to the bigs, 2013 was his last year.

Notable Players drafted soon after, Kyle Drabek, Ian Kennedy, and Hank Conger.

2007 Texas Rangers

The Rangers took Blake Beavan with the 17th overall pick, who so far, has had the most extensive MLB career. He has a 16-20 record with a 4.61 ERA in 54 career MLB games, 44 of which were starts. All of his MLB service time has been with the Mariners from 2011-2014. The rest of the time, he has been a career minor leaguer, has not pitched in the big leagues since 2014. (PS, Bumgarner was the 10th overall pick.)

Notable Players drafted soon after Rick Porcello, Ben Revere, and Todd Frazier.

2008 Toronto Blue Jays

The Blue Jays took first baseman David Cooper out of UC Berkeley, right behind the Brewers drafted Brett Lawrie with the 16th pick. Cooper has only played two seasons with the Blue Jays between 2011-2012, with an MLB career .270 batting average with six career homers. He is not currently in the minors in 2016, so his career may be over.

Notable Players drafted soon after Andrew Cashner, Josh Fields, and Gerrit Cole.

2009 Arizona Diamondbacks

Finally, we have an actual star who was drafted with the 17th overall pick, and his name is A.J. Pollock. Pollock broke out in 2015 to become an overnight star when he hit .315 with 20 homers and 76 RBIs while stealing 39 bases. Due to an injury prior to the season starting, he has yet to play in 2016, but his selection could give Astros fans some optimism.

Notable Players drafted soon after Shelby Miller, Mike Trout, and Randal Grichuk

2010 Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays took a guy named Sale with the 17th overall pick in 2010. Wait, you thought I meant Chris Sale (he was 13th overall), and I’m talking about Josh Sale out of Bishop Blanchet. Unlike Chris, Josh only played in the minor leagues for three seasons without making it to the big leagues. In 2012 he did hit ten homers, but his career never took off.

Notable Players drafted soon after, Christian Yelich, Noah Syndergaard, and Taijuan Walker.

2011 Los Angeles Angels

Theis was a star studded draft, as George Springer was picked with the 11th overall pick in 2011 and Jose Fernandez was the 14th. The Astros division foe depends on the 2011 17th overall draft pick C.J. Cron. Cron is a career .257 batting average with 32 homers and 112 RBIs. He is a regular player, which can’t be said for most of the players on this list.

Notable Players drafted soon after, Sonny Gray, Joe Ross, and Jackie Bradley Jr.