Climbing Tal's Hill » Matt Downs

Down On The Farm

Brian Hamilton — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 22:31:00 +0000

Yesterday, I wrote an article about top prospect George Springer being promoted (finally!) to AA Corpus Christi. I wake up this morning to see that Delino DeShields Jr. had also been promoted to AA, which was later clarified that he was actually promoted to High A Lancaster, but still, a promotion nonetheless. Also, late last night, J.D. Martinez and Matt Downs were optioned from Houston to AAA Oklahoma City. One was moved to make room on the roster for newly acquired Tyler Greene, the other vacated spot was filled by Fernando Martinez, who has officially been called up from AAA to Houston. Then later on I read that we have promoted several more prospects. More on that after the jump.

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I’ll Tell You Why Call-Ups Haven’t Been Made…

Brian Hamilton — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 12:44:55 +0000

I’ve seen a ton of tweets, articles, and blogs written asking why several of the Astros top performing prospects, specifically Matt Dominguez, Jimmy Paredes and Brandon Barnes, have not yet been called up. Before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, the speculation was that these players would be called up to help a team struggling to win games. The non-waiver trade deadline came and went and only Brett Wallace was called up. Fans have been scratching their heads and throwing their arms up in both confusion and frustration. Our big league team has struggled to score runs yet some players at AAA are scoring and producing runs easily. So, the question remains, why haven’t these (and other) players been called up yet? The answer is simple, because the trade deadline isn’t over yet.

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Who will be left after today’s deadline?

Alex Sandoval — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 11:30:24 +0000

At this point, watching games has been reduced to expecting the worst and hoping for the best. The good part, August 1st is just around the corner and change is coming. Quite a bit of change to be exact, given the amount of turnover the club has already experienced. Actually that date has been on my radar even before the club started to trot out a AA lineup on a constant basis. I knew that by that day, the club would look completely different and we’d experienced a massive turnover. I didn’t know we’d be seeing this bad a brand of baseball which has made my anticipation even greater.

Wilton Lopez: Brett Davis-US PRESSWIRE

So who will be added to the team? We know Brett Wallace has been called up and rightfully so. I’m still not sure I’ve heard a valid reason for him not to have been up sooner but that is not relevant any longer. Jimmy Paredes is the other AAA player that seems the most logical to get a call up. The issue with Paredes is that he plays 2nd base now and that position is taken. Paredes can play multiple positions but it seems the Astros have decided he is a 2nd baseman which leads to a couple of conclusions. Either they love the depth and trade value or Altuve isn’t as untouchable as people have made him out to be. Either way, expect Jimmy in the big leagues with someone by next week. Brandon Barnes seems like another logical choice too, especially with the Astros’ horrible OF play that is on display nightly. Newly acquired Rudy Owens seems like another logical choice especially with a couple of pitchers being shipped out. After that, not particularly sure who comes up and who stays on the farm.

Now what will be left over come 2:00? Great question, if I don’t say so myself, because I honestly don’t know. I think Luhnow is still planning on a busy few hours before the deadline. I think Jose Altuve is the closest thing to a lock to stay with the Astros but I wouldn’t bet much money on that. Jed Lowrie, Bud Norris and Wilton Lopez have the most remaining value of the remaining group. Had Lowrie not sprained his ankle, he would have been much more popular right now but even as is, teams are calling. Bud Norris’ recent resurgence has helped his value and could make a deal possible but it would still be selling rather low, so I’d wait until the Winter. Wilton Lopez is the most certain to go and I think he will go. Lopez has had a very good career in Astros’ pinstripes and red which will make him a great find for a team. I think a deal will present itself to Jeff that will make it very difficult for him to say no. Besides that, Scott Moore, Matt Downs and Chris Snyder could all go in minor deals but they won’t bring back much.

Reality is that Luhnow has thrown more than one curve ball at Stros’ fans this month and I wouldn’t expect anything less today.