Climbing Tal's Hill » Rio Ruiz

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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Astros Sign 4th Round Pick Rio Ruiz

Brian Hamilton — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 12:46:33 +0000

The Astros have agreed to terms with fourth-round pick 3B Rio Ruiz on a $1.85 million contract. He will forego his scholarship to USC and instead begin his pro career with the Houston Astros. His bonus is the biggest thus far compared to assigned pick value in the 2012 draft, coming in at $1,489,800 over the $360,200 allocated for the 129th overall pick. As Alex and I both said in our podcast last week, signing Ruiz was almost a foregone conclusion as the club continues to put an emphasis on the draft and player development while getting their farm system back to normalcy.

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Astros Sign Supplemental Pick Lance McCullers Jr.

Brian Hamilton — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 21:55:58 +0000

As had been rumored all day, the Astros have indeed signed supplemental first round pick, Lance McCullers Jr. McCullers was drafted 41st overall in this years MLB Draft. He fell in the draft due to signability concerns, the fact that he is represented by mega agent Scott Boras, and had a firm commitment to play baseball for the University of Florida. McCullers tweeted earlier today that he was about to board a four hour flight but didn’t reveal the destination. It was later leaked by Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle, that McCullers was indeed en route to Houston to take a physical and sign his contract.

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