Rule 5 Draft Today; Pray for Jose!

Today is baseball’s Rule 5 draft and the Houston Astros could possibly lose some great young talent. Here is a list of the players available for the draft from Houston’s organization:

Jose Altuve, Daniel Meszaros, Colin DeLome, Wladimir Sutil, Drew Locke, Koby Clemens, Doug Arguello, Michael Afronti, Lou Santangelo, Sergio Perez, Freddy Parejo, Carlos Quevedo, John Curtis, German Duran, Oswaldo Navarro, Brandon Barnes, Jared Wells, Bubbie Buzachero, Brad James, Kody Kirkland, and James Van Ostrand.

• Jose Altuve is by far the player I’m watching the closest here. I ranked the second baseman as Houston’s number 9 prospect. He’s small in stature but I’m a huge fan of his and I think he’s a future major-league starter at 2B; he’s just not quite there yet. Dan Uggla was an undersized second baseman taken in the Rule 5 draft too, remember.
• Brandon Barnes is also a player to watch as he’s performed extremely well in the AFL this year and has undoubtedly opened some eyes. Barnes is not a disciplined hitter or a great defensive outfielder, but his power potential is unquestioned.
• Outfielder Drew Locke hit .338 with 20 homeruns for Double-A Corpus Christi in 2009 but regressed with Triple-A Round Rock in 2010. He’s still likely to be taken from Houston in today’s draft.

It’ll be interesting to see how Houston handles this draft as infield depth and left-handed pitching are most likely at the top of their wish list. Please cross your fingers with me that Jose Altuve is still an Astro after today!