Top 10 Astros stories of 2013 (numbers 6 through 10)
Quad Cities shortstop Carlos Correa (David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports)
#6. Six Astros minor league teams make it to the postseason
Jeff Luhnow’s work has yet to yield results at the big league level but an about face at every level of the minor leagues gives us tangible evidence that the rebuild is working. After the entire minor league organization compiled the lowest overall winning percentage in baseball for the 2012 season, all four of the Astros’ full-season affiliates made it to the postseason in 2013. Short-season squads Greeneville and Tri-City also qualified for the playoffs, giving the Astros six (out of eight) teams vying for a championship.
Both the Tri-City ValleyCats (NY-Penn League) and the Quad Cities River Bandits (Midwest League) were able to go the distance and bring home the hardware. The High-A Lancaster JetHawks came up just short in their bid for a second straight California League title. Both AA Corpus Christi and AAA Oklahoma City were bounced out of the playoffs early after tremendous showings in the regular season.
Overall, it was an
amazing
historic turnaround for the organization.
Stay tuned. Stories 1 through 5 will be coming up tomorrow.