Astros Prospects: Talking Stros w/ JJ Cooper, Defends Martes over Bregman

CTH/TexSR: What can you tell us about another hidden gem the Astros found in David Paulino?

Cooper: Paulino, we could be talking about him this time next year in the same terms as Martes. He’s a little further away, he has a little more injury history that you have to be concerned about. But again, you are talking about him having some really special stuff, his stuff could end up being better than Martes. Everything is there, he has the fastball, he has the potential with the breaking ball, he has the stuff there to be a frontline starter.

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When you are talking about risks with Paulino, that’s one of the reasons that the Astros got him, he didn’t pitch the season the Astros traded for him. Again, talk about the great pickup, the got him after he essentially had done nothing at the time they traded for him. It’s already the Paulino trade, it is not the Jose Veras or Danry Vazquez trade anymore, it’s the David Paulino trade.

To be honest, he ranked seventh before the Mark Appel trade, who ranked eighth. I actually felt comfortable about the Astros trading Appel; I ran it by some guys. Appel had the more certainty of the two, but there is a decent chance that the Astros would have preferred to trade Appel than Paulino.

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