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

CTH/TexSR: What about the shortstop we got from the Phillies, Jonathan Arauz?

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Cooper: You have to be interested in him partially because the Astros have had such an impressive run, this is what they do, they get these low-level rookie ball type of guys, and they turn into Martes. We had Arauz number 21 on our Phillies list, we like him, potential future big league regular, but he is a long long away from possibly doing that. He is a young Venezuelan shortstop, not a lot of power, switch hitter with a line drive bat, with some defensive ability there.

I wouldn’t be surprised if he was ready to make the jump to the New York-Penn League this year, maybe makes Quad Cities as a 17-year-old. Something very interesting there, but on the Astros list, I wouldn’t slot him any higher than the mid 20’s range at best because it’s a pretty deep system.

Next: Battle at Third Base