Astros send 4 prospects to Rookie Career Development Program

Astros’ Martes, Paulino, Moran, and Hernandez will attend the MLB Rookie Career Development Program.

Each year in January, the Houston Astros send some of their top prospects to the annual MLB Rookie Career Development Program. This is a four-day program designed to get players on the cusps of the big leagues. The purpose of the program is to give prospects a glimpse of what it’s like in the major leagues. You will see some of the top prospects in baseball attending this conference.

A collaborative endeavor between MLB baseball and the Players Association gets the players ready for on and off the field. As certain football players, athletes in general, have learned, the money doesn’t last forever. These are some of the things the players learn, how to handle the press, money, and other professional behaviors.

Astros prospects.

This year’s group has some interesting names, according to Jake Kaplan and others. Heading up to Leesburg, Virginia, will be Colin Moran, Teoscar Hernandez, Francis Martes, and David Paulino. Another thing they work on is to help Spanish-speaking prospects speak English by offering classes, via Baseball America.

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With the way that Moran struggled in his first taste of the big leagues, many don’t see him as a part of the future. He is still one of the top prospects and the Astros still see something in him. Moran is the Astros seventh top prospect. He had 3 hits in 23 MLB at-bats.

Top prospect.

All three, except for Martes, had at least a brief cup of coffee with the Astros in 2016. Martes is the top prospect in Houston’s farm system, so his inclusion could signal that his time is coming. Jeff Luhnow hinted that the players involved in the rumored Jose Quintana trade talks could have big impacts in 2017. Martes is the key to any trade talks as the top Astros prospect via MLB Pipeline.

Hernandez had the longest stint with the team with 41 games under his belt, batting .230/ .304/ .420/ .724 with four homers and 11 RBI’s. After stalling a little in 2015, Hernandez found his groove in Double-A and Triple-A. He showed promise, but playing time will be hard to get with the Nori Aoki and Jake Marisnick platoon in left field.

Paulino could be a factor in the bullpen in 2017 after making his debut. He had a 5.14 ERA in seven innings pitched, only striking out two batters. He is still the fourth top Astros prospect as well as possibly a trade candidate.

Next: Are the Stros talking to SP Tyson Ross?

This could be the next step for these four young players to get ready for the show. Will that next step be with the Astros? This will depend on a possible trades between now and the trade deadline. Some of the biggest names have attended these in the past, will one of the four players become a star?

***Stats and rankings from MLB Pipeline***