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Selecting at No. 21, the Houston Astros were unlikely to land a true impact prospect during the first round of last month's MLB Draft. Those types of players are typically off the board by No. 10 or a few picks later. But Houston did a good job of securing some talented young players who will hopefully be part of the organization's success in the future.
But despite landing some young talent in the 2025 MLB Draft, the top talent evaluators at MLB Pipeline still don't seem to like the Astros farm system. According to the trio of Jim Callis, Sam Dykstra and Jonathan Mayo, the Astros have one of the worst farm systems in all of baseball (again).
The Astros come in at No. 29, and had the San Diego Padres not sold off their entire farm system at the July 31 trade deadline, Houston would likely be dead-last. Though MLB Pipeline congratulated the Astros for their overall team success — eight straight trips to the postseason — they also note that the cupboard is rather bare in terms of impactful minor league talent.
Astros' draft barely budges needle in latest MLB prospect rankings
The Astros only have one prospect — Brice Matthews — considered among the top-100 in the sport, and even he barely made the cut (No. 98). Of course, the Astros accelerated Cam Smith's ascension to the big leagues, which undoubtedly contributed to Houston's absurdly low ranking.
The Astros received high marks for their 2024 draft selections of Joseph Sullivan and Bryce Mayer, though the outlet noted that Houston's farm system is incredibly light in terms of impact arms. Miguel Ullola, who's currently at Triple-A Sugar Land, is the Astros' highest-rated pitcher and is fifth among the team's top prospects.
The Astros have a few players from last month's draft that landed on among Houston's top-30 prospect. Top pick Xavier Neyens (3), LSU outfielder Ethan Frey (9), and second basema Nick Monistere (30) made the cut.
The Astros have big, long-term plans for Walker Janek, and if he develops into an MLB-caliber catcher, the optics surrounding Houston's farm system could begin to turn.