Astros 2023 MLB Draft: Everything you need to know, how to watch

The 2023 MLB Draft is not far away and we will soon get to see who the Houston Astros will be adding to their organization. The draft has had its highs and lows for the Astros in recent years, but they now have a GM with a significant background in scouting, Dana Brown, and all eyes will be on whether or not he can bring that level of success to the Astros.

This also happens to be the time of year when most casual baseball fans remember that baseball has a draft at all as the MLB Draft does not have quite the level of fanfare that its counterparts in the NBA and NFL have. To cover a couple common questions first: No, teams cannot trade most draft picks and no, it is highly unlikely that you will see anyone picked this year in the big leagues anytime soon.

We will be diving into the draft more deeply as we get closer, but here is a quick rundown of what the 2023 MLB Draft will entail for the Houston Astros.

Houston Astros Picks and Draft Bonus Pool

The one downside of winning the World Series is that you pick all the way at the bottom in the draft. The Astros will be picking 28th overall in the first round of the draft and at the bottom of every round after that with the notable exception of the third round where both the Orioles and Mets pick behind them because they are getting some extra picks for failing to sign some players last year.

The MLB Draft employs a bonus pool system (basically add up the slot values of a team’s rounds 1-10 picks and that is the bonus pool) and for the 2023 draft, Houston has the sixth lowest bonus pool in the league at $6,747,900 with only the Blue Jays, Cardinals, Padres, Yankees, and Phillies having less to work with.

Who could the Astros pick in the 2023 MLB Draft?

Predicting anything past the first round is basically impossible and the first round is still very often a crapshoot beyond the first few picks. However, recent mock drafts from Baseball America and MLB Pipeline have identified that the Astros seem to really like Ralphy Velazquez who is a catcher/first baseman out of the California high school ranks as he has a ton of raw power and a good present hit tool. Yohandy Morales, a college 3B baseman out of Miami, was previous mocked to them, but it doesn’t seem overly likely he gets this far. It also sounds like Samuel Stafura, a prep shortstop from NY, is also on their radar but also may not be there at #28.

How to watch the 2023 MLB Draft

July 9th: Rounds 1-2

Start Time: 7 PM EST

Where to watch: ESPN and MLB Network

Streaming: MLB.com

July 10th: Rounds 3-10

Start Time: 2 PM EST

Where to watch: Streamed on MLB.com

July 11th: Rounds 11-20

Start Time: 2 PM EST

Where to watch: Streamed on MLB.com