They should have drafted Carlos Rodon. Jeff Luhnow and all of the Astros' top scouts thought Brady Aiken was the next Clayton Kershaw. I don't care if you're the best general manager or scout in baseball it's still a 17-year-old kid.

Even if he is the next Kershaw we wouldn't have known until 2018 at the earliest. That entire pick didn't help us improve in the short term at all. Carlos Rodon could have been a much needed boost sometime in 2015. Now he's going to likely have a great career for the White Sox.

Brady Aiken is obviously healthy and confident enough to pass up on $5 million dollars.

He won't get that money back unless he's a top three pick in the 2015 draft and funny enough, the Astros could have two of those picks. I doubt the Rangers are going to draft Aiken number one overall if they end up with the top pick.

This post was edited by Madmartigan on Jul 18 2014 07:06pm

The Astros lineup at Chicago tonight. It seems like Bo Porter has changed the lineup almost every other game. No consistency like that.

1. Jose Altuve (R) 2B
2. Jason Castro (L) C
3. George Springer (R) CF
4. Chris Carter (R) DH
5. Jon Singleton (L) 1B
6. Matt Dominguez (R) 3B
7. Robbie Grossman (S) RF
8. Enrique Hernandez (R) LF
9. Marwin Gonzalez (S) SS

Dallas Keuchel (9-5, 3.20 ERA) is on the mound. The game starts in an hour. I'll probably watch some of it as I rest in bed. Maybe they can beat the White Sox tonight and set up a rubber game tomorrow. I doubt it but we'll see what happens.

The Rangers already lost earlier today so the Astros need a loss to tie them at 58 losses for the worst record in baseball.

Of course the Astros find a way to lose 4-3 with our best pitcher on the mound. Leaving the bases loaded in the top of the 7th was the difference. Jon Singleton nearly missed a big home run, about four inches short of winning the game, but it was caught at the wall by a leaping Alejandro De Aza in left field.

58 losses which is tied for the worst in baseball. Bring it on, Rangers.

The White Sox will probably pull off the sweep tomorrow afternoon. John Danks is the real deal and our offense is pathetic. Jarred Cosart was really good in June (4-1, 2.60 ERA) but he's back to struggling again in July (1-1, 9.28 ERA). He'll be making his third start this month.

I don't even know why I bother watching these games. Fourth straight season with the worst record in baseball.
Even if we end up with the first two picks in the 2015 MLB Draft (#1 and #2) we'll find a way to mess it up I'm sure.

1. john danks is not the real deal
2. dallas keuchel is not your best pitcher. hes been plummeting down to earth the last month or so.
3. you get to watch altuve, springer, and singleton play every day. thats better than the last few years for you.

Even with his recent slump, Keuchel is definitely far and away their best pitcher.

theres no way. feldman, cosart, and keuchel are all about the same in terms of talent. average at best.

their pitching will get better as the prospects get called up. keuchel allows way too many baserunners to be a good pitcher.


i guess its all relative. hes the best pitcher on their current team but that's more because they lack any good pitchers really.

This post was edited by Genetics on Jul 19 2014 10:57pm

lolwut

Pretty sure Cosart and Feldman have a (much) higher WHIP than Keuchel. And of course Keuchel is going to allow his fair share of hits. He's an extreme groundball pitcher and groundballs turn into hits much more often than flyballs. But groundballs don't leave the park either.

Cosart is definitely the most talented of the group but he'll never have the control nor command to become a top of the rotation guy. Not to mention he doesn't miss nearly as many bats as someone with his stuff should.

And Feldman has never had a season as good as the one Keuchel is having this season.

We've been fortunate to have some starting pitchers with decent ERAs in the tough American League this season. Keuchel (3.29), Cosart (4.17), McHugh (3.28) and Feldman (4.30). If only we had a good bullpen and a better approach to the plate - moneyball strategy, more guys drawing walks, getting on base - we'd probably be a competitive team.

This team is frustrating to watch. They hit a lot of home runs (3rd best in the AL) but a lot of them are solo shots or two-run homers. The same guys who jack them out also strike out a ton and hit for a poor batting average. George Springer has hit 20 home runs, 114 strikeouts, hitting .231 and Chris Carter has 19 home runs with 103 strikeouts, hitting .200. Jon Singleton is a rookie just like Springer. He's a future beast. He's hit 6 home runs in 40 games played so far but he's only hitting .182 himself. He could be the next Ryan Howard but the 22-year-old kid has a lot to learn.

I see improvement for sure but we're still likely to finish with the worst record in baseball in 2014. Fourth year in a row. We botched our number one overall pick in this past 2014 draft by not signing Brady Aiken. Our previous two number one overall picks, Mark Appel and Carlos Correa, have yet to reach the big leagues.

We may have the first and second overall picks (guaranteed compensation for not signing Aiken) in the 2015 draft which could be a problem in terms of not going over the "draft slotted money" that the MLB has in place. We could lose our 2016 first-round pick because it will cost a lot of money to sign two top draft picks in one draft while still hoping to sign guys in the other ten rounds.

I agree. He has a nasty cutter. If he can just have better control of his breaking pitches. The way he pitched in June he looked like one of the better pitchers in the American League. 4-1 record with a 2.60 ERA during those five starts. He had only walked seven batters combined in those five starts. When he has good control he's proven to produce.

He's still young enough to have some hope for. He's been rocked in his two starts in July (11 earned runs in 10.1 innings) and walking 6 guys in the two games. I hope he has a good start later today. If Jarred Cosart can pitch like he did in June for a full season then you'll have a really good frontline starter.

keuchel has really fallen back down to earth though. itll be easier to see where he sits by the end of the season, but the ways he pitched in the last month+, hes been pretty bad honestly.

i agree that cosart is their most talented pitcher. well have to wait and see which keuchel will stick around, the early season one or the one from june on.


hes probably somewhere in the middle, but theres a reason why hes been a no name til this late in his career.