6th Street

Here's what Keith Law said the night after Round 1, before he knew the Astros would also draft/sign Ruiz.

"The picks: Carlos Correa at No. 1, Lance McCullers Jr. at No. 41
Summary: Pre-draft deals are illegal in baseball under Rule 3 -- the team could lose not just the player but the pick, as well as the bonus pool money assigned to it -- but if Correa were to agree now to a deal below the assigned value for the first overall pick ($7.2 million), the Astros could spread the savings over subsequent selections, possibly giving most or all of that to sandwich-round pick Lance McCullers, Jr., a first-round talent with a strong commitment to Florida. It's a risk for Houston, but the payoff could be huge; if you believe McCullers, a 6-foot right-hander who reworked his delivery last winter so he could throw strikes, can be a starter, you could make a credible argument two of the top 10-15 players in this draft are now under the Astros' control."

Here's Jim Callis on signing those top talents:

"The Astros have agreed to terms with fourth-round pick Rio Ruiz on a $1.85 million bonus.

That's the biggest bonus compared to assigned pick value thus far in the 2012 draft, coming in at $1,489,800 over the $360,200 allocated for the 129th overall pick. Ruiz beats the standard set by fellow Astros draftee Lance McCullers Jr., who signed for $2.5 million as the 41st overall pick.

Ruiz had a chance to go in the first round before missing most of his senior season following surgery to remove a blood clot in his neck in March. The Bishop Amat HS (La Puente, Calif.) star projects as a third baseman with an average bat, plus raw power and a strong arm. He had committed to Southern California.

Ruiz's signing effectively ends any chance Houston has of landing 11th-rounder Hunter Virant, a California high school lefty who dropped because of a seven-figure price tag. The Astros still should be able to sign their three College World Series participants in the first 10 rounds (Florida shortstop Nolan Fontana and outfielder Preston Tucker, UCLA catcher Tyler Heineman) without blowing past their bonus pool of $11,177,700 by 5 percent. If they did exceed their pool by that much, it would cost them a first-round pick next year."

Astros trade Happ and Lyon.............

http://houston.astros.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120720&content_id=35239670&vkey=news_hou&c_id=hou

Wandy to the Pirates for 2 former UT signees (Colton Cain and Robbie Grossman)! If Grossman develops this is a total steal.

Great job by Jeff Luhnow and Jim Crane in unloading every dude on the roster that was scheduled to make big money next season. The rebuilding has begun in earnest. They signed their top draft choices, unloaded unproductive guys with big contracts and are seeing what the youth can do. The MLB product will stink on the field for a bit, but this is the way to properly rebuild.

Three of the Pirate's top 15 for an expensive, over the hill pitcher who has been rapidly declining in value. Very solid return for the Astros.

Here are the top 20 prospects in the Astros organization:

http://houston.astros.mlb.com/mlb/minorleagues/affiliates/index.jsp?c_id=hou

Richard Justice "Astros on the right track"

http://houston.astros.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120728&content_id=35718786&vkey=news_hou&c_id=hou

I love what the Astros are doing. I believe they're constructing a great organization. I also think they may be back in contention a lot more quickly than some people think. That's the hard part.

There's no timetable on young players, and if you don't believe me, check with the A's. Remember, they were supposed to be lousy this season.

Oakland general manager Billy Beane looked at his club last offseason and reached the difficult conclusion that it wasn't good enough to hang with the Rangers and Angels in the American League West.

Instead of selling a silly company line about maybe being competitive if this or that happened, Beane had the guts to do what only the really good ones do. He traded three All-Star pitchers for a bunch of prospects and turned his Spring Training into a tryout camp for the talent he'd collected.

He loved what he saw. He didn't know how quickly the A's would be good again, but he committed to running those young players out there and putting them in the right kind of environment.

He knew that some of them would be good immediately, he knew that some of them might need another year or two in the Minor Leagues and he knew that some of them wouldn't make it.

Regardless of how this season -- or even next -- was to turn out, Beane was committed to his plan, to putting a foundation in place that would sustain the A's for years to come.

Now the A's are one of baseball's surprise teams, with all those kids forming a terrific pitching staff, and young outfielders Josh Reddick and Yoenis Cespedes seemingly on their way to stardom. If Beane had played it safe last winter, he never would have found out about Tom Milone and Jarrod Parker and Ryan Cook...............continue reading

They traded a crappy big leaguer for prospects in the middle of a rebuilding project with new ownership. They are indeed the laughing stock of baseball, but this is exactly what they are supposed to be doing. Not sure how anyone can complain about all of their moves this year....

Pay attention, class.

The franchise is not BECOMING a laughing stock. It is ALREADY a laughing stock. These trades are the steps toward regaining legitimacy, and hopefully sustainable legitimacy.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/houston-finds-value-in-return-for-replaceable-part/

"Jeff Luhnow is at it again....The approach being utilized by Houston is an excellent one. The organization does not have highly-sought-after commodities to trade (Carlos Lee, Brandon Lyon, Wandy Rodriguez, Johnson) so they’re seeking former highly-regarded prospects that have fallen in value but remain promising...

The Houston Astros organization had an outstanding run of contention from 1994 to 2006 and it’s going to be a few ugly years in Texas. But the good news is that Luhnow and his front office crew, along with new owner Jim Crane, are trying to build a team that will have sustainable success for another long stretch of time. The organization was picked over and left for the buzzards when previous owner Drayton McLane Jr. entrusted the organization to former General Manager Ed Wade who neglected the minor league system and thumbed his nose at the amateur draft."

He was never very good...strikes out a lot, has no power and fields like shit.

I would agree with you if we were talking about last year. But this year he has shown maturity and more patience at the plate. (especially the last month) Is he an all-star.........no but I could see him as a building block batting in the 6th hole. Plus he is good in the clubhouse. Also he takes coaching..............unusual in today's pro athletes.

CJ is a DH without consistent power. At least the Astros got something for him.

austinr should just stop talking about baseball, because like politics, he knows absolutely nothing about it.

I like how they're just blowing the hole thing up. That's the best thing to do now IMO. And just as an FYi, Wesley Wright is now the longest tenured Astro