The Astros are on the clock. The Twins won today, ending their 11-game losing streak and assuring Houston of the top pick in the 2012 draft. As our Reverse Standings page shows, there's no way that the Twins will finish with a worse record than the Astros this year.
The Astros will finish with at least 102 losses (even if they don't lose again) and the Twins reached the 60-win plateau with today's win, which means they won't exceed 102 losses. Because the Astros finished with a worse record (73-78) than the Twins (91-60) a year ago, Houston would win a tiebreaker and select first overall in 2012 should both clubs happen to finish 60-102 this year.
Houston has selected first overall twice before, though both selections came long before they hired current scouting director Bobby Heck. Houston selected Floyd Bannister first overall in 1976 and selected Phil Nevin with the top choice in 1992, five picks ahead of Derek Jeter.
Wooohoooo too bad there isn’t a lock at number 1 yet, but maybe some guys can put themselves ahead of the field. Houston needs a top of the rotation talent or a key power cog like the hometown kid Nick Williams.
The easier question is: “what don’t the Astros need?”
Hunter Pence I guess…
Needs updating. Padres are listed 8th, but they are tied for the 5th worst record. It should sort on %.
I’m looking at the results and wondering what the heck it IS sorting by. It’s not wins (“top” 4: 54, 60, 69, 66), not losses (102, 95, 87, 90), not winning percentage (.346, .387, .442, .423).
I was wondering the same thing :confused:
On one hand, the Pirates might have another great draft if they pick third in 2012. On the other hand, if the Pirates pick third next year after reaching 7 games over .500 on July 19, 2011… :facepalm: :facepalm: :facepalm:
I’d better hide all the razor blades at Chez Gonfalon just in case :(
Congratulations?…
Thanks, the Cards don’t have a farm now with an aging roster. See Houston Astros 2008
Miller, Martinez, Taveras, Wong, Cox, Adams, Reifer, Sanchez, its probably somewhere in the 10-15 range in farm systems. Houston was a bottom feeder, do you see the difference? One is serviceable/decent, the other is non existent.
One of the Williams’ (Trey or Nick) top my list so far.
They totally earned it!
Too bad Andrew Luck doesn’t play baseball.
No kidding.
Yet another thing the O’s have screwed up …
The O’s suck so much, that they suck at sucking. Doesn’t that just suck?
True story: Hall of Famer Hal Newhouser scouted Jeter for the Astros and highly recommended they take him. But Astros went cheap and took Nevin. Newhouser quit because of this.
Yep, I mentioned this the other day. He told Houston they would regret it and boy did we.
Jeter, Biggio and Bagwell would have done some damage in the 90s.
Don’t agree with this system. Teams should not be re-compensated for finishing with terrible records. I think it should be something like a randomized draft and that you could trade picks.
Why? Competition is good for baseball, and the only way you’re going to get even a hope for strong competition, particularly with the payroll disparities, is by helping the worst teams to get better.
I’m somewhat ambivalent toward trading draft picks, but I strongly support the draft giving the most opportunity to the teams which need the opportunity most.