Regardless what you may think about Jonathan Singleton, his stock may be dropping. And that means the 2014 spring and season will be pivotal for the former top prospect of the Phillies and Astros.
Baseball America released its Top 10 Astros’ prospects Monday afternoon and Singleton fell from second to seventh. He remains in the second slot on Jonathan Mayo’s MLB list. Back in November 2011, Singleton was the Astros’ #1 prospect following the trade that brought him to Houston the previous summer.
Singleton’s five-spot drop and the additions of pitchers Vincent Velasquez (#6) and Michael Feliz (#9) highlight some of the major changes to this year’s list.
A new format ditched the potential 2017 lineup, but adds the Top 15 players 25 years old and under, which should provide some eye-popping review. Of course, all of these players won’t make it to the majors and some may eventually wind up on other MLB teams, but the talent on this list may be some of the best in over a decade in Houston’s system.
The list also accentuates what many of you discovered during Brian Todd’s look at first base: There is very little depth in the organization, at least at the prospect level.
And one other thing is absolutely certain. With names like Appel, McCullers, Mike Folynewicz, Feliz and Asher Wojciechowski on this list, pitchers with names that end in Harrell, Keuchel, and even Clemens and Peacock may have one more spring or season to make their cases.
A few quick questions before we return to our regularly scheduled previews tomorrow.
- Does the Singleton drop in stock surprise you?
- Is Feliz rated too high?
- Biggest surprise on the list for you?
- Biggest name missing on the list?
ALL THINGS ASTROS 
8 responses to “Singleton’s stock drops, Velasquez and Feliz join Astros’ top prospects”
I don’t see how Singleton could not drop based on his 2013 stats. Hopefully this will be a bit of a wake up call for him. We all agree that he has a good eye, which is a bit unusual for a young power guy. But it’s time to start hitting the ball hard on a regular basis at the AAA level. And maybe show a bit of emotion. is it there?
Feliz is a bit of a surprise until you look at his limited stats for 2013. At 19, he showed great control with just 13 walks and 78 K’s, allowed just 53 hits in 69 innings and had a 0.957 WHIP. That’s a hard stat to ignore at any level.
I’m still not all that concerned about first base. I really do believe that Castro will make the transition at some point, maybe soon. And If Singleton flops, then Castro might be there for awhile. We’ve got a couple of third basemen in the system too. I think Bagwell started out over there.
No real huge surprise for me, but it’s good to see Santana move up a notch. I don’t know how many other 6′ 5″, 230 pound guys can go first to third as fast as him. And he’s got a gun in right and everything he hits, he hits hard. He’s obviously one of my favorite future Astros.
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I’m sure DDJ dropping off the list surprised some but when he was moved back to OF his value plummeted. I think Singleton’s drop has to do with Appel in the draft and Correa’s/Springer’s bombshell years and Folty’s recognition by the Texas League Managers. Singleton’s stock dropped but others just plain passed him up.
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How ’bout some good juicy rumors!! Crane and Nolan Ryan are BOTH interested in a deal to bring Nolan back to the Astros……..A N D……..
The Astros have interest in Tanaka! Now…….wouldn’t THAT be the biggest surprise ever pulled off by this penny-pinching owner!
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Sorry Becky. The dang Yankees did it again.
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I’m not at all surprised by Singleton’s drop on the list. He had a bad 2013 not getting his at bats because his suspension and having trouble adjusting to AAA. This is why I think the Wallace/Guzman platoon might be the short-term solution until we are sure Singleton is ready.
I understand the desire to just put him out there and hope for the best, but if he couldn’t excel at OKC, why do we think he’ll makes successful jump to Houston.
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Oh, and I’m surprised at DDJ’s drop. He had a really good year at Lancaster at a young age.
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There are high expectations when you steal 100 (101/120) bases in a year of minor league ball. Only going 51/69 over the next season will do that. He’s young and will hopefully post a good 2014 to bounce back into the list.
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I guess I believe in Singleton more than most. I think he’s going to show why he was rated the number 1 1B prospect going into last year. I think he’ll tear AAA up. Great eye with some pretty good power. I definitely won’t be down on him just because of last year.
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