The Future is on Hold! Astros Reassign Five Players, Including Top Prospect to Minor League Camp
Cuts are starting to be made for teams across Major League Baseball, and on Monday, the Houston Astros trimmed up their spring training camp.
Per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com, five players were reassigned to the minor league camp; pitchers Aaron Brown and Jose Fleury, outfielder Jacob Melton, catcher Miguel Palma and infielder Tommy Sacco Jr.
The most notable name on the list is Melton.
Ranked No. 2 in the Astros’ pipeline rankings, this seems like the year for the talented youngster to become a factor at the Major League level because there are so many question marks in the outfield unit.
Outside of Jose Altuve moving to the grass for the first time in his professional career, Houston is also banking on Chas McCormick to bounce back offensively and for Jake Meyers to finally be at least league average with the bat in his hand.
When also factoring in the need for them to replace the departed production of Kyle Tucker, that ask becomes an even greater one.
But this reassignment for Melton isn’t too surprising.
He came into camp dealing with a back issue and was never able to get going.
Melton also has gotten into just 47 games at the Triple-A level, so a little bit more time on the farm wouldn’t be the worst thing for him prior to his promotion.
Fleury is ranked 11th in the pipeline, having been signed as an international free agent in 2021 and working his way to the Double-A level last season at 22 years old where he made 17 appearances and nine starts.
Brown was a ninth-round pick in 2021, and while he hasn’t blown anyone away with his 4.79 ERA across his 84 career outings and 50 starts, he could be an option at some point down the line.
Palma is an interesting catcher.
Signed out of Venezuela in 2018, the 23-year-old reached Triple-A last season and has showed well with the bat in his hand with a career .255/.353/.400 slash line. He’s not a power hitter with just 30 total home runs, but he’s been productive driving in runs with 156 RBI in 304 games.
If he continues to develop, he could be paired with Yainer Diaz at the Major League level soon.
Sacco is relatively unknown.
He was taken in the 14th-round of the 2022 draft, and since he’s not in the top 30 of this weak farm system, not a lot of attention has been given to him.
The 25-year-old got to Triple-A last season, and while he doesn’t have a slash line that blows anyone away, the infielder has also had some pop with double-digit homers in back-to-back campaigns to pair with 16-plus stolen bases, as well.
All five of these players were non-roster invitees, so no major decisions were made here.
That could start changing soon with the Astros starting to tighten up their camp to put together their 26-man roster for Opening Day.
