Houston Astros 2012-13 Offseason Team Page

Last updated 3/26/13 

 HOUSTON ASTROS 2013 

For 2012 End of Season roster, click HERE.
For 2012 Opening Day roster, click HERE.
For 2011 End of Season roster, click HERE.
For 2011 Opening Day roster, click HERE.

2012-13 OFFSEASON PREVIEW 
2012-13 OFFSEASON TRANSACTIONS

Players on the 40-man roster: BOLD.
Players who are injured: +
2012 Draftees(round-pick)
Assigned to 2012 Arizona Fall League:  AFL 
Baseball America '13 pre-season prospect rankings: BLUE#
Baseball Prospectus '13 pre-season prospect rankings: GREEN#
FREE AGENT/ARBITRATION LIST at bottom of page

'MLBDepthCharts (offseason) Magazine' includes this roster projection feature but also includes additional info, such as player age, 2012 stats, 2013 salary and contract info, and more in an easy-to-read, printer-friendly pdf file and excel spreadsheet.

*40-man roster total  (39)           
Click HERE to see 'How Assembled Charts'

PROJECTED 25-MAN ROSTER
(*indicates left-handed batter **indicates switch-hitter)
Projected 'Go-To' Starting Lineup (Click HERE to see last 7 lineups)
1 2B Jose Altuve 
2 1B Brett Wallace 
3 DH Carlos Peña*
LF Chris Carter   
5 RF Fernando Martinezvs RHP
CF Justin Maxwell 
7 C Jason Castro
SS Ronny Cedeño
9 3B Matt Dominguez 

Projected Bench
IF Marwin Gonzalez**
OF Rick Ankiel
OF Brandon Barnes  vs LHP

Projected Starting Rotation
1 RHP Bud Norris
2 RHP Lucas Harrell 
3 RHP Phil Humber 
RHP Brad Peacock BA#4-OAK
5 LHP Erik Bedard

Projected Bullpen
CL RHP Jose Veras
SU LHP Wesley Wright  
SU RHP Hector Ambriz 
MID LHP Xavier Cedeño
MID RHP Alex White
MID RHP Josh Fields  RULE 5 
LR RHP Rhiner Cruz 

On the Outside Looking In 
(Players invited to big league camp)
Position Players (Highest level played in 2012)
2B/OF Jimmy Paredes** MLB  optioned 
SS Jonathan Villar** BP#6 AA  optioned 
IF Jake Elmore MLB  optioned 
OF Robbie Grossman** AA  optioned 
OF J.D. Martinez MLB  optioned 
C Rene Garcia AA
IF Jose Martinez AAA
IF/OF Brandon Laird MLB
OF Trevor Crowe** AAA

Starting Pitchers (Highest level played in 2012)
RHP Jose Cisnero AAA  optioned 
RHP Paul Clemens AAA  optioned 
RHP Jarred Cosart BA#7 BP#5 AAA  optioned   AFL 
RHP John Ely  optioned 
RHP Jordan Lyles MLB  optioned 
RHP Ross Seaton AAA  optioned 
LHP Dallas Keuchel MLB  optioned 
LHP Brett Oberholtzer AAA  optioned 
LHP Rudy Owens AAA  optioned 
RHP Edgar Gonzalez MLB

Relief Pitchers (Highest level played in 2012)
RHP Sam Demel  optioned 
RHP Chia-Jen Lo A+  optioned 
RHP Jose Valdez MLB
LHP Kevin Chapman AA

Notable Minor Leaguers 
Catchers (Highest level played in 2012)
C Tyler Heineman** (8-249) A-
C Jason Jaramillo** AAA
C Jobduan Morales** A
C Carlos Perez A+
C Max Stassi A+
C Chris Wallace AAA

Infielders (Highest level played in 2012)
1B Erik CastroA+
1B/OF Marc Krauss* AAA
1B Jonathan Singleton BA#2 BP#1 AA  AFL    SUSPENDED 50 GAMES  
1B/3B Jesse Wierzbicki A
2B Delino Deshields, Jr. BA#6 BP#4 A+
2B Austin Elkins** (19-579) A-
3B Matt Duffy A
3B Rio RuizBA#8 BP#8 (4-129) APPY
SS Carlos Correa BA#1 BP#2 (1-1) APPY
SS Nolan FontanaBA#10 (2-61) A
SS Jiovanni Mier A+  AFL 
IF Jean Batista** A-

Outfielders (Highest level played in 2012)
OF Andrew Aplin* (5-159) A+
OF Bobby Borchering** AA  AFL 
OF Chris EppsA+
OF Jake GoebbertAAA
OF Teoscar Hernandez A
OF/C Mike Kvasnicka A
OF Che-Hsuan Lin MLB
OF Brandon Meredith A
OF/1B Telvin Nash A+
OF Ariel Ovando* APPY
OF Brett Phillips* (6-189) GCL
OF Domingo Santana BP#7 A+
OF George Springer BA#3 BP#3 AA  AFL 
OF Preston Tucker* (7-219) A-

Starting Pitchers (Highest level played in 2012)
RHP Ruben Alaniz A+
RHP Jack Armstrong, Jr. DNP +  TOMMY JOHN SURGERY ON 5/7/12  
RHP Jake Buchanan AA
RHP Kevin Comer A-  
RHP Chris Devenski A
RHP Bobby Doran AA
RHP Michael Foltynewicz BA#5 BP#10 A
RHP Alex Gillingham A
RHP Matthew Heidenreich AA
RHP Adrian Houser APPY
RHP Lance McCullers, Jr. BA#4 BP#9 (1-41) APPY
RHP Daniel Minor (9-279) APPY
RHP Joseph Musgrove APPY
RHP David Rollins A
RHP Nick Tropeano BA#9 A+  AFL 
RHP Vincent Velasquez A-
RHP Asher Wojciechowski AA
LHP Colton Cain A+
LHP Luis Cruz A
LHP Blair Walters A+

Relief Pitchers (Highest level played in 2012)
RHP Travis Ballew (23-699) A-
RHP Jason Chowning A+
RHP C.J. Fick MLB
RHP Murilo Gouvea A
RHP Jordan Jankowski (34-1029) APPY
RHP Cameron Lamb A-
RHP Carlos Quevedo A+
RHP Andrew Robinson A+
RHP Brady Rogers (3-96) A-
RHP Jason Stoffel AA
RHP Josh Zeid AA
LHP Sergio Escalona +  TOMMY JOHN SURGERY ON 3/27/12  
LHP Theron Geith A+
LHP Mitchell Lambson A
LHP Kenny Long (22-669) A+
LHP Thomas Shirley A
LHP Alex Sogard AA  AFL 
LHP Pat Urckfitz A+

Free Agents 
Position Players
C Chris Snyder $4M mutual option DECLINED  signed w/WAS 

Pitchers
None

Arbitration Eligible
Position Players
None

Pitchers
P. Humber ARB 1 2012 Salary: $530K 2013 Salary: $800K
B. Norris ARB 1 2012 Salary: $511K 2013 Salary: $3M
W. Wright ARB 1 2012 Salary: $512K 2013 Salary: $1.025M



2012 HITTING STATS


2012 PITCHING STATS






31 comments :

Anonymous said... October 2, 2012 at 7:01 PM  

The Astros will have to nontender, DFA, or outright release between a 1/2 dozen and a dozen players to make room for a slew of players they will have to protect from the Rule V Draft.

Jason - MLBDepthCharts.com said... October 3, 2012 at 10:44 AM  

Yep. I haven't researched to get an estimate on how many they'd likely want to protect but I imagine they have more than most. Some players removed will be no-brainers but they'll also have a few tough decisions to make, as will many teams.

Anonymous said... October 3, 2012 at 2:58 PM  

I saw a rough list the other day that had 12 on it, though I don't think they'll have the ability to protect that many...which will make some tough decisions.

Seaton, Oberholtzer, Cosart, Cisnero, Stoffel, Villar, Perez, Grossman, Krauss off the top of my head are all eligible to be drafted in the Rule V.

Next offseason they'll probably have 12 more. All of these fringe esque players on the current roster had better prove themselves quickly.

Jason - MLBDepthCharts.com said... October 3, 2012 at 3:07 PM  

Sounds about right. All the guys they've acquired who played in AA in 2012 were the guys I had in mind since they've been around for more than a few years and most are worth protecting. It will be fun tracking and projecting this roster over the next few months.

Anonymous said... October 26, 2012 at 7:17 PM  

I think Che-Hsuan Lin will be on the big leauge roster opening day as a backup outfielder.

Jason - MLBDepthCharts.com said... October 27, 2012 at 8:46 PM  

Definitely in the mix but I don't see any reason to have him on the projected roster just yet. Barnes is also good defensively. Neither can hit.

Anonymous said... November 21, 2012 at 5:56 PM  

Didn't Scott Moore automatically become a six year minor league free agent when outrighted?

Jason - MLBDepthCharts.com said... November 22, 2012 at 9:36 AM  

I think he has a few days to decide so I figured I'll wait before making a projection change. A bit of a surprise. He was one of their more productive hitters once he got the call. I thought his versatility would at least earn him a bench job. It's not like they needed the roster spot. Maybe he decides to stay once he looks around the league and realizes that the Astros might be his best chance to win a job.

Anonymous said... November 29, 2012 at 5:30 PM  

Wilton Lopez was traded

Jason - MLBDepthCharts.com said... November 29, 2012 at 6:52 PM  

The trade fell through. Might've been concern over Lopez's elbow.

Anonymous said... December 6, 2012 at 6:20 PM  

Jason,

Assuming they don't make another DH acquisition (possible) I have to assume Brett Wallace takes over the DH role, Freiman starts at 1B, FMart is in RF, and Paredas on the bench. Though, I'm sure all will see starting time.

Ideally you wouldn't project a rule V pick to be a starter but the Astros have no intentions of competing next year and Nate will be 26 years old with 4 years of college and 3 years of pro ball under his belt. Wallace (and his 270 lbs) is the ideal DH on the roster at this point. They didn't take Freiman to be a bench player.

Jason - MLBDepthCharts.com said... December 6, 2012 at 7:16 PM  

Not that it won't happen -- this lineup has more question marks than any team in the majors so I wouldn't rule anything out -- but teams actually don't draft Rule 5 picks to be regulars in the lineup. If they were good enough to be a big league regular, they wouldn't be left unprotected.

Generally, they have holes in their game and have potential to be starters down the road. In this case, the team tries to hide them on the bench and only utilize their strengths (i.e. pinch-running, defense, vs LHP, etc). In other cases, the players is already close to their ceiling, which could be as a decent bench player or middle reliever. In Freiman's case, his ceiling is limited but he's not the prototypical power hitting 1B prospect with a long swing that would totally get worked over in the majors. I think he has the kind of compact swing where he has a chance to be a decent bench player who pinch hits and starts 1-2 times per week. Don't think he'd be able to handle really good right-handed pitching.

Wallace probably fits best at DH, but it sounds like they're trying to find a DH in free agency and Lance Berkman is one of their targets.

Anonymous said... December 6, 2012 at 10:20 PM  

I think you completely missed my point, most of the time you'd be right about what teams do with their rule V selections, but in this case if it's between putting Nate into an everyday lineup by replacing Paredas' and getting the better defender on 1st I think that's what HOU will do...barring no signing of another DH.

Jason - MLBDepthCharts.com said... December 7, 2012 at 3:01 PM  

I hear you. This is a very tough team to project as currently constructed so anything can happen. I'm pretty sure Paredes doesn't end up in the lineup, but I'm also pretty confident Freiman ends up on the bench, if he makes the team, with Wallace at 1B and TBD as the DH. There are too many veteran options out there that will still be available at a cheap price later this winter. Makes more sense to project it this way for now.

Anonymous said... December 9, 2012 at 6:49 PM  

Let me put my 2 cents into your comversation guys, I think what you'll see is Freiman at least platoon with Wallace at 1B the first half (Freiman vs. lefties and Wallace vs. Righties). If Freiman is doing well I could see him take over 1B regularly about midseason - his defense greatly improved last season but he has to show that he can hit righties at the big league level consistently before winning a starting job.

Anonymous said... December 14, 2012 at 10:16 AM  

please project freiman in the starting lineup

Anonymous said... January 22, 2013 at 11:26 AM  

Ankiel makes the squad over barnes and adds the lefty power presence in a platoon role

Jason - MLBDepthCharts.com said... January 22, 2013 at 11:27 AM  

Way ahead of you! Just kidding, I changed it two minutes ago so not really WAY ahead of you.

Jason - MLBDepthCharts.com said... January 22, 2013 at 11:28 AM  

Still thinking about how those platoons would work on this particular projection, though. Not sure if there are any straight platoons unless Ankiel wins a starting job and JD Martinez or Justin Maxwell play only vs LHP.

Anonymous said... February 4, 2013 at 9:37 PM  

Jason, you need to start putting some polls up to drive some extra daily traffic.

Poll #1 - Do the Stros win at least 49 games this year?

They went 23-58 over the 2nd half of last year, and managed to win just 38 of their last 117 games in 2012.

And that was with 2 division members sucking it up as well; PIT went 34-47 over the 2nd half and CHI went 30-51 over the 2nd half.

In 1961, major league baseball expanded the regular season to 162 games. Since that time only two major league teams have managed to finish a full season with a sub .300 W%. The 1962 New York Mets (.250 W%) and the 2003 Detroit Tigers (.265 W%).

Jason - MLBDepthCharts.com said... February 4, 2013 at 11:04 PM  

I'm waiting to move everything over to Baseball Prospectus so I'm holding off on new features for now. Remind me if I forget once I get over there. It's a great idea. Thanks!

Anonymous said... February 6, 2013 at 4:23 AM  

The Las Vegas O/U on Astros wins in 2013 is now 50.

Anonymous said... February 13, 2013 at 2:03 PM  

could freiman be looked at at other positions in addition to 1B snd DH in the Spring?

Jason - MLBDepthCharts.com said... February 15, 2013 at 9:40 PM  

I've seen Freiman play in person. The dude is almost 7 feet tall (Ok he's only 6-foot-8). Don't think he could play anywhere else.

Anonymous said... February 25, 2013 at 2:43 PM  

im pretty much shocked u think bedard will beat out white for that 5th spot. bedard is A serious bum. they r going to let white get the ball in my opinion. why would they waste time on bedard when the could start putting time into whites development?

Jason - MLBDepthCharts.com said... February 25, 2013 at 2:54 PM  

Luhnow already said he expects Bedard to be in the rotation. They probably don't have an issue letting White develop in Triple-A. With that said, I'm sure there will be some competition for that spot between a few guys.

Ryan said... March 3, 2013 at 11:47 AM  

Looks like Carter is still spending most of his ST time at 1B... and Wallace is getting a lot of time at 3B... are you still not buying into that??

Jason - MLBDepthCharts.com said... March 3, 2013 at 3:07 PM  

Manager Bo Porter confirmed recently that Carter would likely start in LF. But it makes sense to take a lot at all options right now. Wallace at 3B and Carter at 1B would be a possibility.

Aron said... March 21, 2013 at 7:08 AM  

Looks like Altuve will be leadoff hitter according to manager

Jason - MLBDepthCharts.com said... March 21, 2013 at 9:45 AM  

Not surprising he changed his mind on Greene/Gonzalez hitting leadoff.

Lost, but making good time said... March 25, 2013 at 6:14 PM  

Read Ankiel is starting. But since this team is so bad, they might have meant rhe rotation.

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