Junction

if they were smart they would pick Carlos Correa (ss/3b)

his "hit" tool is supposed to be superior to Buxton, and Correa actually does it in games.

The Astros are in last place for a reason.....picking a guy like Appel will continue to keep them at the bottom of the league.

They need to revamp the whole damn system, b/c they are terrible at every level right now from the show to rookie ball.

At some point they have to up the risk/reward and hope they can develop them in the minors.

Appel is a good talent, not an elite talent......this draft has all types of questions at the top of the round.....Gausman (3rd pitch), Buxton (hit tool), Stroman (height/duribility), etc. He's number 1 on most boards b/c he has fewer question marks, not b/c he's head and shoulders above everyone else.

Appel has no where near the ceiling of a Verlander or Weaver coming out of college.

The future will look brighter for the Stros soon. Give it time. They did the right thing by trading the last 3 big players before contract years and got some pretty decent players. It a completely different league they will be playing in next season (if I'm not wrong). It's a diff style of ball and drafting will reflect that. In a division full of Nelly Cruz/Hamilton/Trout/Trumbo/Napoli/Pujols....they'll need some pitching to try and slow these bats. Yes, 5 tool players are awesome and flashy but how many actually pan out? Not many... Don't get all turned on by the Bryce Harpers and Mike Trouts... They are few and far between.

All I know as a Houston sports fan is that the #2 pick will be an All Star and the Astros will be lucky to get any sort of production out of the #1 pick.

But here is hoping that Lunhow is good as his job and brings the Astros back to a yearly playoff team.

The Rangers got the really good end of the Teixeira trade and then were able to flip Volquez for Hamilton. The Astros do not have the trade chips to mock what they did. Its going to be all about drafting and developing players. Sign what we can in free agency, but this is going to be a slow rebuild.

Need to do both.

meaning, you have to be commited to paying

By "mock everything we did," do you mean sucking and being basically irrelevant for the first 30-40 years of your existence so you can lose two world series in a row one day? That is kind of a "long-term" strategy, don't you think?

Nice call.