Houston Astros’ Minor League System Deserves More Respect After Rankings

The Houston Astros have a farm system that is considered among the lowest ranked in baseball. That system has been that way for a while, and yet Houston continues to find ways to win division titles and reach the postseason.

Recently, Baseball America released its updated Top 100 rankings for the season. Only one Astros prospect made the list — outfielder Jacob Melton. He’s been the Astros’ top-ranked prospect for more than a year, so it’s not much surprise he made the Top 100.

He has is a real opportunity to claim an opening-day job. He split his time between Double-A and Triple-A last year and slashed .253/.310/.426/.736 with 15 home runs and 54 RBI.

The Kyle Tucker trade left a hole in right field and that gives Melton an avenue to make his Major League debut.

But it might surprise many to find out that there are more prospects in the Astros’ system that are held in high regard than their system’s overall ranking.

After Baseball America released its Top 100, it released another list. This list was of all of the prospects that received at least one vote for the Top 100.

Houston had four that received at least one vote — shortstop Brice Matthews, third baseman Cam Smith, catcher Walker Janek and third baseman Zach Dezenzo.

Matthews, a Houston native, was the Astros’ first-round pick in 2023 out of Nebraska. In two minor league seasons he’s managed to get to Triple-A Sugar Land and has a two-year slash line of .248/.378/.442/.820 with 19 home runs and 55 RBI. He should start this season at Sugar Land and contend for a call-up if someone gets hurt.

Smith was part of the return in the Tucker trade. The Chicago Cubs selected him in the first round of last year’s MLB draft and in 32 minor-league games the Florida State product slashed .313/.396/.609/1.005 with seven home runs and 24 RBI. He’s a potential third baseman of the future who has already been assigned to Double-A Corpus Christi.

Janek was considered college baseball’s top catcher last season, and he was Houston’s first-round pick in July. In 25 games with High-A Asheville he slashed .175/.214/.289/.503 with one home run and 11 RBI. He could remain at Asheville to start the season or earn a promotion to Corpus Christ during spring training.

Dezenzo made his MLB debut last season after an injury to Alex Bregman. In 19 games he slashed .242/.277/.371/.648 with two home runs and nine RBI.

Houston selected him in the 12th round of the 2022 MLB draft and in the minors last season he slashed .299/.385/.492/.877 with seven home runs and 31 RBI.