Astros Grab Potential Future Third Baseman in Latest MLB Mock Draft

The Houston Astros could be looking for a future plan at third base and this prep star could be the long-term answer.

Aug 20, 2022; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; A detailed view of the hat and glove of Houston Astros right fielder Kyle Tucker (not pictured) against the Atlanta Braves in the eleventh inning at Truist Park. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Third base turned into a revolving door for the Houston Astros this offseason.

Out went Alex Bregman, who turned down an offer from Houston to stay in the Space City to sign a three-year, $120 million deal with the Boston Red Sox.

In came Isaac Paredes, who came to the Astros from the Chicago Cubs as part of the return in the Kyle Tucker trade.

Paredes has two more years of team control before he can become a free agent after the 2027 season. The heir could be Cam Smith, who for now is playing right field.

But Houston could take a longer-term approach with the position. In a recent Baseball America mock draft, the Astros took care of that by selecting a high school third baseman, Xavier Neyens.

Who is Xavier Neyens?  

Neyens is from Mount Vernon, Wash., and he has a scouting report that is split among insiders and analysts, as Baseball America’s Carlos Collazo explains.

“Proponents will point to Ethan Holliday and say that there’s not much difference between his power, on-base skills and future defensive home questions as Neyens,” he wrote. “Skeptics will hone in on the swing-and-miss tendencies and prefer a more high-probability, up-the-middle defensive profile.”

It’s his ability to hit for power that may make the different, according to Collazo.

Taking a third baseman would be end a long drought in the first round for Houston. The last time the Astros took a third baseman in the first round was Phil Nevin in 1993, who went No. 1 overall.

Bregman was a first-round pick, No. 2 overall in 2015 out of LSU. But he played shortstop with the Tigers and converted to third base by the time he made his MLB debut in 2016.

The Astros selected Sam Houston catcher Walker Janek in the first round last year. He’s the starting catcher at High-A Asheville with the hopes of moving up to Double-A Corpus Christi later this year.

Houston’s 2023 first-round pick was Nebraska shortstop Brice Matthews, a Houston native who has already ascended to Triple-A Sugar Land and is seen as a player that could make their MLB debut this year.

The Astros selected outfielder Drew Gilbert out of Tennessee in the first round of the 2022 draft. Gilbert was included in the Justin Verlander trade with the New York Mets in 2023 and he is now at Triple-A Syracuse hoping to make a Big League debut this year.

Houston did not have first-round selections in the 2020 and 2021 MLB drafts and they were surrendered due to the electronic sign-stealing scandal that emerged after the Astros’ World Series victory in 2017.

The 2025 MLB draft will be held Sunday and Monday, July 13-14, during All-Star Weekend in Atlanta.