mlb draft Now that the George Springer pick is in the books, Houston is now looking at the meat of the draft. This is where Bobby Heck and Co. will do the most work, taking guys that we've maybe heard of and will probably hear more about in the next few years. But, if we were to look at the remaining players after the first 60 picks went off the board Monday, who would be the best of the rest? Let's start at the top. Josh Bell is probably the most talented player left out there, but the sweet-swinging outfielder has told teams not to draft him because he's going to the University of Texas. That may not stop a desperate team like the Detroit Tigers from gambling on him and offering him a ton of money. However, I doubt the Astros do something similar.

There's also a ton of pitchers out there, some of whom don't have questions outside of their price tag. That's the only thing that can explain why guys like Dillon Howard or Daniel Norris slid in the draft. I talked a bit about Norris' makeup in my writeup on him; I have a feeling he'll be taken at the top of the second round before the Astros get a chance to nab him, but in case he isn't, he'd be a great pickup. TCU's Matt Purke also should be there at No. 69, but I think he might slip into the third round because of lots of questions about his performance this season. Same goes for Texas A&M's John Stilson, but more for concerns over his recent injury than his overall ceiling (though I see him ultimately being a closer). Another TCU pitcher, Kyle Winkler also figures to slip a bit because of injury concerns. As for other interesting bats, I wonder if a guy like Oregon State's Andrew Susac is on the Astros radar. He might be the best catcher left on the board. While I don't think Houston needs another catcher, he'd provide even more depth at the position. Same goes for Arkansas' James McCann.


A couple other guys we profiled who may go in the next couple of rounds are The Woodlands HS right-hander Bryan Brickhouse and Coastal Carolina's Anthony Meo. If we're looking from the Astros' traditional scouting bases in the past few years, there's Florida high school right-hander Kyle Smith, Illinois high school right-hander Nick Burdi and California high school right-hander Jake Reed. All three sound in some ways like what Heck and Co. have drafted in the past, with Smith being the only one who lacks size. If I had to bet, I'd say Burdi goes in the third or fourth round with someone like Reed going in the second.