Another sign of the improved farm system came today, as Keith Law ranked the Astros 4th in the majors, (subscription required) behind only St. Louis, Minnesota and Tampa Bay. In Law's 2012 rankings, he had the Astros 27th. Law credited the strong 2012 draft, noting the Astros got his number 2 overall and 4 of his top 60 in the class, for the quick rise. He also noted the improved performance of DeShields and Foltynewicz in 2012.
Law was a harsh critic of the Ed Wade regime, but has been very complementary of Luhnow since he took over. Luhnow also appears to also be a fan, as the Astros interviewed Law for several positions last year before he ultimately opted to stay in his role at ESPN. Good to see he is impressed with what the Astros are doing without him.
Law's top 100 will be debuted later this week. I think we can expect to see several Astros prospects on that list. He rated Singleton, Springer and Cosart in the top 100 last year.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
