Read a recent series of articles from Minor League Ball reviewing Sickels' grades for prospects that ended up being among the top 30 players and pitchers in WAR, and was surprised by how accurate he was, so I decided to go back and track what he has graded the players in Houston's system, so we might have a better idea of what we can expect down the road.



The first thing that pops out is that Houston has not had any grade 'A' prospects in the last 4 years. I suspect Singleton has a chance to get there when Sickels releases his first 2013 list, but for now, no one has gotten better than B+. The grades are below (I used 'C-' for players that Sickels included in the honorable mention section of his Astros' Top 20 list):
Players 2009 2010 2011 2012
Grossman C+ C+ C- B
Dominguez B+ B B B-
P Clemens C- NR C+ B-
Seaton B- C+ C- C
Shuck C C- C- C-
Weiland B- C+ C+ C+
F Mart B+ B+ B- MLB
Lyles B- B+ B+ MLB
Bogusevic B- C C MLB
Wallace A- B+ MLB MLB
Castro B B+ MLB MLB
Harrell C- C MLB MLB
Greene C- C MLB MLB
Abad C- C+ MLB MLB
Norris B- MLB MLB MLB
Schafer B+ MLB MLB MLB
Lo C+ B- NR NR
DydalewiczC- C NR NR
J Villar C- C+ B -
Singleton C+ B+ B+
Cosart C+ B+ B+
Bushue B- C+ C
Keuchel C- C C-
Laird C- C+ C-
Cain C+ C+ C-
Mier B C+ C
Owens C+ B C+
Perez C+ B C+
Borchering B- B- C+
Krauss B- B- C+
Nash C- C C+
Oberholtzer C- C+ C+
Santana C+ C+ C+
JD Martinez C B- MLB
Altuve C- C MLB
Paredes C- C+ MLB
Aneury C+ C+ MLB
H Villar C- MLB MLB
E. Hernandez C NR NR
Meyer C- NR NR
Meszaros C- NR NR
E Castro C- NR NR
Ferreira C- NR NR
A Leon C- NR NR
L Cruz C- NR NR
J. Perez C+ NR NR
Storey C+ NR NR
Wojo B B-
Rasmussen B- B-
Goebbert C- C-
Velasquez C- C-
Kvasnicka C+ C-
Zeid C+ C-
Chapman C+ C-
Ovando C C
DeShields B- C+
Folty B- C+
Wates B- C+
Quevedo C NR
Cisnero C- NR
Doran C- NR
Heath C- NR
Pena C- NR
R Quintero C- NR
Robinson C- NR
Shirley C- NR
Urckfitz C- NR
Stoffel C- NR
Heidenreich C- NR
Musgrove B-
Springer B+
Buchanan C
C Wallace C
Alaniz C-
Armstrong C-
Bailey C-
De Leon C-
D Diaz C-
Hallock C-
Lee C-
Ordosgoitti C-
Scott C-
Walters C-
Toney C-
Comer C-
Houser C+
Tropeano C+