There are times when I haven't agreed with a draft pick because it was a bad spot to take them. With Kvasnicka, I just don't like the player. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe the Astros are projecting this guy to be awesome with the bat. It's telling that they drafted him as a third baseman. I just don't like his bat.
Here's what I had to say with his profile:
Floor
As I mentioned, his floor depends most on whether he can stick at catcher. If his defense improves enough in pro ball that he can play the position, Kvasnicka could be a backup at the big league level. Otherwise, he's going to be a left fielder without much power, without great wheels and who's plate discipline is just average. Those kinds of guys don't usually make the major leagues for long.
Ceiling
With a little bit of power, Kvasnicka is exactly the kind of player the Astros think Jason Castro can be. He'll have an All-Star caliber bat at catcher but won't be a gold-glover behind the dish. Teams like his bat and he could hit for a pretty high average. If he were playing at any other position, he wouldn't be considered an All-Star, but at catcher, 15-20 home runs plus a .300 average will go far.
Will the Astros pick him? If so, where?
You may have picked up that I've compared Kvasnicka to Castro a lot. Obviously, Castro's defense is much better at this point, but I should also point out that both converted to catcher during their college careers. Castro appears to be the more athletic of the two, but Kvasnicka may have the better bat. Why does all this matter? Because it doesn't look like the Astros need a player like the University of Minnesota junior. He's been linked to them by some rumors this week, but that may just be disinformation.
At third base, he may not have enough power to stick there. He'd have to be Jeff Cirillo with the bat to survive at the hot corner, and I don't see him hitting for that average. He's got a line drive swing, so he most likely won't develop much power. Yes, he's got a good approach at the plate and will most likely have a high OBP. The Astros don't have that in the system. So, he's improved the system in that respect.
I think the Castro comparisons are apt, though. Why take a guy who profiles to him so similarly when you can probably only survive with a couple of guys like that in the system? He's not a great athlete, so I'm not sure why the Astros fell in love with him.
You might be wondering about the third base thing. That, I don't have as much of a question about. See, colleges often play guys all over the diamond. A center fielder can move to short stop in most cases and a first baseman can move over to third. That's more the norm with college programs and could be the case with Kvasnicka. He's also pretty developed, so he can fill a need immediately. I still think he goes to Tri-City to start off the season, but he could start the next in Lancaster.
So far, the rumors about the Astros interest have been dead-on. Let's see if they take Golden in the second round on Tuesday.