Minor League Ball Top 75 List Has Seven Astros

Today, John Sickels over at Minor League Ball posted his Top 75 Prospect List Update. Go check it out, Sickels always does excellent work rationalizing his rankings and interacting with readers.

On this update, the Astros sport SEVEN players on his Top 75. Long gone are the days where the Astros' only appearance on such lists included one player, and usually at the bottom of the list (Castro, Lyles, Hirsch, Patton, etc.). Those players include:

7) Carlos Correa
15) George Springer
34) Mike Foltynewicz
36) Jarred Cosart
43) Lance McCullers
60) Jonathan Singleton
62) Delino DeShields

Here are some thoughts:

• Sickels notes that Correa is younger than Byron Buxton and plays shortstop. So let's not get all worked up that Buxton is ranked #1. There is plenty of time for Correa to improve his stock beyond an already-awesome ranking of 7.
• Has any minor league player improved his stock more than George Springer? On Sickel's last list, Springer was ranked 72. Early candidate for MiLB player of the year, perhaps?
• Sickels apparently likes Cosart a lot more than his peers, based on this year's performance. I venture a guess that he also sees Cosart as a possible dominant starter, unlike a lot of prospecteers, who think his stuff is destined for the bullpen. His climb from 103 to 36 is almost more impressive than Springer's.
• Likewise, Foltynewicz went from 160+ to 34. Yowzers.
• Despite not repeating his awesome 2012 season, Sickels thinks that DeShields has improved his stock as a 20-year-old in High A.
• Note that five of the seven listed Astros prospects are Ed Wade guys. Take that, short-term thinkers!
• Astros have seven on this list. The Red Sox have six, and the next highest team has four. Seven is 9.3% of the list.
• This doesn't include 2013 draftees. Venturing a guess that Appel would make this list, and that fewer than twelve others form the 2013 class would, it's conceivable that eight Astros would be in the Top 75 if those players were included.