The World Champion Houston Astros obtained minor league right-handed starting pitcher Brandon Bailey from the Oakland A’s, November 20, in exchange for outfielder Ramon Laureano, who was ranked, prior to the deal, as Houston’s #11 prospect.

Laureano immediately slid right into Oakland’s prospect rankings at #18.

Monday was the deadline for MLB teams to set 40-man rosters prior to next month’s Rule 5 Draft. In an obviously related move, Monday, Houston added minor league pitchers, right-hander Dean Deetz (AAA Fresno) and lefty Cionel Perez (AA Corpus Christi), to their 40-man. Placing an added premium on the organization’s pitching assets (due to the bullpen holes exposed in the World Series—holes that nearly cost them the title), this left Laureano odd man out.



Related: Dean Deetz Pitches Truth to Power

Will Houston Lament the Loss of Laureano?

Figuring he’d be snatched up in December’s Rule 5 Draft with nothing to show for his loss, the Astros got ahead of things and swung the deal for Bailey. Laureano, consequently, has been added to Oakland’s 40-man roster.

Will Laureano, 23, become another J.D. Martinez? Houston gave up early on Martinez, releasing him outright in March 2014. Detroit signed him as a free agent two days later, and he promptly became an American League All-Star in 2015. In July, Detroit traded him to the Diamondbacks, where he hit a combined .303 with 45 homers. He’s now a free agent.

It’s likely Laureano, a stellar fielder, will land somewhere between the eventual explosiveness of Martinez and Robbie Grossman, a left fielder released by the Astros in November of 2015. He’s carved out a solid, regular niche in Minnesota’s lineup, hitting .246 with 9 homers in 119 games in 2017.

After a breakout 2016, in which he combined to hit .319 with 15 homers between High-A Lancaster and AA Corpus, Laureano took a step back in 2017, slashing just .227/.298/.369 with 11 round trippers and 24 steals in 513 plate appearances for Corpus.

Related: Ramon Laureano Hits the Wall

The Bailey File

Brandon Bailey was born in Westminster, CO (12 miles north of Denver), and attended Broomfield (CO) High School, just six miles north of Westminster.

Bailey, 23, will be starting his third professional season, in 2018, after being drafted in the 6th round of the 2016 draft by the A’s out of Gonzaga University in Spokane, WA. That year, as a junior, Bailey was second in the West Coast Conference in strikeouts with 103.

The 5’10”, 175-pound Bailey split 2017 between Class A-Advanced Stockton and Class A Beloit, finishing a combined 3-2 with a 3.26 ERA. Bailey accumulated a 3-2 record with a 3.26 ERA in 24 appearances (17 starts). He struck out 120 while walking 31 in 91 innings.

Brandon Bailey Scouting Report

According to BaseballDraftReport.com, “Bailey has everything you’d want in a pitching prospect. He has a solid fastball (88-94), above-average 78-81 change-up, a mid-70s curve that flashes above-average, and a usable low- to mid-80s slider.

“He commands all of those pitches beautifully, and sets up opposing hitters with what looks like relative ease. The whole package reads like a potential first round pick, but two factors have held Bailey’s prospect stock back. When I said he had everything you’d want in a pitching prospect that also included a few red flags you don’t: An injury history (he’s a Tommy John survivor) and an underwhelming physical profile.

“First round command + fifth round stuff + tenth round red flags = a rough average of around a fifth round selection, about where the A’s took him in the early-sixth round. I think he’s a future big league starter and potentially a darned good one.”

Bailey will likely start 2018 at Houston’s Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks affiliate, although an initial landing at Advanced-A Buies Creek to get his organizational feet wet wouldn’t be a complete surprise.

Bailey projects for a 2019 MLB debut, and like a handful before him (Joe Musgrove and Chris Devenski, to name two) may be yet another minor league starter converted to MLB reliever in Houston’s bullpen.

Check out Brandon’s personal blog site here, and follow him on Twitter @BBailey_19