The Astros have been very successful over the last decade. Houston’s become a fixture in October and while smart trades and signings have been part of that, the bulk of their success can be attributed to the MLB Draft. Here’s a look at the best & worst Astros MLB Draft picks of the last 10 seasons.
Best Astros Draft Picks Over Last 10 Seasons
| Name | Position | Year Drafted | Round | Career bWAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ramon Laureano | OF | 2014 | 16 | 13.9 |
| Alex Bregman | SS/3B | 2015 | 1 | 39.6 |
| Kyle Tucker | OF | 2015 | 1 | 23.0 |
| Patrick Sandoval | P | 2015 | 11 | 6.2 |
| Myles Straw | OF | 2015 | 12 | 7.7 |
| Jake Meyers | OF | 2017 | 13 | 5.0 |
| Chas McCormick | OF | 2017 | 21 | 6.7 |
| Josh Rojas | INF | 2017 | 26 | 6.0 |
| Jeremy Pena | SS | 2018 | 3 | 12.9 |
| Hunter Brown | P | 2019 | 5 | 3.4 |
It’s not a shock to see how the Astros won the AL West all but once between 2017-24. Houston’s draft hauls during the 2010s supplied the Astros with the pieces needed to win it all in 2017 and 2022 and sustain their success.
The Astros greatly benefited from not signing Brady Aiken in the 2014 MLB Draft. As compensation, Houston grabbed Alex Bregman with the second overall pick. Bregman turned into a two-time AL All-Star and Silver Slugger winner. The 30-year-old posted five 20+ home run campaigns between 2018-24, including a 41-home run campaign in 2019.
Three picks later, the Astros selected high school outfielder Kyle Tucker. Tucker was an elite, five-tool prospect with baseball bloodlines; his brother, Preston Tucker, was a former MLBer. It took Tucker five years to move from Minor Leaguer to MLB regular but it was worth the wait. Tucker is a three-time All-Star who led the MLB in RBI in 2023.
Bregman and Tucker formed the nucleus of the Astros’ 2022 World Series championship team. But, Houston grabbed several more pieces of that team through the MLB Draft.
Chas McCormick hit 14 home runs and possibly made the catch of the 2022 MLB Playoffs in Philadelphia during Game 5 of the World Series.
Jeremy Pena, who replaced homegrown star Carlos Correa, notched 16 hits and three home runs over the final two rounds of that 2022 run. Pena won the 2022 ALCS and World Series MVPs.
There were, however, some players who made their name outside of Houston after their selection.
Ramon Laureano carved a hole out to become a regular in Oakland. Patrick Sandoval was traded to Los Angeles (AL) in 2018 for Martin Maldonado and became a good strikeout pitcher for the Halos. Myles Straw, a defensive specialist, was dealt to Cleveland in 2021. Houston received Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton back in that trade.
Worst Astros Draft Picks Over Last 10 Seasons
| Name | Position | Year Drafted | Round | Career bWAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daz Cameron | OF | 2015 | 1 | -1.1 |
| Forrest Whitley | P | 2016 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Ronnie Dawson | OF | 2016 | 2 | -0.2 |
| JB Bukauskas | P | 2017 | 1 | -0.7 |
| Joe Perez | P/INF | 2017 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Corbin Martin | P | 2017 | 2 | -1.0 |
| J.J. Matijevic | OF | 2017 | 2 | -0.1 |
| Seth Beer | 1B | 2018 | 1 | -0.8 |
| Jayson Schroeder | P | 2018 | 2 | Never played in MLB |
| Alex Santos | P | 2020 | 2 | Never played in MLB |
Every team whiffs on first-round picks, for various reasons. However, there were several during the last decade that will sting for the Astros.
Houston saved up enough money in 2015 to sign Daz Cameron, the son of Mike Cameron and an elite high school talent who fell to #37. Cameron turned into an MLB player but didn’t play to expectations. He struck out a lot — 152 K over 120 games in Triple-A in 2019 — in the upper Minors and has an OPS below .600 in the Majors.
Houston, though, did use Cameron in the deal that netted them Justin Verlander.
Forrest Whitley made his MLB debut in 2024, eight years after the Astros selected him 17th overall. As we noted when Whitley came up, he was besieged by injuries. Oblique, lat, and Tommy John surgery turned a once-promising starter pitcher prospect into a reliever.
One round later, Houston selected Ohio State outfielder Ronnie Dawson. Dawson turned into a good hitter in the KBO. But, he received eight at-bats in his brief MLB career.
The top four picks of the Astros’ 2017 haul — JB Bukauskas, Joe Perez, Corbin Martin, and J.J. Matijevic — all made the Majors. However, those four combined for 73 Major League games.
Then. there’s Seth Beer. Beer shot up 2018 MLB Draft boards two years earlier after he was a Golden Spikes finalist as a freshman. Beer then saw his OPS drop almost 200 points a year later, then didn’t hit well with wood bats in summer ball. After the Astros picked Beer in 2018, he did hit well in the Minors. But, he couldn’t hit offspeed and the breaking stuff at the MLB level.
Beer hit .208/.294/.292 over 136 MLB plate appearances.
The most recent name on this list is Alex Santos, drafted out of The Bronx in 2020. Santos was a high-upside arm with velocity but has struggled mightily with command. The 22-year-old walked 145 over his first 230.1 IP in the Minors.
One name we didn’t put on this list, though, was Korey Lee. Yes, the 2019 first-round pick has a carer bWAR of -1.2. On the other hand, Lee did showcase some promise in a tough 2024 campaign for the White Sox. Lee hit 12 home runs and has shown makings of a regular catcher, five years after his selection.
Draft picks who did not sign are included in these lists. bWAR figures as of October 2024