The Newest Houston Astros

2011 Bowman Prospects #BP87, 2011 Topps Pro Debut #27 and 2011 Multi-Ad Reading Phillies #24

Former Phillie GM and current GM of the Astros Ed Wade may be on his way out in Houston, but that didn't stop him from continuing to stock-pile players from the Phillies system.  Three of the Phillies top prospects are now scattering to join their new minor league teams in the Astros organization as Hunter Pence figures out what number he'll wear with the Phils.  (Domonic Brown wears #9, the number Pence had worn with the Astros.)

Pitcher Jarred Cosart, selected in the 38th round by the Phillies in the 2008 draft, returns to his native Texas.  So far with High-A Clearwater this year, Cosart was 9-8 with a 3.92 ERA.  He had 43 walks to 79 strikeouts in 108 innings pitched.

First baseman Jonathan Singleton was selected in the 9th round of the 2009 draft.  Also with Clearwater, Singleton is hitting .282 with 9 home runs and 47 RBIs in 92 games so far this year.

Pitcher Josh Zeid was selected right after Singleton in the 10th round of the 2009 draft.  He's been with Double-A Reading this season, where he's 2-3 with a 5.65 ERA.

The Astros will chose a player to be named later from a list of Low-A players.

I'm not going to attempt to profile these guys in depth, especially since the fine folks over at Phuture Phillies have done such an excellent job of profiling all three players and completely analyzing the deal.

My gut reaction?  I like it.  We needed a right-handed bat and the Phils want to win now.  They have Pence under team control through at least 2013, and Domonic Brown can head back to Triple-A to get the additional seasoning and at-bats that everyone seems to think he still needs.  It is indeed an exciting time to be a Phillies fan, and I can't wait to see Pence make his Phillies debut.