ASTROS FLASHBACK, May 2017: "Spoiler Alert: Astros To Fast-Track Class A Cuban 1B, Yordan Alvarez, 19"
5 1/2 years ago, Houston was quietly positioning the skinny, young, promising slugger to fast-track through the minor league system. GM Jeff Luhnow was whispering a 2019 debut. I dared to suggest 2018
Portions of this article previously appeared on The Runner Sports all-sports website in August 2016 and May 2017.
With the Astros in the 2022 Playoffs, and Yordan Alvarez doing things he was projected to do five and six years ago, I thought it would be fun to take a peek back to the time when Air Yordan was “just another newly-acquired prospect” from the Dodgers no one knew anything about!
Yordan’s no-doubt bomb that dispatched the Seattle Mariners, 8-7, October 11 in Game 1 of the ALDS, was the first walk-off homer in postseason history with a team trailing by multiple runs.
And, it was just the second walk-off homer when a team was down to its final out — the other was Kirk Gibson’s shocking shot that lifted the aforementioned Dodgers over Oakland in the 1988 World Series opener.
August 2, 2016:
Heir Yordan
Traded by Houston (at the August 1 MLB trade deadline) was righty reliever Josh Fields, who was toiling for Triple-A Fresno, where he put up a 1-0 record with one save and a 1.65 ERA in his 23 games. He made 15 appearances for the Astros earlier this season before being optioned to Triple-A the second week of May.
He’s now on his way to the L.A. Dodgers, while 1B/OF Yordan Alvarez, 19, is now property of Houston.
He was signed in mid-June by the Dodgers as an international free agent out of Las Tunas, Cuba. The 6-foot-4, left-handed-hitting Alvarez last played for Las Tunas in Cuba’s Serie Nacional in 2014, hitting .351 with 17 RBIs, and a .789 OPS in 40 games (111 ABs) as a 17-year-old. He has two years of professional experience in Cuba (2013-14).
“Alvarez is a player with exciting offensive upside,” Astros director of pro scouting Kevin Goldstein said recently. “He has excellent power for a teenager, as well as a feel to hit. He has also demonstrated great athleticism for a player of his size.”
May 22, 2017:
According to an interview by Houston’s KBME radio of Houston Astros GM Jeff Luhnow on a May 21 pre-game broadcast, the Astros are high on Cuban native Yordan Alvarez.
High to the point of fast-tracking his progress to reach Houston by 2019 (shhh…and maybe as early as ’18…my projections; Luhnow was nowhere near as specific). Luhnow also offered that the 19-year-old should soon be showing up on MLB top prospect lists.
Alvarez actually made his MLB debut with Houston June 9, 2019, two weeks from his 22nd birthday. In his second MLB at-bat, he clobbered a homer to left center field’s Home Run Pump at Minute Maid Park against Baltimore.
On August 1 of [2016], the L.A. Dodgers yawningly pulled off their third trade of the day –the day that happened to also be when the MLB first-year player draft took place. The trade in question happened after the Bums picked up Rich Hill, Jesse Chavez, and current Astro, Josh Reddick, also on that 2016 draft day.
Houston Misses Fields? Cookies!
But, just before the whistle blew, Houston traded inconsequential reliever Josh Fields to L.A., and for some reason, Luhnow chose a recently-signed Cuban free agent, Yordan Alvarez in return. We may now know the reason.
Time will tell if this will ever end up being a reliever for a prodigious position player on a par with Boston’s 1990 “oops” trade of Hall-of-Famer Jeff Bagwell to Houston for Larry Andersen:
Only two weeks before the Fields trade, the Dodgers signed (for $2 million) the left-handed hitter out of Cuban National Series (Las Tunas), where he hit .279 as a 16 and 17-year-old, in 208 combined ABs. His 3 doubles, 2 triples, 4 of 6 steals, and just one homer all reflect his build at the time: long, lean, and speedy, at 6’4″, 190 lbs.
Houston sent Alvarez immediately to the Dominican Summer League (DSL) Orange Astros, where he proceeded to hit .341 in 57 plate appearances. He cracked 2 doubles, a triple, and a homer, while bringing in a lofty .974 OPS. 12 walks to only 7 Ks helped boost his on-base percentage to .474.
Transformer: Age of Distinction
Sometime in the past couple years, though, Alvarez has transformed his body to an imposing, power-hitting 6’5″, 225 pounds! By doing so, he also transformed his resumé to first baseman/DH.
Scouts have said that he shows average to above average power at workouts, but it just hasn’t shown up in games. But, that was before his power-lifting growth spurt.
It was also before Air Yordan’s just-ended stay at Houston’s extended Spring Training at Ballpark of the Palm Beaches (2017), where he did some much-needed work on lower body strength.
While working on becoming the complete ballplayer, he’s realizing, too, how important it is to have the best athletic body to accomplish the former.
Having just arrived at Houston’s Class A (full season) Quad Cities RiverBandits affiliate from Palm Beach, Alvarez is slashing a .378/.465/.634 (that’s a 1.099 OPS) in just 82 ABs, through games of June 9, 2017. Six doubles, 5 homers, with 15 walks and 26 Ks round out his numbers, none short of impressive.
While he’s certainly athletic, and played LF and 1B in Cuba, he’s projecting, in the Houston organization, solely as a 1B/DH. The glut of suitable outfield prospects on the Houston farm is impressive, and, again, Alvarez’ current size (and left-handedness) plants him firmly at first.
Fast-Track Fall-Out?
With country-mate Yulieski Gurriel (before he was universally known as “Yuli”), 32, cementing himself at 1B for the Astros (and signed through 2020), the quick move for Alvarez up the organizational ladder hinted at by Luhnow may be a hedge against non-production as Yuli ages.
Plus, there’s always DH, until we find out how adept Alvarez is at playing 1B. By the time of Yordan’s debut, Yuli could serve, then, as a mentor to the youngster.
Impatience with the progress (or lack thereof) with first basemen Jon Singleton (.239, demoted to AA Corpus Christi and off the 40-man to start ’17), Tyler White (.274 at AAA), and A.J. Reed (.276 at AAA, all through May 25) may also be an understandable reason to hitch a star to a different (and intriguingly promising) up-and-comer.
In fact, if Luhnow packages one or a couple of the above prospects in a much-rumored upcoming trade to acquire Pittsburgh righty starter Gerrit Cole, we’ll be able to see the possible future a little more clearly. Of course, the Pirates seem to be happy with Josh Bell at 1B, and have flexible corner infielder Will Craig waiting in the minor league wings, as well.
What Might Fast-Tracking Yordan Look Like?
The Astros have had little problem promoting pitchers from Double-A, with one notable position-player exception being the rapid rise of Jose Altuve, skipping AAA in 2011.
If the progress of Yordan Alvarez continues apace (and he gets used to his new, bigger body, and power ensues), he could easily move to Advanced-A Buies Creek by late June (2017), and take a peek at AA Corpus for the last few remaining weeks of ’17, starting there in 2018, as well.
If all goes well in early 2018, a promotion to Triple-A Fresno seems reasonable by June, followed by a September (2018) call-up.
Stand clear of the launch pad.
Congrats on your team’s crazy comeback today! Hope that isn’t a spoiler for anyone...:)