Houston Astros: Deep Dynasty Adds

April 14, 2021 Jared Chapman AL West, Astros, General, MiLB 0

Brett Conine, Corpus Christi Hooks, August 14, 2019 - photo credit Jayne Hansen, @JayneWTHB on Twitter, on Flickr, and her What the Heck, Bobby? blog
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If you’re anything like me, the offseason and Spring Training are a time for getting your dynasty teams ready to compete and that means focusing on the major league roster. Now that the season has begun, I like to start looking at my minor league rosters and thinking about the future. I start at the bottom and try to improve the bottom five minor league spots on all of my teams. Maybe that means dropping an older prospect that missed an opportunity in Spring Training, or a guy that can’t seem to catch a break with his health. I will then look for the young player that’s about to make his stateside debut or a college player that flew under the radar in our first year player draft to fill that spot. With that in mind, here are a few players from the Astros organization to consider adding if they’re still available in your league.


Richi Gonzalez, OF
Age: 18
#8 – Astros Top 50
Gonzalez signed with Astros in 2019 and is yet to make his stateside debut. He has the athleticism to stay in center field and flashes the potential for that power/speed combo dynasty GMs dream about. I’ve been able to pick him up in nearly all of my leagues during the last few months and he’s owned in just 2% of Fantrax leagues. He makes a great target for dynasty teams that are competitive now and can afford to be patient for multiple seasons. Stash him now and potentially reap the rewards later.

Hunter Brown, RHP
Age: 22
#10 – Astros Top 50
If you play in a deeper league, chances are Hunter Brown is long gone. With a four seam fastball hand crafted by the Astros renowned spin doctors and four legitimate offerings, Brown has been on the radar for some time. He figures to start the season in the low minors, but he’s already shown significant polish and could move quickly through the system with a strong start. With both Zack Greinke and Justin Verlander hitting free agency after this season, there could be an opening in the rotation as soon as 2022. Brown is probably the strongest candidate in the system to be ready for that opportunity. I had him at #10 in my Top 50 in January, but I think I might have ranked him too low. You could argue that Brown is a Top 5 prospect in the Astros system. As of this writing he is owned in just 9% of Fantrax leagues, which suggests that there are some dynasty leagues with smaller prospect rosters where he is still available.

Kenedy Corona, OF
Age: 21
#22 – Astros Top 50
Corona came over from the Mets along with Blake Taylor in the Jake Marisnick deal. The Astros seem to have won that trade pretty handily as Taylor is now a staple in their bullpen, Corona showed promise in the Astros fall instructional league…and Marisnick is now a Cub. Corona has a great chance to end up the best player in the deal. He’s likely to contribute mostly as a contact hitter with the ability to steal bases, but there is some potential for increased power as he moves through the minors. He is owned in so few leagues on Fantrax that he shows up as a 0% own rate. Oh, look at that! He’s unowned in two of my leagues. Not anymore!

Yohander Martinez, SS/3B
Age: 19
#23 – Astros Top 50
Another young J2 signing from the 2018 class, Martinez is also likely to make a stateside debut this season. These guys can be pretty hard to add once they’ve made their debut if they make noise early. Martinez is owned in just 1% of Fantrax leagues. The potential for plus power and the ability to stay on the left side of the infield make Martinez a solid add in dynasty leagues with deep prospect rosters.

Brett Conine, RHP
Age: 24
#27 – Astros Top 50
When I look at pitching prospects for dynasty baseball, the number one thing I look at is strikeout rate. Conine’s K rate has hovered between 10 and 11 K’s per 9 innings through two minor league seasons. That’s good. That’s what I’m looking for if I’m going to use a minor league spot on a pitcher. Conine was a closer in college, but the Astros have been developing him as a starter. That’s another profile I really like. The upside is there if he can stick in the rotation, but he’s also familiar with leverage work so I’m hedging my bets if I invest a spot in him. Conine is only owned in 2% of Fantrax leagues and he could see time with the big league club this year if they are in need of depth on the pitching staff. He is the kind of pitcher I might add to my team just to see what happens this year and if he doesn’t get called up, I might look at taking a different flyer next year.

Jared Chapman
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