The Houston Astros have one of the youngest rosters in the MLB and it's going to keep getting younger if their prospects continue to earn promotions as they excel through the minors. One of those players to keep an eye on is A.J. Reed, as rumors indicate he could be competing for the starting first base job next season.
Reed, 22, is ranked as the organization's No. 4 overall prospect, according to MLB.com and he's likely to be within Baseball America's top four once they come out with their projections for the Astros this offseason. The former second-round pick absolutely dominated the minors last season and batted .340/.432/.612 with 113 runs scored, 34 home runs and 127 RBI in 135 games between High Class A Lancaster and Double-A Corpus Christi.
It's unknown where he'll start the season in 2016, but there's a good chance he could take over as the team's starting first baseman at some point if his progression continues at its current rate. The Astros non-tendered incumbent first baseman Chris Carter this offseason and freed up some space on the totem pole for that position.
"The 22-year-old [Reed] stands to benefit from Carter's departure because he and Jon Singleton are likely to compete for the open first base job in spring training," writes Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle in a contributing piece for Baseball America.
Singleton, since coming over from the Philadelphia Phillies in a trade, has yet to show any capabilities beyond power. The 24 year old owns a .171/.290/.331 slash line with 48 runs scored, 14 home runs and 50 RBI in 114 career MLB games.
Houston might be looking for a more polished hitter considering they just dumped Carter, who is very similar to Singleton in terms of being one-sided at the plate.
"Although the Astros gave Singleton a five-year, $10 million contract when they promoted him to the majors in June 2014, the franchise was willing to pay him $2 million to play most of the season at Triple-A Fresno last year. Singleton played only 19 games in the majors, but he'll likely get the first crack at first base in 2016," Ortiz adds.
Still, this means Reed needs to unseat only one player in order to become a full-timer at the MLB level. General manager Jeff Luhnow is not afraid to promote his prospects if he feels they're ready, and it's possible Reed could be a candidate to become the team's starting first baseman in early 2016 depending on how he develops in his third professional season and how Singleton performs at the MLB level.
Reed spoke to Ortiz and Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle earlier in the offseason after Carter was non-tendered. The youngster doesn't seem to care who is at first base because he plans to be prepared for the challenge.
"I don't want to say it's good for me or it's not," the slugger said of Carter's departure. "I'm going to go into spring training with the same mindset and get ready to compete for a spot with whoever is there."
Reed was invited to 2016 spring training this month and that will be his next step in proving he can handle first base for the Astros.
