Astros 'genuinely excited' about options in significant 2026 Draft

With their biggest bonus pool since 2015 and four picks inside the top 100 in this weekend’s MLB Draft, the Astros have their best chance in more than a decade to infuse their system with young talent.

The Astros drafted a pair of cornerstone players who helped them win multiple World Series with their top two picks in the 2015 Draft – Alex Bregman at No. 2 overall and Kyle Tucker at No. 5 – and the club is hopeful to add more impact players this year. Houston will pick twice in the first round – No. 17 and No. 28, a Prospect Promotion Incentive pick they received for Hunter Brown finishing third in the 2025 AL Cy Young voting.

“Just in terms of the ability to add talent to the organization, it's the most significant Draft we've had in quite a bit of time,” said Cam Pendino, the Astros’ director of amateur scouting. “The past two years, ’24 and ’25, we were 30th in Draft capital combined over the years, and we’re 11th this year ($13,712,700 bonus pool). So just having that extra first-round pick, the extra spending power, is super exciting for the organization.”

Pendino said the extra bonus pool money will give the Astros access to high school players deeper down the board than in the past. Those prep players, as well as Draft-eligible college sophomores or other college players with strong NIL packages, could potentially be targets to sign pro contracts on overslot deals.

“It gives you the flexibility to manage the money effectively, where you can get to the table for more prospects than you're able to if you don't have that purse, that spending power,” Pendino said. “It definitely gives you more access to the second- and third-tier players that maybe in the past you didn’t have the access to.”

• Day 1 picks: 17, 28, 57, 93, 121, 133
• Bonus pool allotment: $13,712,700
• Last year’s top pick: Xavier Neyens, SS/3B, pick 21 … a 6-foot-3 infielder who has an advanced approach at the plate, big-time power potential from the left side and a strong arm, Neyens is spending this season at Single-A Fayetteville, where he entered the week slashing .240/.452/.461 with 13 homers, 36 RBIs, 15 steals and 74 walks against 87 strikeouts. Neyens, who will represent the Astros in the All-Star Futures Game, has played twice as many games at third base than shortstop this year.
• Breakout 2025 pick: Justin Thomas Jr., CF, pick 336 (11th round) … A 5-foot-9 true center fielder from the University of Arkansas, Thomas entered the week slashing .280/.434/.496 with 12 homers, 52 RBIs and 23 steals in his first 67 games at High-A Asheville. He’s shown great zone control while hitting for more power than the Astros had anticipated.

Pendino said the Astros scouted about 900 players across the country for this year’s Draft, including 200 during workouts they held at Daikin Park in Houston, West Palm Beach, Fla., Fayetteville, N.C., Chicago, Los Angeles and another location in the Northeast. He said the club’s process of evaluating high school players has gotten much better in the last few years.

“We went a handful of years where we didn't take a lot of high schoolers, and I think we feel internally we're in a better position to develop and acquire all demographics of players,” he said. “We're really excited about that, and I think we are genuinely excited to be able to have this Draft capital to hopefully get a wide variety of players to help our system in short order.”

The Astros drafted only two high school players in 2024 and four last year, including Neyens in the first round in a Draft that was high school-heavy with talent. Pendino said there’s a deep tier of talent that should be available to the Astros in the second half of the first round.

“There’s a lot of similar talent in that tier,” he said. “It’s a top-heavy Draft and then it’s still a super deep Draft, but I think there’s a lot of similar players at that part of the board where we’re picking at 17 and 28.”