TheGoldenGreek33 said:
Mark Appel, 2013 No. 1 overall, at High-A Lancaster (remember that launching pad?): 2-5, 9.74 ERA, 1.92 WHIP... Promoted to Double-A. Say what you want about Appel's future potential, that just got him promoted.
The important thing to remember is that the point of the minor leagues is not to make every player better. It is to force attrition, let the cream come to the top, and then refine that cream. I'll stop torturing the analogy, but what this means is that promotions can be done for many reasons. It is completely foolish to think that tangible performance isn't one of them. I have heard the "you need to perform X,Y,Z" as the reason given players with good performance who are wondering why they haven't been promoted yet. But I can understand that it would work both ways. Anyway, on top of tangible performance and development goals, there are other considerations for promoting players, including their age and experience, roster needs and gaps throughout the organization (e.g. you can't have 4 2B in Portland), and once in a while, even throwing a bone to the minor league club owners.
I don't know why the Astros promoted Appel, but it's worth noting that they also gave him a bullpen session with the major league club, and some
Astros players were a little annoyed that he got the promotion despite his performance. Now, I know those guys are not a high A scout that talked to you, but probably they have earned their way through the minors and understand what typically earns promotions. Or, maybe they are all just whiny babies. I don't know, but it certainly points to Appel's promotion being an exception, not the confirming rule that you seem to think it is.
(edited out snark since bigpupp inserted his own).