Let's welcome the draft class of 2018 to the Houston Astros organization! As always, news regarding the Astros' draft class, in addition to undrafted free agent signings, will be in this thread. Bold: Player will sign or has given indications that he will sign Name stricken through: Player will not sign or has given indications that he will not sign Status as of July 2 Round 1, Pick 28: Seth Beer, OF, Clemson (JR); signed for $2,250,000 Round 2, Pick 66: Jayson Schroeder, RHP, Juanita HS (Kirkland, WA); committed to Washington, signed for $1,200,000 Round 3, Pick 102: Jeremy Pena, SS, Maine (JR); signed for $535,000 Round 4, Pick 132: Alex McKenna, OF, Cal Poly (JR); signed for $432,500 Round 5, Pick 162: Cody Deason, RHP, Arizona (JR); signed for $285,000 Round 6, Pick 192: R.J. Freure, RHP, Pittsburgh (SOPH); signed for $348,800 Round 7, Pick 222: César Salazar, C, Arizona (JR); signed for $160,000 Round 8, Pick 252: Austin Hansen, RHP, Oklahoma (JR); signed for $156,500 Round 9, Pick 282: Scott Schrieber, OF, Nebraska (SR); signed for $10,000 Round 10, Pick 312: Chandler Taylor, LF, Alabama (JR); signed for $70,000 Round 11, Pick 342: Brett Conine, RHP, Cal State Fullerton (JR) Round 12, Pick 372: Mark Moclair, RHP, Tampa (JR); signed for $125,000 Round 13, Pick 402: Shawn Dubin, RHP, Georgetown College (SR); signed for $1,000 Round 14, Pick 432: J.P. France, RHP, Mississippi State (SR) Round 15, Pick 462: Trey Dawson, SS, Kentucky (JR) Round 16, Pick 492: Alex Holderbach, C, Eastern Kentucky (JR); signed for $100,000 Round 17, Pick 522: Brett Daniels, RHP, North Carolina (SR) Round 18, Pick 552: Michael Wielansky, SS, The College of Wooster (JR); signed for $75,000 Round 19, Pick 582: Devin Conn, RHP, Nova Southeastern (redshirt SOPH) Round 20, Pick 612: Austin Dennis, CF, Middle Tennessee State (JR) Round 21, Pick 642: Dalton Roach, RHP, Minnesota State-Mankato (SR) Round 22, Pick 662: Marty Costes, OF, Maryland (JR) Round 23, Pick 702: Jonathan Bermudez, LHP, Southeastern (JR) Round 24: Pick 732: Miguel Figueroa, RHP, Oklahoma City University (JR) Round 25, Pick 762: Logan Mattix, OF, Georgia College & State University (SR) Round 26, Pick 792: David Hensley, SS, San Diego State (SR) Round 27, Pick 822: Juan Paulino, C, Western Oklahoma State College (JUCO SOPH) Round 28, Pick 852: Joey Gonzalez, RHP, Stetson (JR) Round 29, Pick 882: Lyle Lin, C, Arizona State (SOPH) Round 30, Pick 912: Layne Henderson, RHP, Azusa Pacific (SR) Round 31, Pick 942: Riley Cabral, RHP, Memphis (JR) Round 32, Pick 972: Jacob Billingsley, RHP, Mississippi State (5th-year SR) Round 33, Pick 1002: J.C. Correa, RHP, Alvin Community College (JUCO SOPH); committed to Lamar Round 34, Pick 1032: Ben Gross, RHP, Princeton (SR) Round 35, Pick 1062: A.J. Bregman, LHP, Albuquerque Academy (Albuquerque, New Mexico); committed to New Mexico Round 36, Pick 1092: Cole Ayers, RHP, West Clermont High School (Batavia, Ohio); committed to Kentucky Round 37, Pick 1122: Antonio Cruz, OF, Episcopal High School (Houston); committed to Rice Round 38, Pick 1152: Cole Stilwell, C, Rockwall-Heath High School (Heath, Texas); committed to Texas Tech Round 39, Pick 1182: Brandon Birdsell, RHP, Willis High School (Willis, Texas); committed to Texas A&M Round 40, Pick 1212: Nathan Duarte, SS, Lancaster High School (Lancaster, California) Undrafted Free Agents There were several players who had apparently signed undrafted free agent deals with the Astros last year, but they never appeared on a roster of a minor league affiliate. I'll only update this part when they appear on a roster. The First 10, with Slot Values 1-28: Seth Beer - $2,399,400; signed for $2,250,000 ($149,400 under slot recommendation) 2-66: Jayson Schroeder - $965,300; signed for $1,200,000 ($234,700 over slot) 3-102: Jeremy Pena - $549,700; signed for $535,000 ($14,700 under) 4-132: Alex McKenna - $410,400; signed for $432,500 ($22,100 over) 5-162: Cody Deason - $306,100 - signed for $285,000 ($21,100 under) 6-192: R.J. Freure - $237,600 - signed for $348,800 ($111,200 over) 7-222: César Salazar - $187,000; signed for $160,000 ($27,000 under) 8-252: Austin Hansen - $156,500 (full slot value) 9-282: Scott Schrieber - $144,100; signed for $10,000 ($134,100 under) 10-312: Chandler Taylor - $136,800 - signed for $70,000 ($66,800 under) Overslot signings after 10th round Original bonus pool: $5,492,900 Pool spent: $5,447,800 Pool remaining before penalties: $45,100 Breakdown 31 College 7 High school 2 JUCO By position 20 RHP 7 OF (4 listed as "OF", 2 CF, 1 LF) 5 C 5 SS 2 LHP 1 2B The signing deadline is July 6. College seniors are not subject to this deadline; teams can negotiate with seniors until there is one week before next year’s draft. Players drafted after the 11th round can sign for up to $125,000 without having their bonus count against the pool. Baseball America/Perfect Game Top 500 Players 1. Seth Beer (Baseball America 46/Perfect Game 58) 2. Jayson Schroeder (BA 72/PG 66) 3. Jeremy Pena (BA 102/PG 128) 4. Alex McKenna (BA 105/PG 133) 5. Cody Deason (BA 113/PG NR) 6. R.J. Freure (BA 242/PG 205) 7. César Salazar (BA 277/PG 288) 8. Austin Hansen (BA 234/PG 323) 9. Scott Schreiber (BA 473/PG NR) 11. Brett Conine (BA 256/PG 207) 12. Mark Moclair (BA NR/PG 261) 15. Trey Dawson (BA NR/PG 326) 29. Lyle Lin (BA 322/PG 483) 36. Cole Ayers (BA 476/PG NR) 39. Brandon Birdsell (BA 268/PG 258) Where are the HS/JUCO players committed? 2. Jayson Schroeder - Washington 33. J.C. Correa - Lamar 35. A.J. Bregman - New Mexico 36. Cole Ayers - Kentucky 37. Antonio Cruz - Rice 38. Cole Stilwell - Texas Tech 39. Brandon Birdsell - Texas A&M Players in College World Series 14. J.P. France (Mississippi State) 17. Brett Daniels (North Carolina) 32. Jacob Billingsley (Mississippi State) Where they’re headed Quad Cities Scott Schreiber (9) Chandler Taylor (10) Logan Mattix (25) David Hensley (26) Tri-City Seth Beer (1) Jeremy Pena (3) Austin Hansen (8) Mark Moclair (12) Shawn Dubin (13) Trey Dawson (15) Alex Holderbach (16) Michael Wielansky (18) Devin Conn (19) Austin Dennis (20) Marty Costes (22) Riley Cabral (31) GCL Cody Deason (5) Joey Gonzalez (28) Layne Henderson (30)
R.J. Freure (6) may be leaning towards signing Scott Schrieber (9) turned down about $150K from the Rays to return to school. Chandler Taylor (10) will sign "barring anything out of the blue."
When is the signing deadline? I see Tri-City has an exhibition game a week from today and their season officially starts next friday.
Has J.C. Correa got any real chance to increase his value by not signing? I assume he will sign, but comments elsewhere indicate a different opinion. I can see H.S. graduates A.J. Bregman & Antonio Cruz not signing, but isn't JC Correa already in Jr college?
Reformated this a little bit, to see who might be wanting to sign overslot. Seeing that $136,800 is roughly the value of the last pick in the 10th round. Scott Schreiber (BA 473/PG NR) might be underslot. Brett Conine (BA 256/PG 207) and Mark Moclair (BA NR/PG 261) might be overslot.
I actually wouldn’t be surprised if Beer signed underslot. He’s really the only place they might be able to save significant money. Schreiber will sign for almost nothing but that’s not gonna save much. Conine, Lin, Ayers, and Stilwell are the guys I would peg as potential overslot signings, but I don’t think any of them would/should require more than $300k. Paulino and Conn are both sophomores but I doubt they sign, and if they do it won’t be for more than $125k. Given Beer’s BA/PG ranking, if he would take slot for 40th overall (~$1.8M), that’d give them ~$600k to play with, which imho should be enough to sign at least Conine and Lin. Given Elias’ comments about signing less guys than normal I am wondering if a lot of the juniors they drafted after the 10th might not be signed. Anybody know anything about Nathan Duarte?
I would guess Beer is a little underslot, with basically all that money (and probably more) going to Schroeder. Schreiber is probably saving the Astros at least 100k, and I wouldn't be surprised Taylor is a little underslot as well (because his other option is coming back as an old senior) Conine may be a couple tens of thousands over slot, but I'd be shocked if he commanded a huge amount. Conn is playing at Nova Southeastern, so there's not really much he can do to improve his stock, so I'd expect he's signing for $125k. (How often do the astros not sign a top 20 pick?) Paulino is an OK Juco guy (same college as Josh James), and I don't believe they'd ever taken above slot bonuses. Lin, Ayers, and stilwell are probably various priced backup options in case physical issues create savings from top draft choices or Schroeder not to sign. Given the lack of information, there's a chance Duarte is like Merrill last year in that he's willing to sign for $125k, but I wouldn't count on it.
Fangraphs draft recap: https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/american-league-draft-recap/ “Clemson OF Seth Beer (1) presents little to no defensive value but has enough raw power to clear the DH-only bar if he hits enough… Washington HS RHP Jayson Schroeder (2) hit 95 this spring and has a power breaking ball but needs some delivery work to avoid being a reliever… Maine SS Jeremy Pena (3) is one of the better college defenders in the class and has a pretty swing that he’s used to beat up on small-school pitching…Cal Poly CF Alex McKenna (4) can hit, but teams are split as to whether he can play center field and he isn’t patient enough right now… Arizona RHP Cody Deason (5) was Arizona’s Friday night starter. He sits in the low 90s and has a 55 curveball. His delivery and command point to the bullpen, but he could be a good one if his fastball ticks up in short bursts… R.J. Freure (6) out of Pitt has a similar profile, as does Austin Hansen(8) from Oklahoma… Houston also took two college catchers from Arizona in the defensive-minded Cesar Salazar (7, U of A) and bat-first Lyle Lin (29, ASU). SS Michael Wielansky (18) put up gaudy numbers in D3 and has some real tools that could turn him into a solid utility type.” I really agree with all of that. Getting pretty excited to see how Pena and Wielansky fare in Low A, aNd I think all of the early college pitchers could make good late inning relievers.
Here's 2015's draft (Ignoring 1st rnd): Competitive Balance A, Pick 37: Dazmon Cameron, OF, Eagle's Landing Christian Academy (McDonough, Georgia) (committed to Florida State); apparently close to a $4 million deal Round 2, Pick 46: Thomas Eshelman, RHP, Cal State Fullerton (JR) Round 3, Pick 79: Riley Ferrell, RHP, TCU (JR) Round 4, Pick 109: Anthony Hermelyn, C, Oklahoma (JR); signed for $250,000 ($272,700 below slot), to Tri-City Round 5, Pick 139: Trent Thornton, RHP, North Carolina (JR); signed for $325,000 ($66,500 below slot) Round 6, Pick 169: Nestor Muriel, CF, Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy (Florida, Puerto Rico); signed for $250,000 ($43,100 below slot) Round 7, Pick 199: Michael Freeman, LHP, Oklahoma State (redshirt SR); signed for $100,000 ($119,600 below slot), to Quad Cities Round 8, Pick 229: Garrett Stubbs, C, USC (SR); signed for $100,000 ($76,000 under slot), to Tri-City Round 9, Pick 259: Zac Person, LHP, LSU (SR) Round 10, Pick 289: Scott Weathersby, RHP, Ole Miss (redshirt SR); signed for $5,000 ($148,400 below slot), to Tri-City I still like Stubbs as a potential big leaguer. Cameron and Eshelman were useful to others. Here's '14: Competitive Balance Round A: Derek Fisher, OF, Virginia (JR) Round 2: A.J. Reed, 1B, Kentucky (JR) ; signed for $1,350,000 (slot recommendation) Round 3: J.D. Davis, 3B, Cal State Fullerton (JR); signed for $748,600 (slot), will report to Tri-City Round 4: Daniel Mengden, RHP, Texas A&M (JR) Round 5: Jacob Nix, RHP, Los Alamitos High School, Los Alamitos, California (committed to UCLA) Round 6: Brock Dykxhoorn, RHP, Central Arizona College (JUCO SOPH); story, assignment unknown and pending work visa Round 7: Derick Velazquez, RHP, Fresno State (JR); expecting to go to Tri-City after he signs; signed for $207,800 (slot recommendation) Round 8: Bobby Boyd, CF, West Virginia (JR); expected to report to Tri-City, signed for $140,000 ($22,800 under slot) Round 9: Bryan Radziewski, LHP, Miami (redshirt JR; listed as a senior); signed for $125,000 ($27,000 under slot), to Tri-City Round 10: Jay Gause, RHP, Faulkner (JR); story, signed for $65,000 ($77,100 under slot) Mengden has been worth something (along with Nottingham below), the other 3 not so much yet. We'll see. Yeah.....and '13: 2nd Round: Andrew Thurman, RHP, UC-Irvine (JR) 3rd Round: Kent Emanuel, LHP, North Carolina (JR) 4th Round: Conrad Gregor, 1B, Vanderbilt (JR) 5th Round: Tony Kemp, 2B, Vanderbilt (JR) 6th Round: Jake Nottingham, C, Redlands HS, Redlands, CA (committed to Oklahoma) (???) 7th Round: James Ramsay, CF, South Florida (JR); to Tri-City 8th Round: Jason Martin, CF, Orange Lutheran HS, Orange, CA (committed to Long Beach State); in a Twitter conversation with Yankees 4th-round pick Tyler Wade, he says he's going to Kissimmee, which probably means he'll be with the GCL club. 9th Round: Brian Holberton, C, North Carolina (JR) 10th Round: Austin Nicely, LHP, Spotswood HS, Grottoes, VA (committed to Virginia) Martin was useful, Emanuel and Kemp could have a career. You think the grass is always gonna get greener right after you fertilize it.
