Speculation, but it would be nice if it played out this way. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>From this morning: Why <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a> must sign Aiken. <a href="http://t.co/RNV9yP2h6F">http://t.co/RNV9yP2h6F</a></p>— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/statuses/490167530883788800">July 18, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> I wonder how much trust has been lost between the two sides? If healthy, Aiken could bide his time until he can bolt from Houston while still fairly young. #assets
"he Astros' entire rebuilding strategy was based on "tanking" --€“ losing enough games to secure multiple "1-1s" " Entire strategy? Really Ken? How condescending.
It is no secret that Ken has sided jounalistically with Aiken's side.... It still is stomp on the Astros. Mainly because they are trying to do things different. Appel was a consensus top 3 pick. Aiken was touted by almost every publication and scout as the superior talent. Appel should be fine and rebound soon. No way he dominates in college and gets plastered like in the minors without a good reason. One thing is sure, baseballs old guard are loving every minute of Lunhow's misfortune.
Time cures everything... Springer has every reason to still be peeved about his "stashing" that delayed the start of his career, and perhaps his refusal to sign an extension was in part because of that... but I doubt he goes to bed every night saying "I hate Luhnow, I hate the front office, I will never sign any extensions...etc." Plus, guys end up either liking their jobs/where they play or they don't... based on their actual experience as a player (not based on pre-draft negotiations where there are tons of variables).
Not the entire strategy at all... but still a key part of it. It does allow them to replenish the farm system as fast as possible... which hopefully translates to wins at the big league level as fast as possible. It wouldn't have gone over well in a lot of other markets... but Houston was able to "take it" (and take it we did).
Yeah, and the fact that he mentions, TWICE, the SI article that labeled the Astros the 2017 World Series champs makes it sound like he has an ax to grind.
Aiken's the only one with an actual contract offer (not sure what it is, but its at least $3 million). If he doesn't sign, his slot money goes away... and there's nothing left to sign the other players unless the Astros want to pay the penalty of forfeiting their next 2 #1 picks by signing players with pool money that they do not have.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>It's being reported (on Twitter) that Astros have offered Aiken $5.75m. If that's true, good news for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LSU?src=hash">#LSU</a> regarding Marshall.</p>— Trey Mongrue (@TreyMongrue) <a href="https://twitter.com/TreyMongrue/statuses/490231380891033601">July 18, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Interesting to see the baton rouge guys following this closely as well... I guess LSU is the closest thing to their pro baseball team they have, and they obviously want Aiken to sign for a lot to keep Marshall from bolting college.
The only thing I would really be pissed off about is if MLB agrees to let Aiken become a free agent, because at that point it would be an admission of sorts that the Astros negotiated in "bad faith", or were trying to manipulate the system.
I don't know... not sure where this guy got that # from, but obviously he's only interested because of Marshall. Say it is the offer... Aiken's camp obviously wants the agreed upon $6.5 since they may not feel he is really "injured" or that his abnormality is going to be a problem going forward.
Didn't Luhnow say that they've been working with MLB and made sure that every step that was being taken was above board?
