Stijn van der Meer signs with the Astros He's going to Tri-City, and he's waiting for the paperwork for his visa to process. He signed that contract on his own terms, apparently... if the Astros don't think that he's going to cut it, he wants to be released so he can presumably go back and play in the Netherlands instead of just being a guy spinning his wheels in a minor league system.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">RHP Brian Howard is returning to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TCU?src=hash">#TCU</a> for his senior year. Howard was drafted by the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a> in the 17th round, but won't be signing.</p>— Jordan Ray (@JordanLRay) <a href="https://twitter.com/JordanLRay/status/747972012258144256">June 29, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Status as of June 29 Bold: Has signed, or has given indications that he will sign Name stricken through: Player will not sign Round 1, Pick 17: Forrest Whitley, RHP, Alamo Heights High School (San Antonio); signed for $3,148,000 ($643,800 over slot recommendation) Round 2, Pick 61: Ronnie Dawson, OF, Ohio State (JR); signed for $1,056,800 (full slot value), to Tri-City Round 3, Pick 97: Jake Rogers, C, Tulane (JR); signed for $614,000 (full slot value), to Tri-City Round 4, Pick 127: Brett Adcock, LHP, Michigan (JR); signed for $430,000 ($29,700 below slot) Round 5, Pick 157: Abraham Toro-Hernandez, 3B, Seminole State College (Oklahoma) (JUCO FR); signed for $250,000 ($94,300 below slot value) Round 6, Pick 187: Stephen Wrenn, CF, Georgia (JR); signed for $257,900 (full slot value), to Tri-City Round 7, Pick 217: Tyler Buffett, RHP, Oklahoma State (JR) Round 8, Pick 247: Nick Hernandez, RHP, Houston (JR); signed for $125,000 ($51,600 below slot) Round 9, Pick 277: Ryan Hartman, LHP, Tennessee Wesleyan (SR); signed for $10,000 ($154,900 below slot), says he's heading to Tri-City Round 10, Pick 307: Dustin Hunt, RHP, Northeastern (JR); signed for $135,000 ($21,600 below slot) Round 11, Pick 337: Chad Donato, RHP, West Virginia (JR); signed for $100,000 (slot value for rounds 11-40) Round 12, Pick 367: Carmen Benedetti, LHP, Michigan (JR); signed for $100,000 (slot value for rounds 11-40) Round 13, Pick 397: Ryne Birk, 2B, Texas A&M (JR) Round 14, Pick 427: Carson LaRue, RHP, Cowley CC (JUCO SOPH) Round 15, Pick 457: Alex Degoti, SS, Barry (SR) Round 16, Pick 487: Spencer Johnson, LF, Missouri State (SR); to Greeneville <strike>Round 17, Pick 517: Brian Howard, RHP, Texas Christian (JR)</strike> Round 18, Pick 547: Colin McKee, RHP, Mercyhurst (redshirt JR); to Greeneville Round 19, Pick 577: Taylor Jones, 1B, Gonzaga (SR) Round 20, Pick 607: Louis-Philippe Pelletier, 2B, Seminole State College (Oklahoma) (JUCO FR) Round 21, Pick 637: Chuckie Robinson, C, Southern Mississippi (JR) Round 22, Pick 667: Ray Henderson-Lozano, C, Grayson College (JUCO SOPH); signed for $100,000 (slot for rounds 11-40), says he's heading to Greeneville Round 23, Pick 697: Tyler Britton, RHP, High Point (SR) Round 24, Pick 727: Troy Sieber, 1B, Saint Leo (JR); signing on Saturday, to GCL Round 25, Pick 757: Kevin Hill, RHP, South Alabama (redshirt SR) <strike>Round 26, Pick 787: Avery Tuck, CF, Steele Canyon High School (Spring Valley, California)</strike> Round 27, Pick 817: Nathan Thompson, LHP, Oklahoma Baptist (SR) Round 28, Pick 847: Johnny Ruiz, 2B, Miami (JR) Round 29, Pick 877: Elliott Barzilli, 3B, Texas Christian (JR) Round 30, Pick 907: Brody Westmoreland, 3B, College of Southern Nevada (JUCO SOPH) Round 31, Pick 937: Howie Brey, LHP, Rutgers (SR) Round 32, Pick 967: Darius Vines, RHP, St. Bonaventure High School (Ventura, California) Round 33, Pick 997: Toby Handley, CF, Stony Brook (JR) Round 34, Pick 1027: Stijn van der Meer, SS, Lamar (SR) Round 35, Pick 1057: Nick Slaughter, C, Klein High School (Klein) Round 36, Pick 1087: Ian Hardman, RHP, Seminole State College (Oklahoma) (JUCO SOPH) <strike>Round 37, Pick 1117: Anthony DeFrancesco, 3B, Red Mountain High School (Mesa, Arizona)</strike> Round 38, Pick 1147: Chaz Pal, OF, South Carolina-Aiken (SR) Round 39, Pick 1177: Tyler Wolfe, IF, Kansas State (SR) Round 40, Pick 1207: Lucas Williams, RHP, Central Missouri (SR) Undrafted Free Agents Sean Stutzman, LHP, Dallas Baptist Reggie Johnson, RHP, Hampden-Sydney College Devin Raftery, RHP, Nova Southeastern Devon Carr, LHP, Florida Atlantic The First 10, with Slot Values Round 1, Pick 17: Forrest Whitley, slot value $2,504,200 (signed for $3,148,000; $643,800 over slot) Round 2, Pick 61: Ronnie Dawson, slot value $1,056,800 (signed for slot) Round 3, Pick 97: Jake Rogers, slot value $614,000 (signed for slot) Round 4, Pick 127: Brett Adcock, slot value $459,700 (signed for $430,000; $29,700 below slot) Round 5, Pick 157: Abraham Toro-Hernandez, slot value $344,300 (signed for $250,000; $94,300 below slot) Round 6, Pick 187: Stephen Wrenn, slot value $257,900 (signed for slot) Round 7, Pick 217: Tyler Buffett, slot value $193,300 Round 8, Pick 247: Nick Hernandez, slot value $176,600 (signed for $125,000; $51,600 below slot) Round 9, Pick 277: Ryan Hartman, slot value $164,900 (signed for $10,000; $154,900 below slot) Round 10, Pick 307: Dustin Hunt, slot value $156,600 (signed for $135,000; $21,600 below slot) Total bonus pool: $5,928,300 Bonuses for the first 10 (9/10 signed): $6,026,700 Remaining pool as of 6/22: Exceeded pool by $98,400 Breakdown 29 College (16 juniors, 11 seniors, 1 redshirt junior, 1 redshirt senior) 6 Junior College (4 sophomores, 2 freshmen) 5 High School By position 13 RHP: Forrest Whitley, Tyler Buffett, Nick Hernandez, Dustin Hunt, Chad Donato, Carson LaRue, Brian Howard, Colin McKee, Tyler Britton, Kevin Hill, Darius Vines, Ian Hardman, Lucas Williams 6 OF: Ronnie Dawson, Stephen Wrenn, Spencer Johnson, Avery Tuck, Toby Handley, Chaz Pal 5 LHP: Brett Adcock, Ryan Hartman, Carmen Benedetti, Nathan Thompson, Howie Brey 4 C: Jake Rogers, Chuckie Robinson, Ray Henderson-Lozano, Nick Slaughter 4 3B: Abraham Toro-Hernandez, Elliott Barzilli, Brody Westmoreland, Anthony DeFrancesco 3 2B: Ryne Birk, Louis-Philippe Pelletier, Johnny Ruiz 2 1B: Taylor Jones, Troy Sieber 1 IF: Tyler Wolfe Remember, college seniors are not subject to the signing deadline. The Astros can negotiate with them up until one week before the 2017 draft. The signing deadline is Friday, July 15. Baseball America/Perfect Game Top 500 Players 1. Forrest Whitley (BA #18, PG #18) 2. Ronnie Dawson (BA #53, PG #143) 3. Jake Rogers (BA #95, PG #70) 4. Brett Adcock (BA #224, PG #249) 6. Stephen Wrenn (BA #212, PG #129) 7. Tyler Buffett (not ranked by BA, PG #142) 8. Nick Hernandez (not ranked by BA, PG #277) 10. Dustin Hunt (BA #345, PG #291) 11. Chad Donato (BA #351, PG #316) 12. Carmen Benedetti (BA #275, PG #144) 13. Ryne Birk (BA #481, not ranked by PG) 14. Carson LaRue (not ranked by BA, PG #471) 16. Spencer Johnson (not ranked by BA, PG #401) 17. Brian Howard (BA #276, PG #385) 26. Avery Tuck (BA #177, PG #93) Where are the high school/JUCO players committed? I'm trying to dig for this. Forrest Whitley - Florida State Abraham Toro-Hernandez - unknown Carson LaRue - Houston Louis-Philippe Pelletier - unknown Ray Henderson-Lozano - Oral Roberts Avery Tuck - San Diego State Brody Westmoreland - Central Florida Darius Vines - unknown Nick Slaughter - Houston Anthony DeFrancesco - Gateway CC (Phoenix) Ian Hardman - unknown Players in College World Series 7. Tyler Buffett (Oklahoma State) 17. Brian Howard (TCU) 28. Johnny Ruiz (Miami) 29. Elliott Barzilli (TCU) Where they're headed Tri-City Ronnie Dawson (2) Jake Rogers (3) Brett Adcock (4) Stephen Wrenn (6) Ryan Hartman (9) Carmen Benedetti (12) Ryne Birk (13) Alex DeGoti (15) Taylor Jones (19) Chuckie Robinson (21) Kevin Hill (25) Stijn van der Meer (34) Greeneville Spencer Johnson (16) Colin McKee (18) Ray Henderson-Lozano (22) Tyler Britton (23) Nathan Thompson (27) Howie Brey (31) Chaz Pal (38) Tyler Wolfe (39) Lucas Williams (40) Devin Raftery (NDFA) Sean Stutzman (NDFA) Devon Carr (NDFA) GCL Forrest Whitley (1) Chad Donato (11) Louis-Philippe Pelletier (20) Troy Sieber (24) Brody Westmoreland (30) Ian Hardman (36) Reggie Johnson (NDFA)
At this point I'll be surprised if they sign anyone other than Buffett. Was really hoping they'd sign LaRue and Barzilli.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Officially a member of the <a href="https://twitter.com/astros">@astros</a> organization!</p>— Carson LaRue (@LaRue_Carsonn) <a href="https://twitter.com/LaRue_Carsonn/status/747971373734182917">June 29, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Now just need to get Buffet into the fold. Overall amazing job by the scouts and front office getting the top picks signed. Far cry from the Drayton years for all the Crane is cheap people.
Its definitely clear that each and every year they go into the draft with a strong plan and they execute it as best as they can. It also didn't help that Drayton was basically trying to follow the current slot system well before it was actually mandated that teams do it (or face huge penalties)... as a favor to his buddy Selig.
It was self-serving as well, if enough teams had followed suit, cost-control and all that. The system they have now is a vast improvement over anything they've had before, both amateur and international.
It really is. Teams are getting picks signed across the board... regardless of big market or small market. And more importantly, young players with no track record and ******* agents don't get to steer where they want to end up playing.
This is still happening only the young players are getting less and the teams have changed from those with a lot of money to teams with a lot of slot money.
And where they end up is basically the exact opposite of what was happening before... and it is for the better since teams with more slot money are the ones with the worse records and should be getting the more talented players. That is the most fair way for any draft process to work in any league. Before, big market teams were stacking the deck... able to sign both the most in-demand rookies as well as the free agents.
It's more equitable in terms of competitive balance that's for sure. Baseball has struck the perfect balance now between too little and too much compensation for losing. Now, teams that are bad can reliably expect to have their farm systems replenished so long as their management is prudent, but at the same time the reward is not so great where you have this midseason race to the bottom as it is in the NBA. In football there are also clear advantages to tanking, but most coaches don't do it because they know they won't keep their jobs thru the offseason if they do. It sure is refreshing to see the Yankees Red Sox and Dodgers not signing every single talented prospect. And it's completely absolved the absence of a hard cap in free agency too, as the majority of these teams have not seen a good return on investment paying huge sums to players likely on the decline.
You said it was more important for agents not to be able to steer young players to the teams they want was more important than small market teams being able to sign their picks. The current draft process, by design or by luck, has made agents help small market teams get more value from the draft than before through their manipulations. I like this system better. I would rather a system that took a little bit of the package deals out though.
It was implied that agents were steering players to the big market teams that had the most money to give them (regardless of where they finished in the standings)... or they had the ability to force the small market team to over-pay due to risk of losing them to a big market team. Its also implied that the big market teams do play in locations that are far more desirable. Now with the strict slot system, the teams with the most money also happen to be the worst teams, so its fair from a competitive balance standpoint.... market size no longer dictates those decisions. Same thing was happening in the NBA prior to set rookie contracts, and the same thing was happening in the NFL prior to the salary cap. Once you set strict guidelines on who can give the most money, you no longer have a big market team/money advantage.
Did not pick up on what you implied. Only picked up that you disliked agents based on the ad hominem towards them in a sentence with "most importantly". Did not disagree with anything else you said. I do think agents (and teams) do manipulate the draft more than they should (even though it's been beneficial lately) be allowed. I wish the slot prices were more rigid even though it has helped the Astros a lot.
As long as the bad teams are the ones with the biggest pools, I can't really see how they could make it more fair. I agree that agents are always going to steer their clients towards the money... its just refreshing that the biggest market teams aren't the only ones that have it. Ironically, I could see a point where the big market teams start to deliver some complaining/backlash for the amount they're being penalized... they pay luxury tax, they get hit hard with revenue sharing, and their once gaudy TV deals (that they never had to include in the revenue sharing) are no longer going to be as big as they once were when they're up for renewal. Since they all spend money, they're never going to truly bottom out to benefit from the larger split bonus pools.... and if they do decide to bottom out, they get ridiculed by their big market media to no end (hell, NY media complaining that the Mets aren't spending enough money right now).
The one improvement I'd make to the process is to remove the expected slot values per round and just give a team a budget to work with. The teams can spend that budget any way they please and don't lose for that year if one of the top 10 picks doesn't sign like what happened with Aiken. You have the choice to spend it elsewhere in the draft/international or carry it over to the next year.
I think the system is better as is because it forces teams to use that slot money. If they don't sign the player, they should lose the slot money from their overall pool. Without that in place, you could have plenty of small market teams (or the Astros from 2011-2014) deciding to pocket the money if there were no ramifications of not signing a player... or trying to game the system somehow to accumulate exponentially larger and larger pools in subsequent years. And if they don't sign a first round player, but they offered a minimal amount, they do get to carry over that slot into the following year... which is how they got Bregman as a result of Aiken not signing.
