<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Off to New York tomorrow! ⚾️</p>— Bryan Radziewski (@BryanRadziewski) <a href="https://twitter.com/BryanRadziewski/statuses/476824468753743873">June 11, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>15th Rd pick Connor Goedert tells Ottawa Herald, "If everything goes as planned, it's a done deal." (K-State commit) <a href="http://t.co/f6mP99xcz2">http://t.co/f6mP99xcz2</a></p>— Astros County (@AstrosCounty) <a href="https://twitter.com/AstrosCounty/statuses/476834534625800193">June 11, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Astros agree w Ryan Thompson (23rd rd), Vince Wheeland (24), Zach Davis (25), IF Mott Hyde (26), Brandon McNitt (27) and Keegan Yuhl (35)</p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/statuses/476847545621049344">June 11, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Join us for <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23AstrosDraftChat&src=hash">#AstrosDraftChat</a> with <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Astros&src=hash">#Astros</a> scouting director <a href="https://twitter.com/MEliasBaseball">@MEliasBaseball</a> Thursday at 12 noon CT here <a href="https://twitter.com/astros">@astros</a>!</p>— Houston Astros (@astros) <a href="https://twitter.com/astros/statuses/476859042959077378">June 11, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23qctimes&src=hash">#qctimes</a> 1B A.J. Reed, Astros second-round draft pick and Baseball America's college player of the year, will begin his career at Tri-City</p>— Steve Batterson (@sbatt79) <a href="https://twitter.com/sbatt79/statuses/476860346695548928">June 11, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
I expect Reed to be on QC by the end of the season and in Lancaster to start next season. In Houston by 2016 if everything goes right.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Source: Astros and 4th round pick TAMU RHP Daniel Mengden have reached an agreement. Mengden will sign his contract June 24th at MMP.</p>— Tyler Stafford (@JeffBlogwell) <a href="https://twitter.com/JeffBlogwell/statuses/476875885945962497">June 11, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Wheels up to Omaha ✈️✈️</p>— Derek Fisher (@DeFish23) <a href="https://twitter.com/DeFish23/statuses/477081942664679424">June 12, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Need to find out this kid's middle name and start using it instead of Derek. Although I'm reminded of the movie Office Space when Michael Bolton says "why should I change my name? He's the one who sucks."
If he did, regardless of whether or not he ever amounts to anything for the Astros I would be a lifelong fan of his.
1 - Aiken - SIGNED for $6,500,000 - $1,422,100 under slot 1 - Fisher - Playing in college world series, can't negotiate 2 - Reed - SIGNED for $1,350,000 - at slot 3 - Davis - SIGNED for $748,600 - at slot 4 - Mengden - Close to agreement, terms not known -- slot is $494,800 5 - Nix - Close to agreement, terms not known -- slot is $370,500 6 - Dykxhoorn - SIGNED for $250,000 - $27,400 under slot 7 - Velazquez - SIGNED for $207,800 - at slot 8 - Boyd - SIGNED for $140,000 - $22,800 under slot 9 - Radziewski -- No reports but he is a senior so will sign under slot -- slot is $152,000 10 - Gause - SIGNED for $65,000 - $77,000 under slot Assuming Fisher and Mengden sign at slot, Nix agrees at $1,000,000, and Radziewski around $65,000... that would leave the Astros approximately $1,750,000 to offer Mac Marshall. I know he has a strong commitment to LSU but that is a ton of money to ignore. We still have a chance no matter what he is saying.
Nick Tanielu, Ryan Bottger, and Jamie Ritchie are listed on the preliminary Tri-City roster. Robert Witt has an epic beard. He's a native Texan living in upstate New York and is a big ValleyCats fan. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/JayneWTHB">@JayneWTHB</a> Roster that was given us @ Season Ticket Holder & Players picnic last night. For your perusal. <a href="http://t.co/Y0q4FeHxvq">pic.twitter.com/Y0q4FeHxvq</a></p>— Rob Witt (@Robert__Witt) <a href="https://twitter.com/Robert__Witt/statuses/477444558486126592">June 13, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Ovando to third! 2014 draftees #2 A.J. Reed and #3 J.D. Davis are likely the starting first baseman and third baseman, respectively. It will be interesting to see how well these two big bats do at Tri-City.
Players who have signed under slot (link): 1-1: Brady Aiken slot $7,992,200, signed for$6.5m, savings $1,492,200 6-166: Brock Dykxhoorn slot $277,400, signed for $250,000, savings $27,400 8-226: Bobby Boyd slot $162,800, signed for $140,000, savings $22,800 10-286: Jay Gause slot $142,100, signed for $65,000, savings $77,100 Total savings: $1,619,500. 9-256: Bryan Radziewski is a college senior so there is a good chance that he signed under slot as well. Astros's Bonus Pool is $13,362,200. They can go over that pool by 5% without losing a first round draft pick. (At 5% they would still be penalized 75% of the overage.) Thus, the Astros might consider going over the bonus pool by $668,110 (i.e. 5%). The Astros without losing a first round pick have $2,287,610 for overslot signings. Rumor is that the Astros will sign 5-136: Jacob Nix for about $1m. That would be $629,500 overslot. That would leave $1,658,110 for the rest of the overslot signings. The biggest fish that requires overslot to sign is 21-616: Mac Marshall. $1.6m might be enough to convince Marshall to forgo college. Of course, if the Astros made that offer, all of the other would be overslot signees are SOL.