Sure? No, just how it sounds to me from the original article. Would be funny if the Astros end up with the first and second picks and take Aiken again (assuming he plays JUCO).
...unless Aiken gets granted free agency, which would result in him getting more like $20-30M... chances are low but non-zero.
they never went back up to 6.5 million. Not implying at all that they were being cheap. He is NOT injured. He just has a smaller UCL than most. They're making a projection on Aiken. Just like they made a projection with Singleton and promised him millions (minor league success does not equal major league success) but they were willing to do it. And yes this was over 1.5 mil, because this WILL come back to bite them in the @$$. From here on out every agent/advisor they will be negotiating with (top picks) will have the leverage as the 'Stros can't afford to keep not signing high prospects. Especially for a team that didn't spend major $$$ to upgrade the team considerably, because they sold a plan of building through the draft (which I agree with), and now they're not going to sign the #1 pick in the draft for "something" that could possibly happen in the future? Hell they signed Altuve for millions and he could have a career threatening injury today. Small UCL doesn't guarantee injury. Hell I heard last night that 1 out of every 3 starting pitchers in MLB has had to have surgery on their elbows over the past yr. It's all one freakin crap shoot, and they should have signed the kid at 6.5 (which they offered him to begin with).
You my friend seem to be one of the few thinking with their head here!!!! I'm shocked by the backlash on the Astros. But until the MLB get's a combine like in the NFL, this will always be a problem. We've seen trades be nixed because of failed physicals. Teams value is contingent on the Assets they have, and those are the athletes!! The owners are all near billionaires, it's not going to be about 1.5 million dollars here or there.
obviously passing on aiken/nix hurts. i never thought there was a realistic chance at landing marshall, so thats not really a loss. but luhnow and co. know what they're doing. obviously they wanted to sign aiken @ 5M. but i trust their projections. the 1-2 pick may be ultimately more valuable than aiken at 6.5 and nix. we werent getting marshall unless aiken signed with at 5M. I really hope we make some moves midseason...f it, we dont need the 1 and 2 pick....get like, 2 and 7 and let us be watchable
Everything I have read states that the Astros were using MLB office for advice on this, so I seriously doubt the team is in any danger of losing picks the next two years.
Doubt many pitchers would give us permission to draft them right now with our different way of developing pitchers. Luckily Aiken would be only one that could say no
Screw Aiken, Im glad it's played out this way. These pitchers are such a crapshoot, specially when we are diving into the high school scene. No thanks. Give me some bats...I like playing those odds better, specially when it comes to the top few hitters available. And Aiken turning down 5 million shows that he's a mental midget. You cant succeed as an MLB pitcher when you're deficient in that area.
Yeah, that guy definitely played a major role in it...it'll be interesting to see how all this plays out.
19th-rounder Ruben Castro, from the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy, was the only high school player to sign this year.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>In the end, Astros spent $4,890,500 on 8 bonuses in top 10 rounds. Pool went from $13,362,200 to $5,069,600 <a href="http://t.co/S1ppJq8v9V">pic.twitter.com/S1ppJq8v9V</a></p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/statuses/491296129489727489">July 21, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
