Was playing around on Google, and found out that a number of players they signed are from the new MLB draft league. Ulloa was the highest drafted player from the league and he and Nieves were teammates. They have some of the trackman data available from the league. Miley and de labio were both in the league as well before the Astros signed them.
I wonder if the free / furnished apartments for minor leaguers is factor when it comes to signing undrafted free agents. I imagine it can be a pretty good sales pitch.
Remember the 2007 Draft Debacle? No 1st or 2nd round pick, and we take Derek Dietrich in the 3rd and Brett Eibner in the 4th. Neither of them signed although we had verbal agreements in place.
It’s always a positive sign to get the guys drafted signed. For not having a 1st or 2nd round pick, the first guy selected in the 3rd round seems intriguing. I wonder if the rest of the league left him to the Astros to take as compensation for letting baseball cheating culture fall full force on the Astros. The number 37 talent goes down all the way to number 87… As an Astros fan, I’m glad they got a 1st round talent in the 3rd round. But I’ve Got to hand it to Astros, they’ve been vilified, and they’ve taken the high road. They have not moped around, they’ve just continued to chug along.
I'm certain each team had their reasons to not draft him, but I guarantee you that helping the Astros wasn't on ANY teams list of reasons.
I venture to think you are right. Nonetheless , I’m glad he got selected by the Astros. Maybe once he dropped so far, other team knew they’d have to pay over slot money they could not muster up. Astros probably went into draft aiming all of their eggs into one basket; the guys they eyed whom may drop, draft, and offer the biggest amount at their disposal to get a deal done.
I suspect signability was a major factor. Each of the other teams had to find money for first and second round picks as well AND hope it was enough to keep them from going to or returning to a College Program. We focused on some players which might have gone undrafted ti sign below slot. But it appears they all have upside potential to get back to earlier expectations. I believe one is out for Tommy John, but could make it back. But he probably wasn't a likely pick this year because of the injury. Overall, it looks like a well managed draft. I have to give Click a thumbs up. This and the McCullers extension make TWO with a couple still under consideration. I'm a huge Luhnow fan, but Click hasn't sucked and might turn out to be better than most of our past GMs.
Surprising. Either they didn't close with Ulloa, or they somehow found some money for Nieves after getting Ulloa's deal done... which I am starting to have some doubts about
For what it's worth, Jim Callis still thinks Ulloa will sign. Linn is honoring his commitment to Tulane